There is so much to learn from the environment if only one cares to stop and look at nature. Keep a “nature journal” to remember what you have observed.
What you need
You need a notebook, a pencil and lots of curiosity. You can observe a tree, plant or an insect that you can find and take notes of it, sketch it, and add details such as its name, the time, place and weather when you saw it.
Aditi, who is schooled at home, said, “It was lots of fun.” She learnt how to search for insects in the grass, different kinds of leaves, and about contour drawing, which is drawing without looking at the paper. “I remember the names of the butterflies: the “tailed jay”, which had black and green wings, with tails at the bottom, and the Common crow, which had a brown colour with spots. I find the names interesting,” she said.
Srikant, 12, said, “I liked everything about it.” Something that he enjoyed learning from the activity was to write down the date, time and weather when the plant or insect was being observed.
Dinkar, aged nine, said, “We looked and wrote...I drew many things like some birds. I drew a pelican.” (He said that he drew one more bird but he has now forgotten which bird it was and that the name of the bird began with “C”.)
On insects
Gautam, a Std IV student at Sishu Griha School, Bangalore, said, “Learning about insects and flowers... I liked that. I found a spittlebug, a dragon fly and lots of ants, mostly black and red. I didn't know there was something like a spittlebug.”
He also saw many birds in the lake, especially cormorants and pelicans.
Maanasa, a student of Std III, HeadStart School, said that they drew some insects, leaves, and cut paper and stuck it into the shape of a tree.
She said she drew a purple moorhen that was in the lake.
Sangeetha Kadur, a Bangalore-based wildlife artist and Shreeshilpa, an artist, organise nature-journaling activities.
