Here are some easy ideas for a spring weather homeschool nature study from rain and mud puddles to noticing tree buds. Includes ideas for nature journaling!
We have enjoyed spring weather perfect for homeschool nature study and typical of life in the south. Cooler, breezy days topped with robin’s egg blue skies alternate with warm, flip-flop wearing days that make us want to jaunt off to the beach. We’ve had a week’s worth of rain making all that Georgia red clay into clothes-staining mud puddles.
This week, we see that most of the trees have their leaves. All light green and new looking. The last two weeks, the evergreen pine trees gave out swirling cloud fulls of yellow pollen, pushing us inside and reminding us to use those saline sprays.
Spring Weather Homeschool Nature Study
For us, spring means new sprouts and the excitement of warm weather. I think we are in that magical time right now. A bit past the worst of the pollen and prior to pesky mosquitoes. We take our school books out onto the patio in the morning and we stay out into the longer evenings.
Here are a few of the children’s spring weather observations:
Lil’ Buddy: Mud! “I don’t like the bees!” (the gnats are coming out and bothering him. He calls them bees.)
Five-year-old came running in last week: “Mama! The tree! The tree in the backyard had buds a few days ago – now it has its leaves!” I smiled at the fruits of nature study. She’s also enjoyed finding the tent caterpillars again.
Middle girl: is drawing cumulonimbus clouds and the backyard mimosa tree getting its leaves.
11-year-old: Worms, the chipping sparrows are starting to sing in the morning and evening again. Hummingbirds! We got our feeder up and have seen our first ones stopping by for a drink. Plus, working on the garden again. (notice that youngest boy thinks the garden is a big construction site).
13-year-old: likes the tree climbing opportunities spring brings 🙂
Severe spring weather. About 2 a.m. Saturday morning the weather alert radio went off.
We spent about 45 minutes in our laundry room together. The Doppler radar indicated tornado passed just barely to the north of us. Took the roof off of a BJ’s Warehouse Club about 10 minutes away, spreading debris all over the parking lot. Hodgepodgedad got photos when he was out at the Walmart the next morning.
Hodgepodgedad is part of the volunteer Sky Warn network of ham radio operators. He reports any helpful information to the National Weather Service network. Needless to say we stay informed and tuned to any changing weather conditions. In the photo above, he is showing the children the cone of probability for the tornado near us and others in surrounding counties. So, we have plenty of opportunity to talk about storms, how they form, cold and warm fronts clashing, lightening – all things weather.
Remember that 11-year-old chose weather for his science fair project?
He did Nana’s Tornado pastel as part of the display. He also made a wind sock, rain gauge and a tornado tube.
The week of Easter is usually when we plant our garden. It’s how my grandfathers always did their gardens. The overnight frosts are gone and the ground is warm. Five-year-old is ready to plant her sunflowers and for the spring rains to keep on coming.
Enjoying our ever-changing, plenty of things to watch for type of spring weather!
-first published April 2011
I loved reading all the spring observations and thoughts from each of your children. Wow! What a great up-close experience with your spring weather with the tornado! We are now coming into our dry season…so different than you there in your part of the world. We have green for about 5 minutes and then the heat comes and dries everything up. Well, maybe a bit longer than 5 minutes but it goes by really fast…probably by the end of May we will be brown again.
Thank you for your entry for the OHC this week.
I love this post. It makes me want to come to Georgia! I love all the different observations from everyone. I especially love the photo of 13-year old in the tree! She is so pretty and natural there. Wow, to have such powerful weather so close to you. We don’t get much of anything like that here.
Glad you are all safe – too bad – but too exciting – to pull real life into studies when it deals with natural disasters. Great study!
Yikes! Glad you are all OK!
We were visiting family in TX last week, just in time to experience that storm that produced several tornadoes in the south.
Here’s hoping that the rest of spring and summer will be less exciting!
Love the caterpillar photo! I would never touch creepy crawlies as a kid, but my kids love them!