Expedition Journaling- FIELD JOURNALING TO DEVELOP AN EXPLORER MINDSET
Illustrated field journals allow an exploration of science through art and inquiry. The journals of well-known biologists such as Charles Darwin and Ernest Thompson Seton were a critical part of their work as naturalists and biologists.
Grosvenor Teacher Fellow Project:
Project Title: Nature Journaling to Develop an Explorer Mindset
Recommended Age(s)/Grade(s): any (example from grade 3).
Time Needed – Preparation:
Collect supplies and go outside!
Time Needed – Execution:
A lifetime (or an afternoon).
Standards (optional):
I can communicate my questions, observations, discoveries and conclusions, about the lifecycle of plants and its impact on the ecosystem.
Objectives:
By the end of this project, students will be able to:
Part #1
Students will develop an Explorer Mindest through their nature journaling.
Part #2
They will then be empowered to take action to tell others about the importance of getting outside.
Part #1
Materials and Preparation Needed:
Watercolours
Pen
Watercolour Notebook
Overview:
What activities are included in the project? How is the project structured? Note actions taken by educators and learners in enough detail that another educator could implement a similar project.
Vocabulary:
What new vocabulary will students need to learn to complete this project?
Scales and Perspectives, Human and Natural World Connections:
How does this lesson allow students to examine the world from different scales and perspectives? How are themes of the human and natural world, and their intersections, covered in this lesson?
Explorer Mindset Learning Framework Connections:
All of the following information in based in the Explorer Mindset Developed by National Georgraphic.
ATTITUDES Explorers wonder about the world
CURIOUS - Explorers engage with the world around them. Explorers observe, document, and ask questions about where things are and why they are there.
EMPATHETIC - Explorers care about other people, cultural resources, and the environment. They are respectful and committed to making the world a better place. They value and understand their own and others’ points of view, acknowledging differences.
EMPOWERED - Explorers recognize their ability to protect people, cultural resources, and the environment. Explorers are leaders who utilize their knowledge, confidence, means, and ability to take action and make a difference.
SKILLS Explorers learn by doing
USE GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES - Explorers use perspectives (including geological, ecological, historical, economical, political, cultural and spatial perspectives) at different scales (local, regional, and global) as they observe, analyze, visualize, and model spatial patterns, processes, and change over time of the human and natural systems.
APPLY GEOGRAPHIC PRACTICES - Explorers use practices such as mapping, inquiry, and citizen science to explore geographic questions, investigate, examine, assess problems. Explorers think critically as they create new insights and understanding.
COLLABORATE - Explorers engage with the communities in which they work. They create and foster a global community, supporting DEI across fields, countries, and cultures. They include diverse stakeholders, work productively and inclusively to achieve goals toward a sustainable future.
PROBLEM SOLVE - Explorers seek solutions to problems to protect and sustain the wonder of our world. Explorers are capable decision-makers, able to identify alternatives and weigh trade-offs to make well-reasoned decisions based on factual knowledge. Explorers pursue bold ideas and persist in the face of challenges.
COMMUNICATE - Explorers are storytellers who communicate about their work through a variety of methods (scientific, academic, and narrative) and media. Explorers communicate to inspire others to protect and sustain the wonder of our world.
KNOWLEDGE Explorers build geographic knowledge
LEARN ABOUT HUMAN AND NATURAL SYSTEMS - Explorers become informed as they study the physical properties of the planet, the human and natural systems spread across it, and the diverse creatures we share our world with.
SEEK INTERCONNECTIONS - Explorers strive to recognize and understand the intricate and interconnected systems of the changing planet we live on. They examine how humans coexist and interact with the environment and the ways places and people impact each other.
For each attitude, skill, or knowledge area that you identify, list at least one learning outcome that would demonstrate your students’ advancement in this area.
Taking Action:
How will this project inspire and empower students to take action to make the world a better place? How will students’ talents and interests drive this action?
