The Nature Classroom: Learning about God in His 2nd Book
As I teach the children in my Early Elementary Sabbath School, God speaks to us through 2 books - the Bible and the Book of Nature. Nature is everything around us that God has made. Nature always reminds us of what God says in the Bible. Therefore, in our homeschool, we try to spend time each day in the nature classroom of our own yard.
Setting up a Backyard Nature Observation StationTo get the most out of nature observation, it's so important to study the same spot throughout all the seasons. This allows you to learn what are normal behavior and characteristics and when there are changes. This also makes it super easy for you to build on previous research and knowledge and practice different observation skills. It also makes it possible for anyone to do nature observation without even having a backyard. Below are some interesting ideas for nature stations. Start with one, then add others.
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Tree
Bird Feeder
Plant
Brush Pile
Compost Pile
Sky
Tree
Pick a tree nearby that you can visit each day. Research the distinct characteristics and seasonal changes of the tree. Then watch closely to observe all that you researched. Discover what critters live or visit and if there is any routine to their antics. Ask God to remind you of Bible principles through your observations.
I had a dogwood tree in my previous yard that I enjoyed studying year by year. I learned in which months it would lose leaves, start buds, grow leaves, flower, develop berries, and when the birds would come and eat them. I watched a branch die from bugs eating into the trunk at the base. I saw it survive a massive windstorm that split part of the tree off. I enjoyed watching all the birds use its branches for rest before visiting my bird feeder.
I had a dogwood tree in my previous yard that I enjoyed studying year by year. I learned in which months it would lose leaves, start buds, grow leaves, flower, develop berries, and when the birds would come and eat them. I watched a branch die from bugs eating into the trunk at the base. I saw it survive a massive windstorm that split part of the tree off. I enjoyed watching all the birds use its branches for rest before visiting my bird feeder.
Bird Feeder
Investing in a bird feeding station has been incredibly fulfilling! I make sure to set mine up in a location so that I can observe it from a window inside and from the porch outside. I like to make sure I can appeal to a wide variety of birds. Follow this link to my Pinterest board of essential bird feeding station items. In my experience, it takes about a week for birds to discover the feeders.
At my bird feeding station, I have been blessed to observe all the following birds: cardinal, American gold finch, house finch, chickadee, dove, blue jay, downy woodpecker, tufted titmouse, starling, Carolina wren, nuthatch, sparrow, Baltimore oriole, catbird, grackle, bluebird. Of course, I have also been blessed to have the squirrels and resident chipmunk visit as well. It is interesting to see how each bird cracks open the sunflower seed, which ones stay and eat, and which ones grab and go! Some birds only visit the ground feeder comfortably. Others only eat the suet. Learning each one's characteristic habits is really exciting. I especially like seeing how they come in their family pairs and bring the little ones along.
I am recording here ideas I have not tried yet, but plan to...
At my bird feeding station, I have been blessed to observe all the following birds: cardinal, American gold finch, house finch, chickadee, dove, blue jay, downy woodpecker, tufted titmouse, starling, Carolina wren, nuthatch, sparrow, Baltimore oriole, catbird, grackle, bluebird. Of course, I have also been blessed to have the squirrels and resident chipmunk visit as well. It is interesting to see how each bird cracks open the sunflower seed, which ones stay and eat, and which ones grab and go! Some birds only visit the ground feeder comfortably. Others only eat the suet. Learning each one's characteristic habits is really exciting. I especially like seeing how they come in their family pairs and bring the little ones along.
I am recording here ideas I have not tried yet, but plan to...
- Decorate an outdoor tree with edible ornaments for the wildlife by Wilder Child.
Plant
Watching one particular plant in your garden or in a planter can be really interesting.
We set up large planters of milkweed on our porch, so we could observe the monarch butterfly life cycle. We were not disappointed. We have officially seen 24 monarchs finish their life cycles at our planters over the last 2 years. We also discovered their predators and other bugs that compete for the milkweed as a host plant. Since milkweed produces prolific flowers, it also becomes an awesome spot to observe all kinds of pollinators, including other butterflies, flies, and bees! We have decided to continue to expand our milkweed project each year, so we can help more monarch butterflies.
