My Field Journal

Name:_______________________________
 What Scientists Do

Core to Field Science

Explore
Observe
Ask questions
Make connections
Discover science mysteries
Make evidence-based explanation

Applying and Investigating

Communicating Plan investigation
Share findings with others Collect data & make
Argue and critique ideas measurements
Develop explanations Analyze and interpret data
Solve practical problems Use feild guides and other
Make and use models & resources
Diagrams
Cultivating Curiosity. The Practice of the Open Mind.

Scientists often ask themselves, and others, questions that arise

while in the field or lab. Sometimes seemingly dis-connected
ideas and thoughts come to mind. This is the State of Wonder
that helps teams of scientists solve mysteries.
Scientists might respond to questions that arise with “I don’t
know, that’s an interesting idea, let’s think about this”, “that
could be”, or “I am guessing that it is somehow related to…”, “It
could and might be…”.

This is called a thought experiment and is often the beginning

of the way scientists and others create, discover science
mysteries, and begin to form hypotheses.

These wonderings can spark great discussions, theories, and

even future advances in science.

While you explore, jot down any questions or wonderings

you have in your journal. Consider discussing them with a
friend. Sharing an inquiring mindset is fun and can often lead
to discoveries, connections, experiment and answers. Practice
makes perfect.
Nature Bingo
Put a check mark next to each activity you have completed

Find an insect with Observe an insect for Draw a damaged tree Find and draw 3 Find a rock you like
wings and note what 3 minutes. List your and explain your patterns you find in and describe it
other features you observations theory on how it nature
notice happened

Write a story about Find an invertebrate Do a sound map for 5 Record your Why are some
how animals pick an that uses camouflage minutes observations about animals and plants
area to make a and describe how it the weather considered invasive?
shelter was blending in

Draw a picture of your Why is nature Find a decomposer Find a flower that you Free spot
surroundings! Do not important to you? and note what you like and list the
let the pencil leave think it decomposes reasons why (Dance Party for 3
the paper. minutes)

Write a story about a How do these Estimate the age of a Find an invertebrate Draw a picture of your
drop of water exercises make you pine tree by counting without a exoskeleton surroundings without
feel like a scientist? the whorls and draw or describe looking at the paper
it
What are 3 things that What is your favorite Find a tree you like If you live in any
are important to you activity to do outside and list all the ecosystem found on
and why? and why? reasons why earth. Where would
you live and why?
Form and Function Activity:

In the invertebrate world, there are many ways in which insects

move around, inhabit the environment that they live in, and uti-
lize a habitat. Similar to humans, invertebrates have routines and
patterns they follow, preferences for places, and activities they are
involved in.

1. Search for and notice the invertebrates found within the

soil, on the ground or grasses, and above the ground in
shrubs, trees or the air.
2. Notice the time of day that you are seeing them, the weather
conditions, and what they seem to be doing.
3. Notice if they appear to be active as a solitary organism or
are actively collaborating with other organisms.
4. When you find insect activity, use the template below to
make a sketch of what you see in the corresponding habitat
zone below. Feel free to make notes next to your drawing to
indicate any other information that may help describe what
you are seeing or may be wondering about.

Compare and Contrast:

• What did you notice about the animals residing within the
different areas?
• Did they have similar traits?
• How do they differ?
• Did you find one kind of organism in more than one of
these habitats?
• Can you notice and guess at what adaptations these inverte
brates use to thrive in their habitats?
• What could the niches of these invertebrates be?
 Above Ground

On the Ground

In the Soil

In the water
Creative Wondering and Writing:

Imagine and write a story, poem, or a draw cartoon about what life
might look like in the day of an insect. Do you remember Charlotte
the spider in the Story ‘Charlottes Web’, Babbity Bumble in The Tale
of Mrs Tittlemouse, Spiderman?

