Nature Quest
Nature Quest
The Nature Quest activity was designed by Mrs. Berendowski, a retired elementary teacher, an environmentally caring person and of course, Citizen Scientist. This activity was inspired by Joseph Cornell and a Forest Bathing workshop. You will find more nature activities inspired by Cornell here.
This activity is designed to help younger children (and can be adapted for older children) to become Citizen Scientists and to promote the ideas of appreciation, mindfulness and preservation of nature. This activity can be done anywhere outside, but it works best in a natural environment with many different types of nature habitats that can be identified, such as: Woodlands, Grasslands/Meadows, and Wetlands.
- Print copies of the five sense nature treasure hunt checklist and roll them into a scroll and tie with yarn or string.
- Create Nature Treasure Box signs. These will double as the sound map, so make them large enough for the kids to draw on the back (about a half sheet of standard copier paper). You may want to use a thicker stock, so they can color on the front without bleeding and to provide a good service for drawing on the back. Place a small X in the middle of the sign on the blank side.
Have the children bring their own egg carton. While they are waiting for everyone to arrive, they can color their Nature Treasure Box sign and put their names on their egg cartons. Before they begin, they should have a pencil, the scavenger hunt checklist scroll, and their Nature Treasure Box sign in their egg carton. Also, give them a bag for any trash they may find or create along the way.
Nature as Rooms in a House:
Prior to beginning the activities, discuss with the children about how each habitat in nature can be thought of as a separate room in a house. Nature should be respected just like a home since it is the home to wildlife, plants and trees. As you tour around the area, ask the children which room it could be like in their house. Then discuss with them what type of habitat they are currently in. Below are some examples and see this website for a more detailed description of each habitat:
Wetlands:
Activity 1: Sound Map
Direct the children to a trail (if available) or to a place within the trees where they will be able to hear the sounds of nature and possible humans (which is okay). They will be sitting down, so be sure to pick a place where they can safely sit for about five minutes or so. Have them walk to the area in silence and tell them to be listening for the sounds of nature while you hike to where you will be doing the activity.
Once you are in the area you have chosen, have the children spread out and choose a place for quiet listening. Explain to them the activity:
- Sit quietly for 5 minutes (may be longer depending on the age of the children) and listen to the sounds around you. They may be things from nature such as birds, but they also may be something more human. There may even be sounds you don't recognize.
- Flip your Nature Treasure Box sign over. Imagine you are the X. You will be adding the sounds you hear around you . As you hear a sound, draw a symbol that comes to mind that represents the sound you hear. You may not use any words or draw any pictures. Think about what shapes come to mind as you listen to the sound. Draw the symbols around the X in the same direction you hear the sound.
- After 5 minutes, have the children stop. Then they will do the following:
- Circle the symbol for the sound they liked the best
- Underline the sound they liked the least
- Double underline a sound they have never heard before
- Then, have them get with a partner and discuss the sounds they heard and explain why they chose the one they circled, underlined, and double underlined.
- As you transition to the next activity, have the children look around to see if there is any trash and make sure they leave no trace.
Click here for more information on the sound map activity
Activity 2: Scavenger Hunt and Nature Treasure Box
Depending on your preserve or habitat, you can either begin the scavenger hunt where you are or move to another habitat. If the children are older, you can allow them to go off in pairs away from the group.
They will find items in nature that match the five senses. Remind them of the five senses and stress, even though taste is one of the senses, they should never eat anything they find in nature unless a nature expert tells them it is okay.
They can unwrap their scrolls which contain their checklist. They should locate one thing on each list for each of the five senses. If it is safe (and permitted), they should place an item in their egg carton for each item they find. Encourage them to pick things that have already fallen to the ground in order to preserve the habitat. There are 12 spots in an egg carton, so if you have time, you may want them to fill up 10 of the spots (2 on the list for each of the five senses). If they spot something that does not fit or shouldn't be touched, they can simply write down what they found.
Remind the children they can re-use their egg carton to find new treasures on their next hike. This promotes the idea of re-purposing, which is good for the environment. Remind them that the carton was once used for eggs, and it has been re-purposed as a treasure box.
Activity 3: Reflect on Nature
Before you end the activity, take some time for them to discuss and reflect on their experience. Some questions you may want to ask:
- What was your favorite activity?
- What is something new you learned about nature?
- What was the favorite sound you heard?
- What is your favorite object you found or saw?
- What will you do next time you are in nature?
- How can you continue to be a Citizen Scientist?
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