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Educators around the country are developing materials to use with Nature's Notebook.
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Brian Powell
Nature's Notebook Activities
Explore Nature's Notebook materials created by the National Coordinating Office Staff and partners.
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| Title | Description |
|---|---|
| Climate Drivers of Phenology (Project EDDIE) How will climate change impact phenology (2)? |
Northampton CC This activity explores the question: which species will be most affected by temperature changes, and how will changes in the phenology of one species affect its interaction with others as the climate warms. Through this module, students should develop data analysis skills that help them to evaluate the relationship between a variety of temperature-related environmental cues and a taxa's phenology. In the context of climate change, they will be able to make an argument using data about whether changing temperatures are likely to impact the phenology of a particular species of interest. They will compare the results using different subsets of a large dataset and make decisions about how to create subsets of data for the analyses they plan to complete. Students will able to compare the strength of the association between temperature/climate-related variables and phenology for different species. To achieve these goals, students will develop abilities to generate, read, and evaluate scatterplots and regressions between sets of variables. They will also develop capabilities to select and download data for their species of choice from the National Phenology Network (NPN) and organize the data for analysis. |
| Climate Drivers of Phenology (Project EDDIE) What climate variables may help explain bumblebee activity? |
This adaptation explores the questions: Based on observations of bumblebee phenology, are bumblebees in the western United States behaving differently from 2011 to 2019? What climate variables may help explain bumblebee activity? |
| Climate Drivers of Phenology (Project EDDIE) |
This activity explores the question: which species will be most affected by temperature changes, and how will changes in the phenology of one species affect its interaction with others as the climate warms. Through this module, students should develop data analysis skills that help them to evaluate the relationship between a variety of temperature-related environmental cues and a taxa's phenology. In the context of climate change, they will be able to make an argument using data about whether changing temperatures are likely to impact the phenology of a particular species of interest. They will compare the results using different subsets of a large dataset and make decisions about how to create subsets of data for the analyses they plan to complete. Students will able to compare the strength of the association between temperature/climate-related variables and phenology for different species. To achieve these goals, students will develop abilities to generate, read, and evaluate scatterplots and regressions between sets of variables. They will also develop capabilities to select and download data for their species of choice from the National Phenology Network (NPN) and organize the data for analysis. |
| The many uses of your Nature's Notebook data |
This set of slides was used in our webinar, The many uses of your Nature's Notebook data, on February 23, 2021. The video recording is available at https://youtu.be/OEIhGA5umEM. The presentation covers a diversity of ways that Nature's Notebook are being used by scientists, natural resource managers, educators, the media. These slides may be used to communicate the value of the data submitted to Nature's Notebook. |
| Visualization Tool Step By Step Instructions |
Use this guide to help walk you through the steps for using the visualization tool. |
| Visualization Tool Step By Step Instructions |
Use this guide to help walk you through the steps for using the visualization tool. |
| Phenology Activities in the Red Butte Garden - by Christine Melvin |
For the 3rd Grade Field Trip, students will be led on a two-hour hike in the Red Butte Garden Natural Area. During the hike, students will engage in the practice of collecting data within Nature’s Notebook citizen science database. Between recording Nature’s Notebook data, students will be participating in four different hands-on learning activities that focus on one change in a plant or animal’s life cycle (birth, growth, reproduction, and death). Each hands-on stop will also give a closer glimpse of a phenophase stage that the students may witness throughout their field trip. Each hands-on activity is geared to try to practice “Phenology” the science of showing or appearing. |
| Spring Activity Guide by Indiana Phenology |
An appreciation of nature and an understanding of environmental issues help children become responsible world citizens. This curriculum provides upper elementary-aged children with the opportunity to explore environmental issues through the lens of phenology, which is the study of the recurring, seasonal rhythms in nature. In addition to engaging crafts and activities, students have the opportunity to be scientists as they participate in Indiana Phenology’s Schoolyard Phenology observation program by observing and documenting the spring awakening of plants on school grounds during the course of the 10-week curriculum. Each week there is a 1-2 hour lesson available. |
| Exploring Phenology Data in the Classroom: Plant Phenology Data and Citizen Science |
This activity was designed by Jessica Savage (at University of Minnesota) and Erin O'Connell (at the University of Minnesota), with input from Blake Steiner (University of Arizona, School of Natural Resources) and Claire O'Neill (Earthwise Aware). It guides students through the use of the USA-NPN Visualization Tool to summarize phenology data. Activity learning outcomes:
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| Driven to Discover Citizen Science Curriculum Guide: Phenology and Nature's Notebook |
This curriculum series supports student engagement in ecology-based citizen science and science practices: asking questions and defining problems, planning and carrying out investigations, and communicating findings. The citizen science projects provide a natural springboard to these practices and also connect students to real-world research. This implementation guide is designed to provide context and activities related to collecting observations on deciduous trees in temperate forestes using Nature's Notebook protocols. It includes four content areas: Building science skills; Contributing to citizen science; and Conducting independent investigations. There are options for a condensed version and extended version, covering the span of an academic year. View the companion video to the curriculum here:
It is also linked on the USA-NPN NCO YouTube Channel, Videos created by our Partners PlayList. The guide was produces by a team of authors at University of Minnesota Extension. Suggested CitationThompson, Ami; Strauss, Andrea L.; Oberhauser, Karen S.; Kooman, Michele H.; Montgomery, Rebecca; Andicoechea, Jonathan; Blair, Robert B.. (2018). Driven to Discover Citizen Science Curriculum Guide: Phenology and Nature's Notebook. University of Minnesota Extension. Retrieved from the University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy, http://hdl.handle.net/11299/198624.
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