A Super Science Guide to Your Own Backyard! Try this nature experiment and then tell us what you discover!   What You Need: a yard or park notebook clear tape field guides for your part of the country pencils, crayons, markers camera and tape recorder (optional) 1. First, bring your notebook on a nature walk. Use your senses to observe your surroundings. What do you see, hear, and smell? (Never taste anything on a nature walk!) 2. Then, write down your observations. Be specific. Write a description of any animals, birds, insects, flowers, and trees you see. 3. Pick leaf and twig sample from the trees on your walk and tape them in your notebook. Don't pick any wildflowers. Many flowers are endangered or provide food for endangered insects. 4. If you have a camera take pictures to go along with your descriptions. You could also tape record any sounds you hear. 5. When you get home use a field guide to identify your observations. 6. Create a nature guide of your own neighborhood. Draw pictures, or place your photos, in a notebook. Identify and label the plants or animals you observed. Add any interesting information you want to share. You can also include your sound recordings, and leaf and twig samples. A Scientific Explanation When scientist observe the natural world they take measurements and observe specific details about their trip in the field. You can make your nature guide more scientific if you record the date and time of your observations. You can also record the temperature and weather when you take your nature walk. Now, you're collecting data like a real scientist! EXTRA! EXTRA! Next time it rains put on your gear and go on a wet weather nature walk. What new things do you notice? In my discovery I found leaves, twigs and worms. I smelled mud, worms and trees. I also heard the birds chirping. - Hunter F. I am an Indian... I went on a nature walk in the early morning. I saw dew on top of the leaves. I heard hens shouting "cockracokkooo!" I heard squirrels biting nuts. I recorded all these in a video camera. I took pictures of all leaves with dewdrops on them. I live in a village. I wrote some descriptions. After filling the camera with the pictures, I got them printed and stuck them in an album with some descriptions under them. I showed the video to my friends and they enjoyed it!!!! - Poorani R. I discovered a tree that looks like Pegasus! - Amber C. I saw a very blue blue jay. It was magnificent! - Patricia B. I noticed that all the animals were in their hiding places, except the ducks and my pet swan. They were all out in the rain. I found somthing else out too -- that even in the rain snow or sunshine, my ducks and swan are always in the pond. - Jennifer C. I discovered that when it rained, mushrooms started to pop up everywhere. - Stephanie T. I saw a deer. It was a funny looking one too. I also saw a raccoon. - Maria P. The leaves turned brown, and moles made holes in the ground for their homes. - Jeffrey W. I found out that there are a lot of leaves and trees. And I found out that there are more than 50 squirrels around one area. - Denna J. I found lots of insects. People playing on the swing set. Also people and kids running on the field. My sister playing dragon on the playground with her friend. People playing tennis on the tennis court. - Joshua W. I found out that there are a lot of leaves and trees. And I found out that there are more than 50 squirrels around one area. - Denna J. I discovered many interesting things that I never realized before when I was in my very own backyard. What I noticed was that there are many little beetles, ants, and earwigs looking for food on the ground. I also realized that many different birds, like a blue jays or robins, come by every 5 minutes for food. I could hear the wind whistling in different forms out on the streets. I also agree that it does not smell pretty in the backyard with all the bugs and wood, but the smell in my backyard is very fresh to the animals and insects who live in my backyard. I also discovered that squirrels love me a lot -- they come to me for acorns in my backyard. This is new, because I have never had them coming to me or asking for acorns as well. Well that is my discovery in my backyard, and I'm off to the park the next morning. Thanks for reading!! - Mini C.