More Great Free Nature Study Resources

If you haven't guessed, nature study has been on my mind recently.  Along with artist studies, composer studies, and poetry, it is one of those things that I let slide if we don't get to it.  I'm going to work harder at keeping these elements in our weekly schedule.  Ginger thrives when they are present and school is just more fun (for both of us).

In my quest for nature related activities, I came across two great tree identification sites.  Like Tuesday's resource, Free Nature Study Resource, these were produced for West Virginia.  However, the information contained is not specific to West Virginia. 

The first item is a PDF on Basic Tree Identification produced by the West Virginia Division of Forestry and the Tyler Country FFA.   It is 65 pages of close-up, color images of different leaves, barks, and arrangements for tree identification.  Here is an example of a Shagbark Hickory bark identification page.

The second resource is the West Virginia 4-H Tree Identification Booklet.  Besides containing a tree identification key for the most common forest trees in the state, it also provides  instructions on how to build a press, tips for collecting, preservation, and display of your leaves, twigs, and seeds, tips on making a fruit display box, and collection record sheets.  If you wanted to, the images of the leaves with flowers and fruit, are all in black and white, labeled with genus, species, and common names, and would absolutely make a good coloring book.

Here's to starting this year's nature study on the right track!

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