Nature Study ~ Kicking Off Our Focus on Trees With Poetry

I’d intended to start our nature study focus on trees a couple weeks ago when the beauty of the fall leaves was at its peak in Maine, but we were very busy preparing for our science fair.  Then my basement flooded and messed with all my plans!

To get back into the swing of nature study (and do something that didn’t require a lot of planning or knowledge from me) we took a walk around our neighborhood using the ideas in Barb’s Outdoor Hour Challenge #2, Use Your Words.  My daughter recorded a list of the words that came to our minds when we looked at all the trees on our walk.  Our neighborhood is fairly young (20 years), and though most house lots had originally been completely cleared there are woods surrounding the neighborhood and many lawns are adorned with a variety of trees.  I’ve enjoyed paying particular attention to the variety of leaf color and timing for the change.  Many trees in our neighborhood are now bare, but a maple in our back yard is just glowing with gold leaves now.

The next day as the rain poured down and the wind howled, we spent a cozy evening turning our words about trees into poetry using Barb’s free printable with easy suggestions.  Each of us used a different idea.  My son (age 7) traced leaves I had pressed weeks ago, added veins, and I wrote his selected words inside the leaves.

My daughter (age 10) was intrigued by the cinquain idea.  I was very proud of her work.

I joined the fun (the kids love it when I do).  My particular interest was noticing the pattern of colors on each of the pressed leaves I traced.  I wrote my words around the perimeter of my leaves.

Our poems are hanging on our wall, and we are excited to spend some time studying trees.  Our first question:  why do leaves change color?

Before I end I have to add a note.  On our walk some movement in a fake spiderweb at a neighbor’s house caught my eye.  I looked closer and realized a small bird was caught.  Long story short, we had to help him.  The neighbors were not at home, but with the help of another neighbor and her scissors we soon had this beautiful nuthatch free from the web.  He was very shaken up but did not appear injured.  After some time in a box and some conversations with a bird rescue organization he flapped away from us up into a tree.

We had to leave an hour later and he was still there.  We named him Webber and hope he goes on to live a long and happy life.  The woman who answered my calls at the bird rescue organization told us that often owls get trapped and end up hanging for hours by a wing or leg.  I tell this story because after we saw firsthand the danger of those fake spiderwebs to wildlife I said I’d spread the word.  This is my little part of helping the birds.