Our family went on a nature hike the other day.  It’s a beautiful time of the year to hike because it’s cooler, there’s little-to-no bugs, and the trees are changing gorgeous colors.  It was like walking through an enchanted forest!  Any minute I expected to see Galadriel stepping out on to the path (another Lord of the Rings tie-in, of course)!  Nature walks are perfect for learning the names of plants, how they reproduce, how they grow, and biotic interactions while the kids enjoy themselves the entire time.  It’s the kind of learning that does not feel like “school” – our favorite kind.

I assigned the kids one task.  That was to collect samples of plants that they would later make botanical illustrations of at home.  We took a baggie with us and collected lots of interesting stuff.  My son had sugar maple leaves in brilliant yellow and black walnuts with different layers of covering.  Both of my daughters gathered oak leaves, moss, a gnawed bone, bean pods, and a sample particularly interesting to them, lichen.  We took these specimens home, looked them up on the internet to identify them, and drew them.  Since we needed to research lichens a bit more than the rest, and because they are so interesting, I thought I would share some information on them here.

What is a Lichen?

A lichen consists of two different organisms, a fungus and an algae, living in a symbiotic relationship.  To understand what a symbiotic relationship is, go to this root word website and look up the meaning of the prefix (sym-), the root (bio), and the suffix (-sis).  Go to Dictionary.com to read several definitions of symbiosis.  There are two very good descriptions of lichens here and here.

Challenge your kids to answer these questions using the websites listed after each:

• What do the fungus and algae provide for each other?  See:  Backyard Nature and Lichens
  
• What is a photobiont and a mycobiont?  Which refers to the fungus and which refers to the algae?  See:  Photobiont and Mycobiont, Myco and Lichens.
• What is a thallus?  See:  Online Glossary and Lichen Education (see the top boxed portion of the page).
• What are the three main types of lichens?  What are the two other kinds sometimes identified?  See:  Backyard Nature
• Draw a representation of each type of lichen.  See:  Type 1, Type 2, and Type 3.  Also, see representations of each here and a gallery of images on Wikipedia.
• How do lichens reproduce?  What are the two main methods of reproduction?   See:  Lichen Reproductive Structures and Backyard Nature
• What is a bioindicator?  Why are studies of lichens important?  See:  Wikipedia and Bionet
• Finally:  What animal eats large amounts of lichens?  See:  Wonderclub

Wow, aren’t lichens amazing?!  Take a trip to a local park, nature center, or cemetary to find examples of lichens.  (That’s right – a cemetary is a great place to find lichens.  They grow well on tombstones!)  At the park or nature center, look for lichens on boulders, stone walls, and trees.  Take a sketchbook to draw some that you find.  Below are examples of my daughters’ illustrations.  Have fun!

Hailey 10 years old

Maddie 5 years old

To discuss nature studies, science, or other homeschooling topics, please visit our HMHS Discussion Forum.

This came to mind when, just yesterday, we happened upon a little lizard in our dog’s empty water bowl.  Rather than just tipping it over and letting the little fella run off into the bushes, we took him inside to study him.  We keep a nature notebook, thanks to another wonderful suggestion by Charlotte Mason.  So, logged into our notebook is this lizard.  He is drawn, colored and examined.  We then look him up on the internet to identify his species.  (This is a perfect opportunity for a lesson in scientific classification and possibly leading to a biographical study of Carolus Linnaeus!)  We find out that he is an Eastern Blue-Tailed Skink, thus explaining his gorgeous cobalt blue tale.  We learn that this very tail color tells us that he is a juvenile.  Of course the kids wish to keep it as a pet.  I am feeling agreeable to this idea until I read that it’s favorite food is spiders!  Nope, not feeding that little critter!

Time to say goodbye to our little friend, but a fantastic unplanned lesson on the skink was enjoyed by all!  And it did not end with this lizard, my littlest loved the website we found so very much, we spent a good hour listening to bird calls of species in our area!  So, relax, try not to worry about the dirty fingernails or stained knees, and let those children explore their world!

For a great site to use in identifying local wildlife, try eNature.com.  Just type in your zipcode to view wildlife in your area.  For information on starting a nature notebook a la Charlotte Mason, click here to read an article by Karen Andreola, founder of the Charlotte Mason Research and Supply Company.

Our little friend in my daughter's hands.