How to Do a Nature Study with a Grammar School Class

The lead teacher at the Classical Christian school I teach at asked me if I could talk with some of the grammar school teachers about how to do a nature study with their students. As a way to sort out my thoughts, I decided to write this article. Here’s how I would do a nature study with a grammar school class.

In the Classroom

Nature study begins in the classroom, reading books about the natural world to your students and giving them ample time to ask questions. You can choose 6-8 books to cycle through during the year. The books you choose must correspond to something you can actually go outside and see in your area. For example, if you live in Wisconsin, don’t choose a book about tigers, choose a book about coyotes. I would say, however, that they don’t necessarily have to correspond with the current season. The classroom portion of a nature study is meant to give your students a taste of what they can go outside and see at some point. In fact, reading a book about butterflies in the middle of winter might give your students something to look forward to in the spring. It will also give them the opporunity to practice recalling information.

As you read the books out loud to your students, or as they read the books on their own, demonstrate how to observe what’s in the pictures. Ask them questions like, “What do you see?” “How is this picture different than the first one we saw?” “What do you think is happening in this picture?” Asking questions like this will get your students thinking about what they see not only in the book, but in their surroundings. The goal is to have them bring these observational and analytical skills outside with them.

For your own personal study, to prepare for these lessons, I recommend reading whatever sections apply from Anna Botsford Comstock’s Handbook of Nature Study. Her book is an excellent resource for any nature study teacher or general science teacher, or anyone who would like to learn more about the natural world. God created some amazing living things.

If you choose to, you can also read a poem about the subject you’re studying. Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost are two of my favorite poets. They’ve written numerous poems about the outdoors. You can also do a picture study about the topic at hand. Show your students a picture by a well-known artist, and of course, ask them to observe what they see. The goal with both poetry and pictures as part of nature study is to help your students appreciate the beauty of the world around them.

Summary: Nature study begins in the classroom as you read and discuss books about nature. The classroom portion of nature study can also include a poetry reading and a picture study.

Going Outdoors: Supplies

You really don’t need much to begin the outdoor portion of a nature study, however, you can purchase some special materials if you’d like to. At the very least, you need paper on which to draw and some sort of drawing utensil. The goal of a nature study is to go outside, observe as much as you can, and recall what you observed in the form of a drawing. The goal is not to draw a perfect, professional picture that will someday hang on the wall of a wealthy CEO. (I remind myself and my students of this often.) I like to use a sketchbook and a graphite drawing pencil or colored pencils–sweet and simple. When the kids and I used to do nature studies at home, we just used construction paper and crayons–items we already had in our craft cabinet. Charlotte Mason, whose education methods I admire, recommended using a pointed brush and watercolor paints. The possibilities for mediums are endless, which adds to the joy of doing a nature study. Not only do you get to go outside, you also get to choose how to represent what you observed. This is another way that your students can internalize what they’re learning at school. Their drawings will be special to them and unique to the way they perceive the world, which is a beautiful thing.

You can do a nature study while walking through the thickest part of a forest or gazing at a tiny patch of grass in a city park. You can do a nature study during the middle of winter when sheets of snow cover the ground, during a gentle spring rain, or in the midst of a dry summer heat wave. The natural world–animals, plants, fungi, precipitation, rock formations–is all around us. Again, the possibilities are endless! We like to do our nature studies at the same location each week so we can study the changes that take place over time. You can, however, vary your location too. You could use this variation to compare and contrast the different plants that grow in the different locations. You could also study habitats and why certain habitats support certain types of plant and animal life. Both staying in one location week-to-week or changing the location are excellent options that can lead to in-depth conversations with your students.

Summary: All you need to begin the outdoor portion of a nature study is something on which to draw, a drawing utensil, and nature, of course, which is all around us.

Going Outdoors: Procedure

I like to begin every nature study by reminding my students why we do nature study in the first place. We do nature study to practice our observation skills, improve our ability to remember what we see around us, and to glorify God as we discover more about the magnificent world he created. Then, I like to remind my students what nature study is not: nature study is not about producing perfect works of art, nor is nature study about drawing what we think we see–nature study is about drawing what we actually see. So, instead of a drawing a tree, we draw a particular tree. What shape are its branches? Does it have leaves or needles? What color are they? Does it come in contact with any other trees? Do mushrooms grow across its surface? Has a vine wound its way up the trunk?

You can do the next step in a couple different ways:

The Charlotte Mason-style way is to go outside, choose something to observe in great detail, and then to draw what you observed in as much detail as you can remember without going back to take another look.

The more traditional way is to simply choose something to draw while you’re outside and then to sit down and draw it.

I like both nature study methods. I used the Charlotte Mason-style method when I did school at home, but find the traditional method works better as a classroom teacher. They do serve slightly different purposes. The Charlotte Mason-style nature study method includes the element of narration–telling about something you learned–in a visual format. The traditional method could include some narration while drawing, but mostly focuses on observation. For grammar school students, I suggest using the traditional method. Older students need the challenge of remembering, but younger students need training in how to observe what’s around them before they can move on to remembering what’s around them.

As far as what your students draw, for the most part you can leave that up to them, as long as they draw something that occurs naturally outside. In other words, not a house or a fence, but a bird or a mushroom or a stick. A human being can make a tree grow, but a human being cannot make a tree. You could help your students find something to draw by reminding them that we draw things that God created in their natural form, not things that have been significantly altered by someone else.

Students can also write in their nature study notebooks. They can label what they draw, record the location and weather conditions, or write a short paragraph about what they see. Nature study journals are somewhat flexible, but I do think it’s crucial that students at the very least include the date, location, and outside temperature.

Summary: Go enjoy the outdoors and then draw something you observed, either by first observing and then drawing, or by observing and drawing at the same time.

Conclusion

I hope that the most important thing you take away from this post is that nature study is fun. It’s something your students can look forward to each week, reading a book filled with delightful pictures and then going outside in the fresh air. There are also many, many nature study guides and curricula and handbooks available. They all seem to offer something different. I personally like the material available at Simply Charlotte Mason (here’s an incredible book list), or the suggestions on Ambleside Online (arranged by years, which roughly correspond to grade levels).

Whatever you choose, enjoy it. God created a beautiful world for us to learn about to his glory and praise.