Nature Study ~ Exploring the Beach

We had tremendous opportunities for nature study while camping at our favorite spot on the Maine coast this week.  Learning while camping…that’s what I love about homeschooling!

A beloved uncle was along for the trip and dazzled the kids with his ability to find creatures to observe.  Even my usually squeamish daughter was holding and touching everything.  I stood by with my camera attempting to capture all the amazing creatures and the wonder the kids had holding and touching them.  We had done a Homeschool Share unit study on oceans last year and learned about some of these same creatures, but there is nothing like a hands-on experience!  Barb talked in her newsletter about children being able to remember their experiences at the ocean beach years later, and I am confident this morning of exploring with all their senses will stick with them for a long time.

There were lots of crabs.  It was interesting to feel the differences in their shells–some were quite soft from molting recently.

They found many different sizes.

The sea stars may have been my favorite.  Seeing their tube feet move around up close was amazing.

This was really exciting:  a sea star missing a ray.  I was able to remind the kids about their ability to regenerate that we learned about last year.

For the record, I did NOT hold this guy.  Eels would be a good subject for future study because we didn’t know much about him.

While Daddy grilled lunch back at the camper the kids worked on their journal pages using a free page included in Barb’s Handbook of Nature Study June Newsletter.

Using ideas from Barb’s Outdoor Hour Challenge: Sand and Soil we brought home some sand to study.  I took a sample from higher up the beach and then, at my daughter’s suggestion, another sample very close to the low tide mark.   We spread some of each sample out and enjoyed inspecting them on white and black paper using a magnifying glass.

They were impressed when we looked at a piece of quartz under a little hand-held microscope.

My son was completely amazed that some rocks were attracted to his magnet!  He spent time when we were done just moving the magnet around over the sand and making rocks move.

I grabbed some soil from our garden and we performed the soil experiment from Barb’s links.  I didn’t get too technical with the kids, but we did talk about how quickly the sand settled, the sizes of particles in the different layers, and as a gardener I talked a bit about the difference soil types can make when you’re planting.  I was intrigued by the idea Barb showed of keeping sand samples from different beaches you visit, so this will be our sample #1!

What a terrific week: camping at our favorite spot, time spent with a crazy-fun uncle, and a lot of nature study thrown into the mix.  I love summer school!