Assessment:
How will student learning be assessed for this project?
Opportunities for Modifications and Extensions:
Suggest ways in which the project might be modified or extended for specific student audiences, different abilities, deeper learning, etc.
Resources:
What outside materials support this project? Please include links.
ACTION:
As Wendy McNaughton says, “Drawing is looking and looking is loving”.
One of my goals is to be more curious and ask more questions.
As nature journal keeper, John Muir Laws said, “Questions used to come to me, now I come to questions”.
My nature journal mainly deals with direct observation, but I have also been using it as a tool to study and collect information. For example, I might see a bird or an animal or come up with a question (like what are the differences between juvenile bald and golden eagles?) and then use my nature journal to research those. If I draw something from a field guide, a photo, or life, I am learning about it. The focus of the nature journal for me is to learn, not to make art, even though it also gets me drawing every day.
Where to start:
In the morning, before I start work for the day, I open my journal and make notes. This feels like a promise to myself that I have to finish the page later. This process also gets me to check in with my world, I write down the date and my location. I write down what the moon is doing. I’ve never kept track of when the moon rises and sets each day, and I have been very interested by that. I also write down when the sun will rise and set. That is good information to have as these days get shorter. I also make note of the current weather and the sky cover using NOAA weather symbols. I’d like to note the types of clouds (there are a lot of cool symbols for them!) but I need to learn more about the clouds first. I’ve been enjoying using the weather symbols because they look cool, they are a nice shorthand, and they are getting me to learn more about the weather (like all the clouds) and just think about the weather in a different way. Sometimes, if it’s going to be clear, I also look up the aurora index and add that. Finally, if I want, I make a little sketch of the weather. That little routine takes about five minutes, it makes me grounded and sets my intention to make a journal entry.
I usually go for a walk every morning and sometimes I’ll make a journal entry based on the walk. I might sketch it out and then watercolor it in later. I’ve been dedicating these short, 5-30 minute, chunks of time in the morning, and the evening to journal. I try not to worry if some entries are not great.
I have been sketching directly with pen to make the entry more quick and immediate. Sometimes I play with pencil. I try to think of this as play not work. There was a week in the book where we are supposed to draw a leaf every day. That took some of the pressure off because all I had to do was go outside and find a leaf. Luckily I did that before we got 6” of snow.
Takeaways:
Resources:
https://lbaldwin.sites.tru.ca/files/2019/03/Documthemoment_10.pdf
https://vickiehenderson.blogspot.com/2017/03/watercolor-nature-journaling-workshop.html
https://ostomyoutdoors.com/tag/nature-journaling/
Austin's butterfly: https://vimeo.com/38247060
https://donnallong.com/winter-nature-journal/
https://lbaldwin.sites.tru.ca/wells-gray/
http://www.kristinlink.com/scienceillustration
Nature Journal:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/370222018_Empowering_Elementary_Students_through_Interactive_Nature_Journaling
file:///Users/ackatzko/Downloads/11_Cheuk_EmpoweringElementaryStudentsthroughinteractivenaturejournaling.pdf
Books:
https://www.exploringoverland.com/constantapprentice/2020/3/9/book-debut-nature-journaling-for-a-wild-life-1
Hannah Hinchman’s A Trail through Leaves; The Journal as a Path to Place.
A Life in HandHannah Hinchman
Nature Drawing: A tool for learningClaire Walker Leslie
The Sierra Club Guide to Sketching in NatureCathy Johnson
In Season: A natural history of the New England YearNona Estrin and Charles Johnson
The Last Island: A Naturalist’s Sojourn on Triangle IslandAllison Watt
https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501772634/the-nature-study-idea/#bookTabs=1
Example of Historical Field Journals:
https://siarchives.si.edu/about/field-book-project
Illustrated field journals allow an exploration of science through art and inquiry. The journals of well-known biologists such as Charles Darwin and Ernest Thompson Seton were a critical part of their work as naturalists and biologists.