Since we moved, I brought various planters with me of course. One of my kiddie pool gardens was set up with squash, tomatoes, peppers, and zinnia flowers. My tomato plants were slow to flower, so I gave them some organic flowering plant food. After flowers started forming, I discovered some green caterpillars - the tomato hornworm. Observing the hornworm each day became an interesting and bittersweet experience. Wow, can they eat! I prayed to God for what to do. I kept hoping and waiting for a predator to discover them, but it seemed like they were so good at hiding, even I had a hard time each time locating them. But, in my daily observation, I eventually discovered the hornworms covered with white sacks. Apparently, God had sent a helper! The brachinid wasp had secretly laid eggs in the hornworms and now I was seeing their cocoons develop. They were eating the hornworms without the hornworms realizing it. Taking time to watch the tomato plants has been thrilling. My son was completely blown away by the parasitic wasps. After the hornworms died, the tomato plants recovered fully. Amazing!
We set up large planters of milkweed on our porch, so we could observe the monarch butterfly life cycle. We were not disappointed. We have officially seen 24 monarchs finish their life cycles at our planters over the last 2 years. We also discovered their predators and other bugs that compete for the milkweed as a host plant. Since milkweed produces prolific flowers, it also becomes an awesome spot to observe all kinds of pollinators, including other butterflies, flies, and bees! We have decided to continue to expand our milkweed project each year, so we can help more monarch butterflies.
Since we moved, I brought various planters with me of course. One of my kiddie pool gardens was set up with squash, tomatoes, peppers, and zinnia flowers. My tomato plants were slow to flower, so I gave them some organic flowering plant food. After flowers started forming, I discovered some green caterpillars - the tomato hornworm. Observing the hornworm each day became an interesting and bittersweet experience. Wow, can they eat! I prayed to God for what to do. I kept hoping and waiting for a predator to discover them, but it seemed like they were so good at hiding, even I had a hard time each time locating them. But, in my daily observation, I eventually discovered the hornworms covered with white sacks. Apparently, God had sent a helper! The brachinid wasp had secretly laid eggs in the hornworms and now I was seeing their cocoons develop. They were eating the hornworms without the hornworms realizing it. Taking time to watch the tomato plants has been thrilling. My son was completely blown away by the parasitic wasps. After the hornworms died, the tomato plants recovered fully. Amazing!
Brush Pile
Do you have trees that drop small branches during heavy storms? Or do you trim hedges? Use all those woody pieces to create a brush pile. Brush piles are ideal places for wrens (very entertaining small brown birds), spiders and snakes to hunt because bugs and other small critters like to hide there. Sneak up to a brush pile and listen. You might hear crickets or frogs. You can also observe how the wood changes as it dies and succombs to fungi.
Compost Pile
The compost pile is one of my favorite observation spots, mainly because I place thousands of black soldier fly larva in it to take over operations. I am able to watch my grubs eat all my waste and shrink my pile. It's also always interesting to watch how when they dominate the pile, other flies (like the nasty house fly) disappear. They speed up the decomposition process, so that I can watch whatever is left of food turn to sludge with the help of microorganisms. I think the compost pile is my favorite spot because it reminds me so much of God's ability to redeem any bad situation.
Sky
The sky is so very interesting. Taking time to learn different types of clouds and the different colors of the sunset can help you predict weather. You can watch how the "path of the sun" changes to account for shorter days. Even if you live in an apartment, you can start your nature observation by looking into the sky.
At night, the sky becomes a window into the heavens. If you live in a dark enough place, invest in a pair of binoculars or a telescope, so you can observe the stars, the planets, and the moon a little more closely. There are plenty of free apps that can even tell you what you are looking at when you point your phone at it. Did you know that the star constellations were originally a message from God to the whole human race about the plan of salvation? What a great way to learn the names of the constellations, their stars, and how they teach us about Jesus (NOT horoscopes!).
