What do I see?

Hiking on a dirt track, what do I see?

Black cockatoos are squawking in trees

Hiking on a dirt track, what do I see?

Weedy bunny tails are growing so free

Hiking on a dirt track, what do I see?

Giant seed pods – eyes looking at me

Hiking on a dirt track, what do I see?

Thick, roughened bark like scales on a tree

Hiking on a dirt track, what do I see?

Spiky desert flowers, a prickle or three

Hiking on a dirt track, what do you see?

I Can Be A Scientist

I can be a Scientist

binoculars in hand

watching very quietly

as flying birds land

I can be a Scientist

and measure just how deep

the footprints in the mud

left by creatures as they creep

I can be a Scientist

and listen to the sounds

of birds as they laugh and call

to others swooping round

I can be a Scientist

observing animals eat

leaves like a herbivore,

or do they eat meat?

I can be a Scientist

and count how many trees

are growing in the forest

branches full of bright green leaves

How many trees have round leaves?

Or leaves stretched  l o n g  and thin?

Or leaves that look like duck feet, three toes with webs between?

How many trees are tall, reaching right up to the sky?

How many grow much shorter?

Or have branches bare and dry?

How many have their roots hidden underneath the ground?

Or roots that stand right up, forming walls that twist around?

Counting and observing

Measuring too

I can be a Scientist!

How about you?

Nature Journal

This is for my daughter.

Who records everything.

I have a little journal

with pages smooth and white

where I can draw some pictures

and underneath them write

words that can describe

the creatures that we see

while walking through the bush land

and weaving through the trees

words that list the colours

of flowers we discover

(including all the weedy ones

picked by my little brother)

words that tell a story

of wriggly things we find-

like the squirmy, wiggling earthworm

(we left him safe behind)

I like to do some sketches

showing different kinds of leaves-

I trace around their edges

then tuck them in the sleeve

One time I found a millipede

curled in a spiral shape

but my pencil must have tickled him-

he was suddenly awake!

My favourite things to draw

are pictures of the sky-

rainbows  r e a c h i n g  outwards

and clouds that float on by

And when each entry’s finished

I put my book away

safely in the cupboard

‘til we next go out and play