Even in New York City, nature is all around us — in parks, schoolyards and community gardens. Nature journaling is a practice I’ve started with my 2nd-graders that not only boosts students’ attention and sense of well-being and joy, but also strengthens their scientific, mathematical and critical-thinking skills.

Nature journaling is simple. Students record what they see, smell, hear, feel and (sometimes) taste in three “languages”: visual (drawing), verbal (writing) and quantitative (numbers). In other words, it is the first step in the scientific method — observation! The process naturally leads to the next steps: questioning, forming hypotheses, conducting experiments and analyzing data.

Nature journaling also builds math skills as students turn their visual and written observations into quantitative data through measurement, estimation and metadata. It builds students’ writing skills, too, by encouraging them to use descriptive language and vocabulary. Perhaps most importantly, nature journaling promotes critical thinking by giving students the opportunity to reflect, ask questions and identify patterns in the world around them.

Materials

Students can decorate journals you’ve purchased, make their own with yarn and paper or use loose sheets of blank paper. Magnifying glasses, binoculars, colored pencils and sitting mats are optional but can make the experience more engaging.

Getting started

When introducing nature journaling, establish clear agreements and routines so students stay safe and understand the purpose of the activity. These agreements might include boundaries establishing where students can and cannot go, what to do when they’re finished and how to care for materials.

Before heading outside, model how to include metadata — the date, weather, location and, if possible, the temperature, time and windspeed. Demonstrate how to create detailed drawings (start with a leaf or a rock in the classroom), label the parts of the drawing and add numbers by counting — for instance, the points or the holes on the leaf.

Activity ideas

The possibilities for nature journaling are endless, but here are a few to get started:

Notice, wonder, remind: Students record what they notice and wonder about the object, animal or plant they are recording. They can also add a section about what it reminds them of, which often leads to rich scientific discussions.

Mystery plant/object: A student observes and draws a plant or object. Other students then try to guess what it is based on the journal entry.

Zoom in/out: Students draw a plant or object, then use a magnifying glass to zoom in on one part and record what they observe in their journal.

Changes over time: Over days, weeks or months, students revisit the same plant or spot and document how it changes.

Bring the outdoors inside: Planning to go outside for nature journaling, but it’s raining? Don’t fret — bring nature indoors! Collect rocks, leaves, seeds, pinecones or shells and have students record their observations inside.

Many of my ideas come from “How to Teach Nature Journaling: Curiosity, Wonder, Attention,” by Emilie Lygren and John Muir Laws. Their book is available for free.

Kris McPherson is a peer collaborative teacher at PS 317 in Queens.