Outdoor Hour-Challenge #1

Today we completed the Outdoor Hour Challenge #1-Getting Started from the Handbook of Nature Study blog.  Over the past several days I read pages 1-8 of the Handbook of Nature Study.  It has been raining for the last several days so today was the first chance we had to get back outside.

I didn't have any agenda but to just go out and see what we could find.  Emma (7) and Jenna (5) came with me today.  We recently went looking for mushrooms and so now the girls have an eye for that and kept pointing out lots of mushrooms on our walk (many that I just passed right over.)  I took a few pictures of mushrooms that we hadn't seen before and some that they liked.  Emma also picked up quite a few leaves and filled my pockets with giant acorns.

When we came inside, Emma laid out all of her treasures (except for the oak gall because I thought it probably had bugs in it.) Then we looked at the acorn section on the Handbook of Nature Study.  After that we looked up a few websites on Oak Tree identification.  We think that the oak trees we have are Scarlet Oak. I cannot find my Tree field guide (and it's driving me crazy!!) so we relied on the internet.

I am really coming to love our little nature study walks.

acorns

I thought this leaf was pretty

This was a neat mushroom.  It didn't seem to have any gills.  It was very spongy.

another mushroom we hadn't seen before

bright yellow

There is a tall mushroom between the girls...we took it to show
how big it is but somehow you can't tell!

mushroom growing in a dead tree on the ground

mushrooms on a different tree on the ground

Emma notices tree roots.  She pointed out this Elm tree growing
over a rock. It's pretty cool.

Near the end of our walk we found this cool purple mushroom.

Time for a swing.

a gall

Emma with her "goodies"