Putting your own middle school nature study together fits an unschooling, unit study, Charlotte Mason and eclectic homeschool approach. Also, you’ll love more ideas on my How to Homeschool Middle School.
I’m showing you how to put together a middle school nature study.
Besides, once you learn the general framework of a unit study, you can spend as much time or as little as you want on it.
You’ll learn how to do it easy peasy, make it a little more challenging, cover more than just simple nature study, and give you a list of wonderful books and other resources to go along with it.
While nature study is wonderful you may want to be able to make it more well-rounded and use it as credit for their sciences.
It is possible to do that with a little more intentional planning.
How to Put Together a Middle School Nature Study
You can still enjoy the carefree times of nature walks, simple observations, and nature-based art but it’s time to kick those things up a notch.
1. Expand What the Term Nature Study Means
First, build your curriculum on more subjects than just nature.
See how you can expand it.
While nature study is important and wonderful, you want to make sure that you are giving them access to multiple streams of learning.
For example, look for interesting videos, living books on a variety of topics, and deeper study into topics,
In addition, include parts of science that are not naturally in nature studies.
Encourage study and find ways to incorporate learning about electricity, rocketry, chemistry, anatomy, microbiology, and other topics.
2. Nature Journals Become Science Notes & Labs
These can be a great way to work on art and creative writing.
However, nature journals can easily turn to lab notes and physical documentation of what they have been learning.
Too, journals show progress and can be used to highlight what interests your child.
More Nature Study Activities
But at this stage, you can start expecting a little more out of them, a little more writing, more challenges with their artwork, and expanding their interests.
Instead of just drawing, take the next step to nature photography or classifying rocks with bulleted lists, add a bit more structure to the expectations.
3. Keep Records
No matter what your homeschool style you may or may not have kept more of a record than the smiling photographs and jotted notes that you needed.
You can also “reverse plan”, which just means you write down what you accomplish after it’s done rather than what you plan to do in advance.
This helps you get a feel for if you are doing enough.
And I find it really encouraging to look back on all we accomplished that I might not have remembered without writing it down. Grab any notebook or paper pad and start writing it all down.
4. Offer Learning Baskets
Gather different types of books and resources like field guides, tools, specimens, and picture books, with a broad nature study scope as well as some specific to certain topics.
Then put them all together in a basket to create interest.
Next go with a specific nature topic of a mix to see where the current interests lie. You never know they may find a new passion!
5. Expand the bookshelf
Don’t sell those picture books yet!
There are many amazing nature study picture books that will appeal to middle schoolers and teach them so much more than any dry textbook would.
Don’t discount those books you may consider picture books and too young for middle schoolers. They are still a great resource and wonderful to use for art inspiration, identification, and research.
Then here are more nature study activities and resources.
Other Nature Study Activities and Resources
- Fun Outdoor Activities For Middle Schoolers Geocaching and Nature Study
- 26 Free Nature Unit Studies for Multiple Ages
- Famous and Historic Trees Fun Nature and History Homeschool Unit Study
- How to Make an Easy Nature Paint Brush With Kids
- 20 Nature-Inspired Kids’ Novels to Nurture Interest In the Outdoors
Also, add one or two of these fun nature lapbooks to your nature unit study for a hands on project.
6 Nature Study Books and Resources
Add one of these resources or books to your study about nature. They all give you a starting point or use one or two of them as a nature spine.
See the world in a whole new way! Acclaimed illustrator Julia Rothman combines art and science in this exciting and educational guide to the structure, function, and personality of the natural world. Explore the anatomy of a jellyfish, the inside of a volcano, monarch butterfly migration, how sunsets work, and much more. Rothman’s whimsical illustrations are paired with interactive activities that encourage curiosity and inspire you to look more closely at the world all around you.
The Handbook of Nature Study is a classic Charlotte Mason text. A big book full of information on pretty much every area of nature study from tools to birds, weather, and rocks.
This beautifully packaged facsimile of Edith Holden’s original diary is filled with a naturalist’s masterful paintings and delightful observations chronicling the English countryside throughout 1906. As one of the few true records of the time in print, the handwritten thoughts and paintings contained in The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady transport readers to a more refined, romantic, and simpler time.
Filled with both recognisable, and tropical flora, Botanicum is the ultimate companion guide to the variety of plants, and how they have evolved and grow.
Discover the interconnectedness of the natural world and learn why living things look and behave the way they do in a series of visually compelling information charts, maps, and cutaways, all illustrated in a nostalgic, vintage style. Packed with incredible facts about the natural world and the animals that populate it, the whole family will enjoy the full-page spreads grouped into the categories of habitats, species, and adaptations.
The Thinking Tree presents: A Creative Book of Observation, Drawing, Coloring, Writing & Discovery Through Nature, ideal for all ages (even adults!)
Creativity and discovery at its best, this journal is a bestseller among The Thinking Tree publications! Your nature-loving student will treasure this journal designed to ignite their wonder of the outdoors. With more than 180 lessons and beautiful illustrations, the Nature Study Journal invites the student to read, write, draw, color, explore and appreciate the outdoors while covering a variety of subjects such as science, poetry, observation instructions, and more.
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