How to Teach Nature Journaling: Curiosity, Wonder, Attention

Review Quotes:

"From the beginning of time, we have been connected to nature, but for the first time in history, that connection threatens to be broken for most of an entire generation and perhaps generations to come. In this book and this work, I find hope. Laws and Lygren have created a powerful and practical resource for teachers to help children and adults discover, explore, love, and protect the natural world around them. Nature is magic, and everyone needs it."--Robert Bateman, artist and naturalist

"Engaging students in learning about nature is a compelling need in these turbulent times. Just as important is communicating clearly, precisely, and truthfully. Naturalists and educators John Muir Laws and Emilie Lygren help teachers achieve these goals with How to Teach Nature Journaling. This is a wonderful response to educators' request for meaningful ways to implement contemporary standards. The book is useful, full of activities, and manageable for classroom teachers."--Rodger W. Bybee, Executive Director, BSCS Science Learning (Retired)

"Imagine if every teacher taught nature journaling, every student spent enough time outside to fill a journal each year, and our kids were becoming writers, artists, and scientists all at once. I'd send my kid to that school. Thanks to Emilie Lygren and Jack Laws, we now have the vision and the tools to make this our reality."--Craig Strang, Associate Director of Lawrence Hall of Science

"The writing, the illustrations, the demonstration of an intentional, informative, and wonderfully educational approach to nature journal writing--it's all here. From field activities with clear examples to an inquiry-based approach to learning, this book is a gem for educators, first-time journalers, and for the experienced naturalist as well. It's art, it's writing, it's education, it's science, naturally so."--José González, Founder of Latino Outdoors

"Here is a natural way for parents and teachers to integrate the beauty and mystery of nature into the lives of children. The book itself is a work of art."--Richard Louv, author of Our Wild Calling and Last Child in the Woods

"Nature journaling is the single most valuable tool and skill a teacher can possess and use to move the Next Generation Science Standards and environmental literacy forward in their school. You need to do this!"--Rob Wade, Science & Outdoor Education Coordinator, Plumas Unified School District/Plumas County of Education

"This book beautifully demonstrates how nature journaling is a valuable, multidimensional approach to science. Through this work, students build neural pathways that enable different brain regions to communicate with each other, resulting in more flexible thinking and creative problem solving in all areas of life. This approach to nature journaling also offers students an excellent way to learn and practice a growth mindset through nature and science."--Jo Boaler, Professor of Education and Equity, Stanford University; co-founder and faculty director of youcubed.org; and author of several books including Mathematical Mindsets and Limitless Mind

"Charlotte Mason said that 'where science does not teach a child to wonder and admire it has perhaps no educative value.' John Muir Laws and Emilie Lygren have filled their book with the tools of nature journaling that can help us all get outdoors to wonder at and admire the nature around us. What a gift their book is!"--J. Carroll Smith, EdD, Founder of the Charlotte Mason Institute, Professor of Education (Retired)

"In How to Teach Nature Journaling, educators get best practices for facilitating intentional and inclusive strategies for nature journaling with students. This can spark a lifelong wonder of the natural world."--Arvolyn Hill, Coordinator of Family Programs, Children's Adventure Garden at the New York Botanical Garden

"How to Teach Nature Journaling offers step-by-step processes to reach all learners through shared experience. This can be a transformative way for students to learn to communicate and express how they view the natural world."--Michelle Peres, Environmental Educator, NatureBridge

John (Jack) Muir Laws is a principal leader and innovator of the worldwide nature journaling movement. Jack is a scientist, educator, and author, who helps people forge a deeper and more personal connection with nature through keeping illustrated nature journals and understanding science. His work intersects science, art, and mindfulness. Trained as a wildlife biologist and an associate of the California Academy of Sciences, he observes the world with rigorous attention. He looks for mysteries, plays with ideas, and seeks connections in all he sees. Attention, observation, curiosity, and creative thinking are not gifts, but skills that grow with training and deliberate practice. As an educator and author, Jack teaches techniques and supports routines that develop these skills to make them a part of everyday life.

Laws has written and illustrated several books including How to Teach Nature Drawing and Journaling (2020), The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling (2016), The Laws Guide to Drawing Birds (2012), Sierra Birds: a Hiker's Guide (2004), The Laws Guide to the Sierra Nevada (2007), and The Laws Pocket Guide Set to the San Francisco Bay Area (2009), all published by Heyday. He is a regular contributor to Bay Nature magazine with his "Naturalists Notebook" column.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Why We Teach Nature Journaling


• Why Nature Journaling?


• You Can Do This, and It Is Worth It


• MANAGING THE OUTDOOR CLASSROOM
  
  
  
  • How to Lead Journaling Activities
  
  
  • Nature Journaling In Different Contexts
  
  
  
  

NATURE JOURNALING ACTIVITIES

• Activity Format

GETTING STARTED: INTRODUCTORY JOURNALING TECHNIQUES AND ACTIVITIES

• Example Journal Pages
  
  
  
  • Use Words, Pictures, and Numbers
  
  
  • Mix It Up
  
  
  
  


• Activites
  
  
  
  • I Notice, I Wonder, It Reminds Me
  
  
  • My Secret Plant
  
  
  • To Each Its Own
  
  
  • Comparison
  
  
  • Zoom In, Zoom Out
  
  
  
  

OBSERVATION AND NATURAL HISTORY

• Example Journal Pages
  
  
  
  • Look Big, Look Small
  
  
  • Make Comparisons and Study Categories
  
  
  • Get Lost in Wonder
  
  
  
  


• Activities
  
  
  
  • Collection or Field Guide
  
  
  • Timeline
  
  
  • String Safari
  
  
  • Animal Encounters
  
  
  • Species Account
  
  
  • Forest Karaoke: Transcribing Birdsong
  
  
  • Soundscape Maps
  
  
  
  

INQUIRY, INVESTIGATION, AND SCIENTIFIC THINKING

• Intentional Curiosity and Inquiry


• The Crosscutting Concepts


• Who, What, Where, When, How, and Why


• International Baccalaureate Key Concepts


• How Do You Answer Your Questions?


