Nature Journaling

In nature, we are surrounded by invertebratesand vertebrates. Look down, look out, and look up! You will be amazed at the diversity of life around you. Some living things crawl like worms. Other living things like beetles and birds, squirrels, chipmunks, and mice walk and fly. Record the biodiversity of life right from where you are!

Insects are everywhere. Insects make up the most significant percent of living things in the world. There are bees that buzz, flies that land, beetles that crawl, ants that march, moths that flap their wings, mosquitoes that bite, spiders that build webs, and so on. Look around you. You will see pollinators moving from flower to flower, spreading pollen to feed bees, regenerate plants, and feed the food chain. Insects come in endless shapes, sizes, and designs. There are more insects on earth than any other species! Each one plays a role in the web of life. Draw as many insects as you see and look up their names when you return home. Upload your insect drawings to the gallery.

Plants are amazingly diverse. They come in so many sizes, shapes, colors, textures. From lichen, moss, fungi, and flowers to sedges, grasses, stalks, shrubs, and trees, plants have evolved over millions of years, covering earth’s lands with deserts, tundra, prairies to grasslands, wetlands, forests, accommodating habitats for diverse life forms all over the planet. Plants help to retain water, decompose waste, take in carbon dioxide, and give off oxygen to clean our air; the diversity of plants varies from biome to biome due to temperature range, moisture availability, sunshine or shade, and soil nutrition.

Documenting the biodiversity of plants in specific locations is a form of citizen scientist data collection that can help scientists understand the health of the area, as well as better understand the regenerative cycle of seeding, growing, blooming, multiplying, receding seasonally, and decaying before sprouting again. You may also encounter plants that you do not know. Record them via drawings or photos to check if they are indigenous or invasive. What kind of plant are you?

Taking Journaling outside is an excellent way to become acquainted with the world of nature. Prepare yourself for an outdoor exploration by taking a journal, a pen or pencil, a magnifying glass, a ruler, and a backpack. Once you are equipped, set out for your destination. Once you arrive, quiet yourself. Take a moment to stop and listen. Walk and listen. Look and listen. Open your journal. Using a pen or pencil, please look for what you hear. If you wish, record what you hear. Write a description of what you are hearing. As you remain still, look around you. Sketch what you see. It may be a leaf, an insect, a rock, a worm, a bird, a chipmunk, or a rabbit. Write about what you see. Write about what you smell. And finally, write about what you feel while experiencing nature. Record the place, date, time, and weather.

Just step outside, and the world awaits! Stop and look down. What are you standing on? Is it a human-made material, or is it a natural material? How does walking on concrete feel compared to walking on a trail in the forest? Take a closer look around you. What do you smell? Is the ground wet, muddy, moist or dry? Is it warm or is it cold to touch? Is it sandy, silty, loamy, muddy, peatmoss, gravely, rocky? Are there any marks in the earth from other living things? Soil that you see may be sand, clay, or topsoil. It may be compressed and not full of life or may be layers thick with amazing lifeforms at work. Sit on the ground. Remain very quiet; what do you hear? What do you see? Perhaps it is something in the dirt, mud, sand, or stones? Look at the busy life on earth around you. Can you see insects or worms or animals looking for food, producing food, or eating from the ground? Can you find evidence of plant materials decaying? Make a drawing of the life in the soil you encounter. Identify all of living things that you discover, or take photos of the ones you need to name later. Take rubbings of material textures. Take a look at the Soil Journey and the Soil Organisms Worksheet and see how many producers, decomposers, predators, and consumers there are where you are sitting. Look at NEXT.cc MICROBES Journey and Fungi Journey to learn more about life in the soil. Take a look at Nature Journaling and make some journal entries you can share with others.

Become interested in so many careers just by looking down!!