Last year in my nature journal, I started listing the changes we saw taking place every month. A book of firsts, if you will. In doing this, we have finally seen that we DO in fact have some seasonal changes in this land of perpetual summer, so very near to the equator, so consistently warm and moist.
Here's the list for September - October as currently seen in my journal...
in tarapoto, san martin:
september
- orange, yellow, pink blooms on trees throughout the area. first spotted on the way to yurimaguas.
- red star shaped lilies in bloom in the city and out in the campo.
october
- pomarosa trees bloom and carpet the ground beneath in a stunning fluorescent pink.
october
- cacti were 'blooming' with bunches of little reddish yellow 'apple' looking blooms covering the topmost points and edges.
It will be fun to keep compiling observations and later to compare years! :)
This is the place for you to link up to your own November nature study posts to share!
To join in the fun, just leave your link in the comments & snag the button too if you wish. :)
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9 comments:
I love that you are finding seasonal variations in the tropics!! When we were living in the tropics (in PNG) and trying to get started with nature study with young children, I was so frustrated that all the ideas out there seemed to revolve around seasonal variations, and I had a hard time wrapping my mind around how we could make these ideas work in our tropical climate. We've enjoyed northern hemisphere seasons these past 2 years, but are headed back to the tropics in January, so I think I'm definetely going to try this and see what we observe. It will be interesting to compare with what we've noticed in the more traditional, northern hemisphere seasons these past couple of years. =) I will be very interested to follow along with any other ideas for nature study in the tropics as well.
Jen
jen, i totally know. marked seasons are one of the things i've mourned often over the last 12 years (that and public libraries... but you'll understand how i feel about that). we've lived here in the jungle now for close to 3 years accumulatively, and until i started keeping a list, i honestly didn't notice any seasonal changes... well, except rainy and less rainy ;) but, i would guess that even where you'll be, if you look there'll be cycles among the plants/trees you'll come to love, even if not notable seasonal experiences. i fully suggest picking up some tropical field guides before you go. research titles. they might be expensive, but they are worth it, i think. the books i've purchased have given me a point from which to orientate myself so as not to feel SO lost in a completely different world. :)
Our family is busy trying to adjust back to our home country, Philippines, from San Jose, CA. This monthly link will be a great encouragement to get back to our nature study groove :) Here is our latest Nature find :) http://www.myrubyslippers.org/2012/11/nature-study-daphnis-nerii.html
Ah yes, the library. I do so understand, Amy! I can commiserate with you! =) I will miss the seasons too...but I have also been seeing some fascinating Facebook photos from colleagues of ours who are already in Cameroon (where we'll be starting from January) that are getting me pretty excited about the nature study options there too. =) Any ideas of how to go about searching for field guides for these remote tropical places? I've tried googling field guides for Cameroon, but didn't have much luck.
I forgot to mention it before, but the cacti pictured in your post are gorgeous! =)
gina! thanks for stopping and linking. i hope it can be an encouragement to share. that's what it is for me! :)
whoa! just looked at your pictures. yikes, that thing's big!! i was amazed to see you holding it!! :) according to the general consensus here, all those are judged poisonous. and i generally take the view, better safe than sorry. but i'd love to know for sure and be brave like you! :)
okay. i don't know much about cameroon, but i'm guessing by expanding your search a little to west africa, or tropics, etc. based on the real climate and general zone it's in. i found after living here awhile, quite a few of our plants and things are common to other tropical areas, even florida and hawaii! :) so i actually have a field guide for flowers for hawaii. to a certain extent you'll learn as you go (not only about nature, but about which books are best! :). but if you are able to find any books on that part of africa to have a headstart, it would be encouraging, no?
hopefully, that'll give you some ideas of where to start in your search?
I just typed up a little rehash of our group's nature study outing for this week. It was wet and windy this morning, so we were stuck indoors...but we tried to "bring the outdoors in" as best as we could:
http://joyouslessons.blogspot.com/2012/11/nature-study-outing-week-12.html
I'm on the lookout now for similar nature-study-while-indoors activities for our group as we move into winter, so please so comment on that post if you have any ideas that might be helpful to us. I'd like to put a list together for upcoming rainy days.
I just wrote about my children's little squirrel discovery:
http://joyouslessons.blogspot.com/2012/11/squirrel-signs.html It was very fun to see them observe this on their own and to hear their questioning process.
thanks for sharing, celeste! i cannot think of a better example of how to do nature study a la handbook of nature study!
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