The novelist H. E. Bates described the rapid, agile flight of

dragonflies in his 1937 nonfiction book. Down the River:
I saw, once, an endless procession, just over an area of water-lilies,
of small sapphire dragonflies, a continuous play of blue gauze over
the snowy flowers above the sun-glassy water. It was all confined,
in true dragonfly fashion, to one small space. It was a continuous
turning and returning, an endless darting, poising, striking and
hovering, so swift that it was often lost in sunlight.

Think of the senses they might use to navigate their world and how
they obtain the things that they need to survive. To help gain ideas
from their perspective spend some time quietly watching, perhaps
take a wandering walk through your local habitat, or lay on the
ground and look up through grasses, leaves, and trees and across
the water.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

• What’s an insect you know of, or have found while

exploring, that you find to be beautiful?
• What is it that you find particularly fascinating, intriguing,
or peculiar about your insect?
• What other animals might they meet, or obstacles might
they encounter?
• Where is their home and what does it look like?
• If you could have a discussion with this animal, what kind
of questions would you ask them?
• What do you think they might say in response?
 Animals and humans
consume plants as food

Decomposers recycle
decaying materials to
useable nutrients

Plants use the nutrients to

grow with the help of
insects like pollinators
Mapping and Attunement Activity: Sound, Weather Conditions,
Phenology

Time: 7-15 minutes

Required Materials:
A journal and writing utensil for each student

Objectives:
This activity provides students with a new way to become aware
of, explore, and connect with habitats. Using their senses to map
site conditions students will discover the range of inhabitants that
may occupy a space and the possible relationships between the
inhabitants and the conditions of the site.

Outcomes:
1. Students will practice using their senses for the exploration and
discovery of a given habitat and/or ecosystem
2. Students may determine relative species abundance through
the attunement to a specific site and make connections across the
sciences relative to the site conditions and inhabitants
3. Students may compare and contrast observations at the site
during different times of day and over time, and make habitat and
phenologic connections
4. Students will learn how to create a simple pictorial
representation of inhabitant data in order to convey information.
Basic map components will include a map key, weather
information, date and time stamp.

Activity:
Prepare students before they head out by telling them:
1. They will need to find a spot within the designated boundaries
that is within sight of the teacher but away from other students.
2. Sound maps are a quiet, individual activity. They need to be as
quiet as possible and not interact with other students in order to
not disturb the natural environment and to successfully capture all
the data at their site.
3. They can choose to sit however is comfortable for them and that
being still will provide for the most robust and accurate data collec-
tion opportunity.
4. They begin by drawing a dot in the center of the paper to repre-
sent them. Space at the top of their paper represents space in front
of them. Space at the bottom of the paper represents space behind
them. The right side of the dot represents space to their right and so
on.
5. When the teacher gives the signal to start, students close their
eyes in order to attune their hearing to inhabitants, and the feeling
of weather more acutely. Students record everything they feel and
hear using a symbol or words they create. Each time they hear a
repeated sound, they record it again using the same symbol.
6. Students keep listening and recording until the time is up.
7. Students will finish by creating a legend to accompany their
sound map. They do not need to know what the sound they heard
was.
Extension Ideas:
• Students can adopt one specific location on campus as their
own unique spot for ongoing phenological study and exploration
throughout the year.
• The mapping activity can be repeated from different locations or
different habitats, during different times of year or different times
of day. Students can compare their results and make note of any
differences.
• Maps could be used to determine species abundance at different
times of the year and relationship between species and climate.
• Students could create a story of events to accompany their sound
map.
• Students could create graphs from their maps to determine the
relative frequency and timing of sounds in their location and make
comparisons to other locations chosen by their classmates.
• Students could use the map data to make predictions about hab-
itat quality of different locations or to determine the various ways
their location is affected by external factors such as human activ-
ity, wind, light, and availability of survival resources (food, water,
shelter).
Cup Trap Exercise and Journaling

What insects travel across the soil near you? What might emerge at
different times of the day and night?
Let’s find out using a cup trap!