At night, the sky becomes a window into the heavens. If you live in a dark enough place, invest in a pair of binoculars or a telescope, so you can observe the stars, the planets, and the moon a little more closely. There are plenty of free apps that can even tell you what you are looking at when you point your phone at it. Did you know that the star constellations were originally a message from God to the whole human race about the plan of salvation? What a great way to learn the names of the constellations, their stars, and how they teach us about Jesus (NOT horoscopes!).
Researching, Observing, Documenting when Observing Nature
Purposefully observing a nature station involves 3 primary activities - researching, observing and documenting.
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Outdoor Yard and Garden Chores
up to 3 years old
Ages 4 to 8
Ages 9 to 12
up to 3 years old
With close supervision, then can still help with tasks.
- Pluck dandelion flowers in the yard.
- Pick up twigs in the yard.
- Pick up stones in the yard.
Ages 4 to 8
Yard Chores
- Pluck weed flowers in the yard before the seed develops (dandelions, crab grass seed heads, etc.).
- Pick up twigs or rocks in the yard.
- Rake or pick up leaves with leaf scoopers.
- Fill bird feeders and ground feeders.
- Weed landscaped beds.
- Water landscaped beds.
- Weed garden beds.
- Water garden beds.
- Plant seeds.
Ages 9 to 12
Under construction...
The 5-Minute Nature Nugget
In order to entice my children into the nature classroom, I have to keep things short and sweet. The way to grow time is to have multiple short and sweet sessions throughout the day instead of trying to keep them outside for a long session. For example, I set a timer for my son, and every 30 minutes or hour, he has to do some activities that he would not necessarily choose to do - nature observation is one of them. Giving him a short, simple nature-based objective does not feel like a big hassle to him. Sometimes he actually gets into it, which is what I always hope will happen! My little girl enjoys helping me outside, so I usually don't need to say much more than, "Come help me," and she is all in.
Connecting with God through Nature
I find the easiest way to connect with God through nature is to use a systematic thought process. If some observation really makes an impression on me, then I think about what Bible principle does that observation remind me of --- Great Controversy, Salvation, or a role of Jesus. I link it with a scripture verse and pray on it.
Sandy ___ came to our local church school and conducted a week of prayer that helped me learn how to pull God's message for me out of nature. She laid out the principles, then I have been able to turn them into a practical step. These are the same steps I personally follow when I study God's first book, the Bible.
Sandy ___ came to our local church school and conducted a week of prayer that helped me learn how to pull God's message for me out of nature. She laid out the principles, then I have been able to turn them into a practical step. These are the same steps I personally follow when I study God's first book, the Bible.
- "Nature captures the attention." - Observation: Follow the steps of nature observation set forth above already. Decide on an observation that you find interesting. Make sure you research it to understand it well. Write down a 1 or 2 sentence declarative summary about what you observe and what it means. Keep your finding focused and specific. You can always repeat this process again with another finding on the same subject. Here are some focused findings you might observe: cause-effect, routine, before/after, interaction, physical features, sounds-activity, etc.
- "Nature draws the soul to God." - Connection: Does this finding remind me of my relationship with God, how God works in my life to save me from sin, virtues God wants to develop in me, bad habits to avoid, my relationship to the church or with others, Jesus' life and ministry (Creator, Lamb, Priest, Judge, Coming King).
- "Nature teaches us a lesson." - Interpretation: Whatever connection you were starting to make in step 2, take it a step further to ask God to help you remember a Bible verse or Bible story or personal interaction you had with God that exemplifies the connection you made. Write a summary 2-3 sentence statement on a spiritual lesson learned, combining the nature observation, the connection to a spiritual application, and the Bible story/verse/experience it exemplifies.
- "Nature gives us a personal experience with God." - Application: Take your statement of truth and turn it into an Am I, Do I, How do I question.