[upbeat music playing]
Hi! I'm Ranger Jamie and welcome to Nature Journaling with Kenai Fjords National Park.
Today we're going to explore together and learn about starting your own nature journal.
Learning this new skill will help you pay more attention to your surroundings, learn about your
environment, and get curious about nature. Some of you may be wondering -- what is a nature journal?
A nature journal is a place for you to record what you see or observe in nature.
It can help you remember the details about the places you have been,
the things you have seen, and any new information you have learned.
Let's walk through an example with Hannah, a park visitor. Come on!
[rushing water in the distance]
As you can see Hannah writing, when you start a new page you want to write down important information
such as the date, the weather outside, and where you are. This information, called metadata, will
help you remember where you were and what was happening when you created that page.
Next, you will start your observations. Hannah has chosen to do a journal entry about this alder tree.
Start by diagramming what you see. The diagram is just for you.
Don't worry about making a pretty picture. Do make a picture that shows all of the detail you notice.
As you are drawing your diagram, you'll want to keep the INIWIRMOs in mind. "INIWIRMO" is
a funny way to remember the three parts of nature journaling. The first part, I-N, stands for I notice.
this is where you will record the things you notice about what you are observing.
Hannah writes down in her journal that she notices that the alder tree has little green cones.
She also notices that there are brown cones and that the leaves have jagged edges, that the alder
tree looks more like a shrub than a tree, and that the branches stick out in many directions.
Keep going with your I notices. Try and write 5 to 10 for your entry.
Next is I-W, which stands for I wonder. This is where you can ask questions about what you are seeing.
Hannah writes "I wonder what those white dots on the branches are" in her journal.
You can also create a wonder web. Draw a bubble around one of your questions,
then write down possible answers to your questions and draw lines connecting them to your question bubble.
Here, Hannah drew a bubble around her question about the white dots.
Then she wrote some possible answers. Do they help protect the tree?
Do they help get water in or do they help get air out? Don't worry about if
your answers are correct just yet. Your wonder web is just for you to think and to wonder.
Lastly, the I-R-M-O. This stands for it reminds me of. This is where you
can make connections between what you are seeing to other things you have seen before.
As you can see, Hannah wrote that the veins on the leaves remind her of the lines on her palm.
She also wrote that the small cones remind her of berries. INIWIRMO is a funny word
but it will help you remember what to include each time you nature journal. As you create more
pages you will be able to look back and see the many new discoveries you've made.
Reflecting on your previous entries will help you get more curious about each thing you journal.
Nature journal entries can also look many different ways depending on the person.
Here is another example of what you might draw about an alder tree. You can see the focus is on
a leaf and a branch instead of the whole thing. The metadata says July 20th, 2021 at Exit Glacier
in Kenai Fjords National Park. It was written that it was cloudy, but there's also a drawing of clouds.
For the "I notices" there are googly eyes looking at the different parts of the diagram.
It says "I notice the white bumps on the branch".
"I notice more yellow on the stem".
"I notice big yellow bumps on the leaf".
"I notice the leaf has pointy edges" and "I notice the leaf ends at a point and then turns downward".
The "I wonders" start with the question mark as a bullet point. It says "I wonder why the
leaf has pointy edges" and "I wonder why some leaves have the yellow bumps and some do not".
This second "I wonder" is turned into a wonder web by connecting two hypotheses: "Maybe the plant
has too much or too little of one nutrient" and "maybe a disease or fungus is attacking the plant".
Lastly, there is a light bulb for the "it reminds me of". It says
"the leaf reminds me of green hills with rivers running through between them".
Your metadata, diagram, and INIWIRMOs will be unique to you and your nature journal.
Remember, challenge your observation skills and try and write
5 to 10 I notices, 3 to 5 I wonders, and 1 to 3 it reminds me ofs.
As you practice your nature journaling, you put your brain on paper allowing more thinking and
curiosity to happen. You'll be amazed at the things you start to notice. Happy journaling!
[upbeat music playing]