To make one:
1. Dig a small hole in your testing habitat large enough to fit a
cup or small can.
2. Adjust the hole depth and cup position so the lip of the cup
is even with the top of the soil. Your trap is now set
3. Return in 4-12 hrs. to see what crossed its path!
4. Journal entry information:

a. Location: Date & time trap set:

Weather: Temperature:

5. Note insects found & descriptions:

Helpful Prompt: I notice that…I wonder about…

Please remember to release trapped critters after you journal!

Additional Journal writing ideas:

• Do you notice any differences in the type and number of

insects traveling in the habitat at night vs the day?
• Rainy vs. Sunny days? Cold vs. Warm days? Spring vs.
Summer?
• What are some similarities between the insects you found?
Some differences?
Make Your Own Microscope

Materials:
Plastic or paper cup
Saran wrap or clear sandwich bag
Rubber band or hair tie
Scissors
Water
Journal
Pencil

1. Cut the bottom of the cup off using the scissors so you are left
with the cylinder sides of the cup. Then, starting at the bottom of
the cup, cut a rectangular arch out of the side out the cup, leaving
about an inch of room at the top.

2. Cut a square section of plastic wrap or sandwich bag so that it

fits over the wider, open end of the cup with one inch of extra mate-
rial on the sides.

3. Using the rubber band, hair tie, or tape, secure the plastic sheet
over the wide end of the cup so that there is a slight dip in the cen-
ter like a shallow bowl.

4. Pour a small amount of water in this bowl to complete the lens

of your microscope (be careful not to spill!), you can adjust the
amount of water to find what works best.

5. To use, place an object or specimen under the open end of the

cup, moving the item up or down using the window to focus what
you see through the water lens. Note: this works best when there is
adequate light on the specimen. Look at all that magnified detail!

6. Note what you observe. Notice differences in what you see and
draw conclusions about how the different characteristics of the
insect might be providing for its lifestyle and needs.
 tom of the cup off using the scissors so you are left with the cyl
he bottom of the cup, cut a rectangular arch out of the side out
m at the top.
e section of plastic wrap or sandwich bag so that it fits over the
h of extra material on the sides.
bber band, hair tie, or tape, secure the plastic sheet over the w
ght dip in the center like a shallow bowl.
amount of water in this bowl to complete the lens of your mic
an adjust the amount of water to find what works best.
e an object or specimen under the open end of the cup, moving
to focus what you see through the water lens. Note: this works
ght on the specimen. Look at all that magnified detail!
ou observe. Notice differences in what you see and draw concl
aracteristics of the insect might be providing for its lifestyle and

Figure 1: Image of Magnifying Cup

Create Your Own Insect and Habitat Activity

After you have wandered and wondered and had some time to dis-
cover things about different insects, their habitats and the strategies
they use to get their needs met, have fun imagining what kind of
insect you might like to be and why.

1. Take some time and ask yourself:

• What characteristics might be amusing to have?
•What could you look like and why?
•What kind of habitat might you prefer to live in and what
would it look like?
•What adaptions will you give your insect so it can utilize
and thrive in it’s environment?
• What does your insect need in its habitat to survive? It
may help to think of your own basic needs, you might
have some in common with your new insect friend.

2. Jot down some of your ideas and thoughts in your journal

3. Using materials you have on hand (paper, coloring utensils, recy-

cled materials, cardboard, string, leaves, bits of wood, anything!),
brainstorm and create your own insect and a habitat for them to
live in!

4. When scientists explore and find a new species, they get to name
and describe it so it can be officially recognized, write up infor-
mation about the habitat along with specific characteristics of the
insects. So it can be identified easily by others. Try naming and
describing your new insect too!
 Vocabulary List

Adaptation: Inheritable modification of an organism’s parts or

behavior that better suits it to survive in its environment

Camouflage: The use of texture and/ or color to blend in with the

surrounding habitat

Decomposer: An organism that feeds on dead material breaking it

down into soil

Ecology: The science of studying relationships between living

things and the environment
Ecoservices:

Ecosystem: All the living and non-living elements within a defined

area and the interactions between them

Emergent Properties: Properties, of a group of items, that emerge

through the functioning of a system of individual parts working
together and where typically complex interconnections among the
parts give rise to qualities that belong only to the whole.
Examples of emergent properties include cities, the brain, ant
colonies and complex chemical systems.