• Example Journal Pages
  
  
  
  • Ask Questions and Think Like a Scientist
  
  
  • Practiced Precision
  
  
  • Nature Puzzles
  
  
  • Follow Curiosity Chains
  
  
  
  


• Activities
  
  
  
  • Mysteries and Explanations
  
  
  • Questioning Questions
  
  
  • Mapping
  
  
  • Landscape Cross Section
  
  
  • Phenomenon Model
  
  
  • Team Observation
  
  
  
  

WORDS: ARTICULATED THOUGHT AND STORYTELLING

• Writing to Think and Observe


• Example Journal Pages
  
  
  
  • Find Poems Within and Around You
  
  
  • Reflection, Connection, and Joy
  
  
  • Practice Scientific Storytelling
  
  
  • What Pictures Cannot Show
  
  
  
  


• Activities
  
  
  
  • Writing to Observe, Writing to Think
  
  
  • Event Comic
  
  
  • Event Map
  
  
  • Poetry of Place and Moment
  
  
  • Sit Spot
  
  
  
  

PICTURES: DRAWING AND VISUAL THINKING

• Observational Drawing


• Observational Drawing, Step-by-Step


• Building New Skills: Basic Drawing Exercises


• Drawing Tricks and Tips: Instruction for Students


• Page Structure and Layout


• Example Journal Pages
  
  
  
  • Think with Pictures
  
  
  • Balancing Flexibility and Structure
  
  
  • Look, and Look Again
  
  
  
  


• Activities
  
  
  
  • Inside Out
  
  
  • Nature Blueprints
  
  
  • Infographic
  
  
  • Photo, Pencil, and Found-Object Collage
  
  
  
  

NUMBERS: QUANTIFICATION AND MATHEMATICAL THINKING

• Numbers and Quantification


• Making Quantification Tool Kits


• Example Jounral Pages
  
  
  
  • Show Where the Numbers Came From
  
  
  • Use Numbers to Find the Pattern
  
  
  
  


• Activities
  
  
  
  • Hidden Figures
  
  
  • Biodiversity Inventory
  
  
  • Timed Observations
  
  
  • Change Over Time
  
  
  
  

INCORPORATING JOURNALING INTO LESSONS, FRAMEWORKS, AND ASSESSMENTS

• Journaling Over Time


• Developing Skills: Ideas, Practice, and Feedback


• Grading and Evaluation


• Evaluation Rubric


• From Activities to Longer Lessons


• Journaling in Units


• The Next Generation Science Standards


• The Common Core State Standards


• Teaching Science and Inquiry: A Deeper Dive

FINAL THOUGHTS

• A: Tools and Materials


• B: Activity Summaries, Learning Goals, and Possible Phenomena


• C: NGSS Connections


• D: Evaluation Rubric


• E: Cut-and-Paste Nature Journal Strategie


• F: Cut-and-Paste Quantification Tool Kit

Notes

The first-ever comprehensive book devoted to helping educators use nature journaling as an inspiring teaching tool to engage young people with wild places.

In their workshops, John Muir Laws and Emilie Lygren are often asked the how-tos of teaching nature journaling: how to manage student groups in the outdoors, teach drawing skills (especially from those who profess to have none), connect journaling to educational standards, and incorporate journaling into longer lessons. This book, expanding on the philosophy and methods of The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling puts together curriculum plans, advice, and in-the-field experience so that educators of all stripes can leap into journaling with their students. The approaches are designed to work in a range of ecosystems and settings, and are suitable for classroom teachers, outdoor educators, camp counselors, and homeschooling parents.

Full-color illustrations and sample journal pages from notable naturalists show how to put each lesson into practice. Field-tested by over a hundred educators, this book includes dozens of activities that easily support the Common Core and the Next Generation Science Standards--and, just as important, it will show kids and mentors alike how to recognize the wonder and intrigue in their midst.

Contributor Bio:Laws, John Muir
John (Jack) Muir Laws is a scientist, educator, and author, who helps people forge a deeper and more personal connection with nature through keeping illustrated nature journals and understanding science. His work combines science, art, and mindfulness. He observes the world with rigorous attention, looks for mysteries, plays with ideas, and seeks connections in all he sees. Jack teaches techniques that make, observation, curiosity, and creative thinking a part of everyday life. Visit his website at johnmuirlaws.com.

Contributor Bio:Lygren, Emilie
Facilitator, author, educator, and poet Emilie Lygren has cowritten dozens of outdoor science publications with the award-winning BEETLES Project and has published poems in a range of literary journals. Visit her website at: emilielygren.com.