Friday 12 February 2010

Outdoor Hour Challenge ~ Winter Series ~ Pine Tree


Last week, we visited a new-to-us conservation area. It was about a fifteen minute drive from our home, and had a short walking trail. I had looked ahead in the Outdoor Hour Winter Series and knew we were going to be looking for pines. Since we hadn't been there before, I wasn't sure if we would find any pines, but we did!

We also found that somebody had constructed a shelter under the pine trees, big enough for one person to sit in:


And a smaller one, perfect for dolls (Celeste didn't bring hers for this walk to test it out though):


We found a huge tree fungus:


And some more pine trees, we think this is a white pine:


A close up of the branches and needles:


Back at home, I read part of the Pine section aloud to Adrienne in the Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock. I finally ordered the book. Up until now, I had been printing the pages from the free online version. We measured the needles (4 inches) and counted how many needles per bundles (5). We also sketched the pinecone we brought home. The first one is Adrienne's, the other is mine.



We have been enjoying these winter nature studies more than I would have imagined! To find out more, visit The Handbook of Nature Study blog.

1 comment:

  1. What great pine cone sketches! Just lovely.

    I am so glad that you were able to get out and observe some pines up close and count and measure their needles. It wasn't until I started thinking about how many needles there are in a bundle that I realized that not all pines are the same.

    Great job and thanks for sharing your link,
    Barb

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