Nature study is a big part of our science plan. I have struggled to successfully have the kids draw their observations while we're out and so we don't do the follow-up identification. I went out for a walk on my own on Saturday and took some pics in the conservation area so I could ID trees when I came home. Part of the appeal of nature study to me is that it is something that I'm interested in and would want to do even if we weren't home schooling.
I was looking for a plant ID app later on and I came across iNaturalist. At first, I thought it was basically an online/digital nature journal, a way to record and organize your own observations. I added a couple. The next morning, people had added their own IDs and commented. Whaaaat? Apparently, it's a community thing, which is also great. (You can keep things private if you prefer.) So I've gone out in our yard and at my parents' place and taken more pictures and added more "observations" (when you see something, take a pic of it, and upload it with the time and location, that's an observation).
You can also explore observations on the map. Someone added salamanders they saw in a conservation area not far from here. I only learned a few years ago that salamanders live around here and I still haven't seen one in the wild, so I was maybe a little giddy when I saw that.
I'm looking forward to having B9 make an account and I hope that the older kids (who are in public school) will want to as well.
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