Tracking Populations

Materials:

Nature journal, drawing utensils of choice, and a nature outing

Activity:

Open your nature journal to the pages in the back that have places to list local birds and other populations of interest (wildflowers and butterflies are favorites but things like mushrooms or insects could work too) and months to check off when they are observed. Go on a nature outing and sit in the same place for awhile noticing as many different kinds of species that you can. Use apps like inaturalist or local field guides to identify species you see. Return to this list throughout the year to mark off birds (or other populations) as you see them.

Younger:

Have the young kids learn the names of some common species. They will enjoy pointing them out when they see them.

Older:

Have the kids use the apps and field guides to identify the species themselves and how to differentiate or identify them from different distances and in different ways.

Take it Further:

Do a mini-lesson on recording data. Different ways we can record what we see. Talk about drawing, writing, measuring, graphing. For more information see my podcast series about nature journaling.

For more nature journaling card activities click here.