Nature Study #170: The Strawberry
Whenever we are going to be outside, I pack a bag with all the necessities... 
snacks, a cloth to sit on, pencils and paper and The Handbook of Nature Study. 
We went to the strawberry patch today and I was ready for nature study. I sat on the cloth and looked over the section on The Strawberry (pp. 608-611) in the HNS...
and when I was finished, began sketching a strawberry plant while the kids picked berries.
When the first child was done with picking berries, I let him watch me for a moment and then I began playing the how-well-did-you-notice game.
"Did you notice how the leaves of the strawberry plant are arranged?" 
"Did you notice how the blossoms look? How many petals are there? Did you notice any insects on the blossoms?" 
When he tires of this game, I offer him paper and a pencil. He begins to sketch.
More children finish picking and begin eating their snack, and I ask more questions all around, varying the difficulty depending on their age.
"What part of the blossom falls away and what part remains when the strawberry begins to form? Are the fruits all of the same shape and color? What are the specks on its surface?"
Some draw the plant, inspired by the questions. For the younger ones or those reluctant to draw, I suggest that they put the leaves down on the paper and trace them and then fill in the rib lines afterwards.
Some draw about the experience of being there. That is okay, too.
snacks, a cloth to sit on, pencils and paper and The Handbook of Nature Study. 
We went to the strawberry patch today and I was ready for nature study. I sat on the cloth and looked over the section on The Strawberry (pp. 608-611) in the HNS... and when I was finished, began sketching a strawberry plant while the kids picked berries.When the first child was done with picking berries, I let him watch me for a moment and then I began playing the how-well-did-you-notice game.
"Did you notice how the leaves of the strawberry plant are arranged?" "Did you notice how the blossoms look? How many petals are there? Did you notice any insects on the blossoms?" When he tires of this game, I offer him paper and a pencil. He begins to sketch.More children finish picking and begin eating their snack, and I ask more questions all around, varying the difficulty depending on their age.
"What part of the blossom falls away and what part remains when the strawberry begins to form? Are the fruits all of the same shape and color? What are the specks on its surface?"
Some draw the plant, inspired by the questions. For the younger ones or those reluctant to draw, I suggest that they put the leaves down on the paper and trace them and then fill in the rib lines afterwards. Some draw about the experience of being there. That is okay, too.
"... (the) spirit in which the notes (and sketches) are made is more important than the information they cover."
-Anna Comstock, The Handbook of Nature Study, p.13.
