Exploring Nature with Your Senses

Nature is abundant with patterns, colors, and textures. Project Learning Tree’s activity, “The Shape of Things,” is a great outdoor activity that incorporates math, language arts, science and visual arts. As an extension to Part A, incorporate colors when describing what shape is found. Give each child a paint swatch of a natural color and have them match it to one of the shapes they find. You could also include textures by having students match the texture of their clothes to their natural object.

While “The Shape of Things” is geared towards the youngest of students, try using a shortened version of this activity with older students before hikes or service learning projects to sharpen observation skills. To incorporate language arts, use shapes as various symbols of nature (triangle = pine tree, circle = entrance to tunnel, etc.). Have students compare and contrast items in their daily lives with the symbols through poetry or essay.

For more thoughts on children exploring nature through their senses, read “A Sense of Wonder” by Rachel Carson.

Book List
PreK-2
Baylor, B. 1997. The Other Way to Listen. Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group.
Becker, B. 1995. The Quiet Way Home. Bill Martin Books.
Bouchard, D. 1996. Voices from the Wild: An Animal Sensagoria. Chronicle Books LLC.
Brown, R. 1989. If at First You Do Not See. Henry Holt and Co.
Carter, D.A. 1996. Colors and Shapes. Little Simon.
Dodds, D.A. 1996. Shape of Things. Candlewick Press.
Falwell, C. 1992. Shape Space. Houghton Mifflin Company.
Graff, N.P. 1998. In the Hush of the Evening. HarperCollins Publishers.
Harris, T. 2001. Pattern Bugs. Lerner Publishing Group.
Hickman, P. 2006. How Animals Use Their Senses. Kids Can Press, Limited.
Hoban, T. 1984. Is It Rough? Is It Smooth? Is It Shiny? HarperCollins Publishers.
Hoban, T. 1996. Shapes, Shapes, Shapes. HarperCollins Publishers.
Hoban, T. 1998. So Many Circles, So Many Squares. HarperCollins Publishers.
Kaner, E. 1999. Animal Senses: How Animals See, Hear, Taste, Smell and Feel. Kids Can Press, Limited.
Martin, Jr., B. 1988. Listen to the Rain. Henry Holt & Company, Incorporated.
Morgan, S. 2002. Animals and Their World. Kingfisher.
Rau, D.M. 2006. Star in My Orange: Looking for Nature's Shapes. Lerner Publishing Group.
Reed, J. 2003. Animal Patterns. Capstone Press.
Roemer, H.B. 2004. Come to My Party and Other Shape Poems. Henry Holt & Company, Incorporated.
Rotner, S. 1992. Nature Spy. Atheneum.
Roy, J.R. 2005. Patterns in Nature. Benchmark Books.
Rylant, C. 1991. Night in the Country. Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group.
Seuss, Dr. The Shape of Me and Other Stuff. Random House Children's Books.
Stockdale, S. 1999. Nature's Paintbrush: The Patterns and Colors around You. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.
Swinburne, S.R. 2002. Lots and Lots of Zebra Stripes: Patterns in Nature. Boyds Mills Press.
Showers, P. 1993. The Listening Walk. HarperCollins Children's Books.
Owen, R. 1994. My Night Forest. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.
Wallace, N.E. 2006. Look! Look! Look! Marshall Cavendish Children's Books.

Grades 3-5
Ackerman, D. 2003. Animal Sense. Knopf Books for Young Readers.
Branzei, S. 1998. Virtual Grossology. Planet Dexter.
Ebensen, B.J. 1996. Echoes for the Eye: Poems to Celebrate Patterns in Nature. HarperCollins Children's Books.
Hidalgo, M. 2003. Color. Creative Company.
Patent, D.H. 1979. Sizes and Shapes in Nature: What They Mean. Holiday House, Inc.
Pringle, L.P. 2000. Taste. Benchmark Books.
Santa Fe Writers Group. 1993. Bizarre and Beautiful Noses. Avalon Travel Publishing.
Yolen, J. 2004. Color Me a Rhyme: Nature Poems for Young People. Boyds Mills Press.

Grades 9-12
Downer, J. 1988. Supersense: Perception in the Animal World. Holt and Company.
Haeckel, E.H. 1974. Art Forms in Nature. Dover Publications.
Hughes, HC. 1999. Sensory Exotica: A World Beyond Human Experience. MIT Press.
Sinclair, S. 1985. How Animals See: Other Visions of Our World. Facts on File Incorporated.
Wade, D. 2003. LI: Dynamic Form in Nature. Walker & Company.