Habitat: The environment in which an organism (plant or animal)

lives that contains all the things that the organism needs including
water, food, and shelter.

Insect: Small invertebrate animals. Adults have three clearly defined

body regions and three pairs of legs
Invertebrate: Animals lacking a backbone or spinal column. They
include creatures like arthropods (insects, arachnids, and crusta-
ceans), mollusks (snails, squids, and octopuses), annelids (earth-
worms and leeches), and cnidarians (jellyfish, sea anemones, and
corals). With well over one million species, insects and other
invertebrates vastly outnumber all other animal species, and form
the foundation of many ecosystems.

Mutualism: Symbiotic relationship in which both organisms benefit

Niche: An organisms role or ‘job’ in a community

Phenology: The study of cyclic and seasonal natural phenomena,

especially in relation to climate and plant and animal life.

Pollinator: An animal who moves pollen from flower to flower such

as birds, bees, bats, butterflies, moths, beetles, flies, wasps.

Producer: Green plants that have the ability to convert the sun’s
energy into food through the process of photosynthesis
Fun facts:

Ants:
• On average a single ant can carry 50x their own body weight
• The western harvester ant queen can live up to 30 years old- and
it’s found in the western USA!
• Ants use vibration sense in their legs instead of ears to hear
• Ants, like some other insects, don’t have lungs- instead gas ex
change happens in tiny pores on their exoskeleton
• Ants use their antennae to smell and follow pheromone trails of
other ants for directions.
• Some birds have been known to roll in ants for the formic acid
inside them which is antiparasitic.

Bees:
• The tiny hairs on bees are branched- an adaptation that helps
them collect pollen!
• Not all bees live in hives- most native bees in America are solitary
and nest in cavities made by beetles!
• Some bees have long leg hair that curl to create little pollen bas
kets
• Bumblebees- the big fuzzy ones- have wings that beat 130-240
beats per second
• The special pattern of veins on their wings often help scientist
identify them.
• Not all bees are black and yellow- some are metallic, and green,
blue, red, orange and even purple!

Beetles:
• Firefly is actually a beetle, and each species has their own special
flashing pattern. The light comes from a chemical reaction within
them called bioluminescence.
• The hard parts on their back covering their wings are called elytra,
and they move to the side when they want to fly.
• Beetles often have specially modified antennae – like the com
mon ten-lined June beetle whose antennae have finger or comb
like projections.
• Although commonly called ladybugs, their real name is ladybirds
or lady beetles.
• Not all ladybird beetles are red with black spots- some are orange
with spots while others are black with colored spots.

Snails:
• Snails have tiny fingerlike cells on their foot that move them
along.
• Inside the mouth of the snail there is a rough toothed structure
called a radula that helps them scrape at food.
• Snails don’t have eyes like you and I, they have a cup like structure
and a water filled cavity that acts like a lens, but they can only see
light and dark shadows.
• Snails don’t breathe through their mouth, instead they breathe
through special reparatory cavity near their mantle (where the
body and shell connect
• Snail slime is mostly just a mixture of water and proteins.

Dragonflies:
• Dragonflies are holometabolous which means they must go
through a full metamorphosis to get to their adult form- like
butterflies!
• When a dragonfly molts from its larval stage into an adult, the
wings are initially folded, and then dry and expand out, and they
will never fold again for the rest of its life.
• Dragonflies have specialized eyes that enable them to lock on to
and track flying prey when hunting; this is called hawking.
• Many dragonflies prey on mosquitoes and help manage
populations.
• Many dragonflies have a stripe of black along the front edge of
their wing, this is called a stigma and makes the wing stronger.
Pondering Pages
Pondering Pages
Pondering Pages
Pondering Pages