Grosvenor Teacher Fellow Project:
Project Title: Nature Journaling to Develop an Explorer Mindset
Recommended Age(s)/Grade(s): any (example from grade 3).
Time Needed – Preparation:
Collect supplies and go outside!
Time Needed – Execution:
A lifetime (or an afternoon).
Standards (optional):
I can communicate my questions, observations, discoveries and conclusions, about the lifecycle of plants and its impact on the ecosystem.
Objectives:
By the end of this project, students will be able to:
Part #1
Students will develop an Explorer Mindest through their nature journaling.
Part #2
They will then be empowered to take action to tell others about the importance of getting outside.
Part #1
Materials and Preparation Needed:
Watercolours
Pen
Watercolour Notebook
Overview:
What activities are included in the project? How is the project structured? Note actions taken by educators and learners in enough detail that another educator could implement a similar project.
Vocabulary:
What new vocabulary will students need to learn to complete this project?
Scales and Perspectives, Human and Natural World Connections:
How does this lesson allow students to examine the world from different scales and perspectives? How are themes of the human and natural world, and their intersections, covered in this lesson?
Explorer Mindset Learning Framework Connections:
All of the following information in based in the Explorer Mindset Developed by National Georgraphic.
ATTITUDES Explorers wonder about the world
CURIOUS - Explorers engage with the world around them. Explorers observe, document, and ask questions about where things are and why they are there.
EMPATHETIC - Explorers care about other people, cultural resources, and the environment. They are respectful and committed to making the world a better place. They value and understand their own and others’ points of view, acknowledging differences.
EMPOWERED - Explorers recognize their ability to protect people, cultural resources, and the environment. Explorers are leaders who utilize their knowledge, confidence, means, and ability to take action and make a difference.
SKILLS Explorers learn by doing
USE GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES - Explorers use perspectives (including geological, ecological, historical, economical, political, cultural and spatial perspectives) at different scales (local, regional, and global) as they observe, analyze, visualize, and model spatial patterns, processes, and change over time of the human and natural systems.
APPLY GEOGRAPHIC PRACTICES - Explorers use practices such as mapping, inquiry, and citizen science to explore geographic questions, investigate, examine, assess problems. Explorers think critically as they create new insights and understanding.
COLLABORATE - Explorers engage with the communities in which they work. They create and foster a global community, supporting DEI across fields, countries, and cultures. They include diverse stakeholders, work productively and inclusively to achieve goals toward a sustainable future.
PROBLEM SOLVE - Explorers seek solutions to problems to protect and sustain the wonder of our world. Explorers are capable decision-makers, able to identify alternatives and weigh trade-offs to make well-reasoned decisions based on factual knowledge. Explorers pursue bold ideas and persist in the face of challenges.
COMMUNICATE - Explorers are storytellers who communicate about their work through a variety of methods (scientific, academic, and narrative) and media. Explorers communicate to inspire others to protect and sustain the wonder of our world.
KNOWLEDGE Explorers build geographic knowledge
LEARN ABOUT HUMAN AND NATURAL SYSTEMS - Explorers become informed as they study the physical properties of the planet, the human and natural systems spread across it, and the diverse creatures we share our world with.
SEEK INTERCONNECTIONS - Explorers strive to recognize and understand the intricate and interconnected systems of the changing planet we live on. They examine how humans coexist and interact with the environment and the ways places and people impact each other.
For each attitude, skill, or knowledge area that you identify, list at least one learning outcome that would demonstrate your students’ advancement in this area.
Taking Action:
How will this project inspire and empower students to take action to make the world a better place? How will students’ talents and interests drive this action?
Assessment:
How will student learning be assessed for this project?
Opportunities for Modifications and Extensions:
Suggest ways in which the project might be modified or extended for specific student audiences, different abilities, deeper learning, etc.
