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Overview

Background
Unit Outline
Final Activity
Final Activity Assessment
Instructional Resources
National Standards

ParkWise > Teachers > Culture > Kenai Fjords > Unit Outline

Final Activity:
Creating a Legacy

Students will make, record and share observations of the natural world through a variety of media.

Unit: Living in Kenai Fjords
Guiding Question: How can you create a legacy using your own nature journal?
Critical Content: Students will know nature journals use words and sketches to describe flora, fauna and the sensations of the wilderness; and, nature journals convey feelings and thoughts through descriptions and can preserve the "feel" of a natural area across time.
Grades: 3-8
Duration:
1 to 2 class periods
Technology Extension: Depends on chosen technology
Group size: Whole class and small group
Setting: Classroom, resource center and/or Internet access
Materials:
Journal making materials:
  • paper (lined or unlined)
  • brads or yarn
  • hole puncher
  • regular and colored pencils
Have one computer for each small group of 3-4 students to use. - OR - Use a display projector to show sample journal pages to the entire class. - OR - Use copies of the printout from online sources.
Handout #1: Directions for Creating a Nature Journal
For Technology Extension: Procure equipment for the multimedia nature journals, including but not limited to:
  • film or digital camera
  • video camera
  • tape recorder
  • computers with presentation software (PowerPoint, HyperStudio, etc.)

Instructional Resources:
Please see the Kenai Fjords Instructional Resources Page.

Before You Begin:

Your students should have completed Lesson 6: What is a Nature Journal? or have been exposed to nature journaling from a previous experience before attempting the final activity.

Procedures:

Kent's personal journal became a written and pictorial legacy that captured the beauty and power of the natural world of Alaska for future generations. Now it's your students' turn.

  • Look at and discuss the pages from "The Nature Journal Sampler" at Kenai Fjords Culture Unit Photo Gallery.
  • Distribute Handout #1: Directions for Creating a Nature Journal to each student and review the criteria for a nature journal. How does Kent's journal follow the criteria?
  • Provide for each student the following materials:10 or more pieces of hole-punched paper, drawing paper, 2 sheets of hole-punched construction paper and yarn or brads. Supply a selection of art materials for creating the covers for their journals.
  • Have students use the materials to assemble a nature journal booklet and decorate the cover. Their name and a title will also go on the cover.
  • Use the Final Activity Assessment to review the requirements for a good/excellent nature journal.
  • If possible, allow the students to select the natural area they would like to visit to begin their journals. If going as a class, be sure to spread out and make sure students are very quiet so as not to disturb each other or the wildlife they might see. Allow at least 20-30 minutes for the journaling.
  • Repeat this process in the same location over several different days, if possible, to allow students to compare what they see on different days at different times. Visit different locations, also, to compare and contrast the observations at the different places.
  • After several journaling opportunities, ask students to choose a sample of their work to share. If possible, have students scan their journal pages and display them on a projector or put them online at a school site. Discuss how students' observations and skills have changed over time.
  • Use the Final Activity Assessment to assess student journals.

Technology Extension: A Modern Day Nature Journal

Rockwell Kent made his observations in his journal the "old-fashioned" way: paper and pencil. Discuss with the students: What are some ways observations of nature can be made and recorded today?

  • Record students' responses, leading them to include methods such as digital cameras, video, audio recordings, multimedia presentations and Web pages.
  • Divide the students into small groups of 2 to 4.
  • Have students create nature journals in the modern method of their choice. (This will vary according to the equipment and materials available to the teacher.) Below are a few suggestions, but student groups should experiment and consider many ways to create multimedia presentations.
    • Videotape various subjects in nature, accompanied by spontaneous spoken observations.
    • Take digital photos, or scan photographs, to create a multimedia presentation (such as PowerPoint or Hyperstudio) with written or recorded observations.
    • Print photographs and add written comments. Compile as a nature journal booklet.
  • Have students present and share their traditional and modern journals with their classmates. Have the students compare the 2 forms of journals in a class discussion:
    • What is lost when more modern formats are used?
    • What is gained with the more modern methods?
    • Does one method provide a more enduring legacy than the other? Why or why not?
  • Record their ideas on a class chart.
  • Set up a nature journal media festival for the students to display their various nature journals. Invite other classes and/or parents to see their work.

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