September: Observation and outdoor learning

Nature walks

Sit Spots
Sit spots are a place for students (and adults!) to regularly sit and observe the natural world around them. They should be close to home or school and easily accessible. They teach students to relax, slow down and observe. It is amazing what you can notice about the natural world when you are sitting on the ground quietly looking and listening.

Take students on a walk to a quiet wooded area either close to your school or on a nature trail close to school. It should be a location within walking distance so that it can be accessed regularly. Instruct students to find a comfortable place to sit alone but within eyesight or hearing distance of teachers. Students should find a spot that appeals to them personally. Allow 10-20 minutes (depending on age of students) for students to sit quietly and observe and listen to what is around them. It is amazing the sights and sounds they will observe once everyone is still and quiet.

Return to your sit spots at least once a week. Observe the changes in your sit spot as the seasons change. Sit spots are a wonderful lead in to nature journaling. Look for more information on nature journaling coming next week!

Backyard/Schoolyard Nature Find
Nature is all around us, it is not someplace that we need to travel to find. Who lives near you? A colony of ants? A robin? Take students outside to your schoolyard. Instruct everyone to quietly observe, search, listen, look for wildlife, plants, natural objects. You will be surprised what lives right next to us that we never see! Make a list of what you find. As an assignment that evening have students do the same in their own backyards. Even if students do not know what they saw they can write down a description. Compare lists the next day. Investigate animals or plants that you did not know. How will the changing seasons change what you observe? Make predictions and check them throughout the school year.

Seed Hike
As the season slowly changes to fall nature prepares itself for the coming cold months. Plants produce seeds to carry on the next spring. Many seeds have hooks or barbs that get stuck in animal fur (or socks!) and then get distributed. Some seeds get eaten by wildlife, others get dropped and grow in the spring.

Have each student bring an old pair of socks to school. Take a walk to a local prairie, pasture, meadow or other area with tall grasses and plants. Have students put the old socks on over their shoes. Walk through the grassed area. Observe as you walk. What seeds do you see? What plant are they growing on?

After you have walked though the area have students take off their socks and examine them carefully. Outdoors or once you have returned to the classroom have each student remove the seeds from their socks and sort them. Use a magnifying glass or microscope to observe the seeds. What do you see? What kind of barbs or hooks do the seeds have? How do this help with seed distribution? What animals, if any, do you think eats these seeds?