The Power of Long-term Observation: Nature's Notebook cultivates personal growth and understanding

Phenology provides a lens to teach inquiry, observation, the scientific method, visualizing data, and communicating results. The USA National Phenology Network’s (USA-NPN) Nature’s Notebook program (www.nn.usanpn.org) is a... [ view full abstract ]

Phenology provides a lens to teach inquiry, observation, the scientific method, visualizing data, and communicating results. The USA National Phenology Network’s (USA-NPN) Nature’s Notebook program (www.nn.usanpn.org) is a long-term plant and animal phenology observation program with phenology curriculum and outreach materials for educators in formal, non-formal, and informal settings (www.usanpn.org/education). Participating in Nature’s Notebook (NN) addresses Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) for middle and high school, including Earth and Life Science Standards, as well as standards at the undergraduate level. It provides a framework for developing program and outreach resources for non-formal or informal education settings.

Long-term phenology monitoring via Nature’s Notebook offers collaborative place-based, hands-on learning opportunities, promotes cross-subject engagement and can be used to identify and answer local scientific research questions. Additionally students, teachers, and adult volunteers contribute to a national citizen science research initiative. The National Phenology Database (NPDb) provides a rich data set to explore, for use in teaching basic statistical analyses, graphing and mapping techniques in excel and GIS, and information to compare and contrast what is happening nationwide.

In this presentation I will discuss the benefits of developing a long-term educational program around the Nature’s Notebook observation activity at your school, nature center, museum, or park. Participants will gain an understanding of how to set goals and outcomes, and learn how doing so contributes to life-long learning and potential behavior change. I will share curriculum packages and lesson plans for audiences of all ages, including pre- and post- activity assessment and reflection. I will also discuss the time required to implement the program, concurrent activities and field exercises, how students can summarize and relay the information they have collected to others, and how to create local partnerships with community organizations around the topic of phenology. Using phenology programmatically creates a deep understanding of nature.