Soundscape Maps
Students listen to the soundscape around them, then diagram and map it using symbols, shapes, and colors to graphically describe sounds.
Observation and Natural History
Forest Karaoke: Transcribing Birdsong
Students describe bird songs in their journals using writing, drawing, diagramming, and numbers.
Species Account
Students choose one species that they can readily observe, and document as many details as they
can about it through direct observation.
Animal Encounters
This activity offers a routine for translating brief encounters with animals into rich journal entries.
String Safari
Students observe a world of wonders within the boundaries of a loop of string, then use maps,
drawings, and notes to describe what they found.
Timeline
Students explore plant development by sketching buds, flowers, and fruit. Then they discuss possible functions of plant parts.
Collection or Field Guide
Students make a field guide or “collection” of things within a focused category, such as leaf types,
rocks in a stream, things that are red, or tracks.