Resources:
What outside materials support this project? Please include links.
ACTION:
As Wendy McNaughton says, “Drawing is looking and looking is loving”.
One of my goals is to be more curious and ask more questions.
As nature journal keeper, John Muir Laws said, “Questions used to come to me, now I come to questions”.
My nature journal mainly deals with direct observation, but I have also been using it as a tool to study and collect information. For example, I might see a bird or an animal or come up with a question (like what are the differences between juvenile bald and golden eagles?) and then use my nature journal to research those. If I draw something from a field guide, a photo, or life, I am learning about it. The focus of the nature journal for me is to learn, not to make art, even though it also gets me drawing every day.
Where to start:
In the morning, before I start work for the day, I open my journal and make notes. This feels like a promise to myself that I have to finish the page later. This process also gets me to check in with my world, I write down the date and my location. I write down what the moon is doing. I’ve never kept track of when the moon rises and sets each day, and I have been very interested by that. I also write down when the sun will rise and set. That is good information to have as these days get shorter. I also make note of the current weather and the sky cover using NOAA weather symbols. I’d like to note the types of clouds (there are a lot of cool symbols for them!) but I need to learn more about the clouds first. I’ve been enjoying using the weather symbols because they look cool, they are a nice shorthand, and they are getting me to learn more about the weather (like all the clouds) and just think about the weather in a different way. Sometimes, if it’s going to be clear, I also look up the aurora index and add that. Finally, if I want, I make a little sketch of the weather. That little routine takes about five minutes, it makes me grounded and sets my intention to make a journal entry.
I usually go for a walk every morning and sometimes I’ll make a journal entry based on the walk. I might sketch it out and then watercolor it in later. I’ve been dedicating these short, 5-30 minute, chunks of time in the morning, and the evening to journal. I try not to worry if some entries are not great.
I have been sketching directly with pen to make the entry more quick and immediate. Sometimes I play with pencil. I try to think of this as play not work. There was a week in the book where we are supposed to draw a leaf every day. That took some of the pressure off because all I had to do was go outside and find a leaf. Luckily I did that before we got 6” of snow.
Takeaways:
- Spend some time thinking about, who is the person you’ve always wanted to be?
- Start small and make it accessible. Doing something for 10-20 minutes a day is possible. If drawing feels hard, start with metadata or writing.
- Do it for yourself and think about it as play not work. I keep writing “work in my sketchbook” and try to change it to “play in my sketchbook” :)
Resources:
https://lbaldwin.sites.tru.ca/files/2019/03/Documthemoment_10.pdf
https://vickiehenderson.blogspot.com/2017/03/watercolor-nature-journaling-workshop.html
https://ostomyoutdoors.com/tag/nature-journaling/
Austin's butterfly: https://vimeo.com/38247060
https://donnallong.com/winter-nature-journal/
https://lbaldwin.sites.tru.ca/wells-gray/
http://www.kristinlink.com/scienceillustration
Nature Journal:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/370222018_Empowering_Elementary_Students_through_Interactive_Nature_Journaling
file:///Users/ackatzko/Downloads/11_Cheuk_EmpoweringElementaryStudentsthroughinteractivenaturejournaling.pdf
Books:
https://www.exploringoverland.com/constantapprentice/2020/3/9/book-debut-nature-journaling-for-a-wild-life-1
Hannah Hinchman’s A Trail through Leaves; The Journal as a Path to Place.
A Life in HandHannah Hinchman
Nature Drawing: A tool for learningClaire Walker Leslie
The Sierra Club Guide to Sketching in NatureCathy Johnson
In Season: A natural history of the New England YearNona Estrin and Charles Johnson
The Last Island: A Naturalist’s Sojourn on Triangle IslandAllison Watt
https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501772634/the-nature-study-idea/#bookTabs=1
Example of Historical Field Journals:
https://siarchives.si.edu/about/field-book-project