Nature Journaling: Exploring the World Around Us Through Art

Each week of our Nature Journaling Workshop students will learn both a new scientific botanical concept coupled with a new creative writing/art sketch task that will teach them the basics of nature journaling (a practice dating back to the 1800s during the time of exploration). Students will learn how to document the magical living world around us in our everyday lives! Think, Fantastic Critters & Flora and Where to Find them! By practicing nature journaling, students can nurture their creativity, expand their critical thinking skills, and connect with the environment around us in new ways.

Students will receive a new "weekly challenge/creative-writing assignment and art sketch assignment" each session based upon the lesson plan below. Students will be taught how to write, record, document, draw, and observe different components of the natural world around them, such as: 

Week ONE- Flora
Week TWO- Bugs
Week THREE- Fungi
Week FOUR- Birds
Week FIVE- Tree Species
Week SIX- Animal Species
Week SEVEN- Landforms, Crystals, & Rock Formations
Week EIGHT- Reptiles
Week NINE- Weather & Natural Waterways

The classes are ongoing but also independent of each other; at the end of each semester module, the topics will cycle back around to the beginning but with even newer specifications and prompts (so for instance, Week 1 is Flora- Week 10 would also be Flora but a new floral species than Week 1 so each week's lesson is completely new).

Teaching style is immersive and engaging.
Course Setup includes:
-Interactive PowerPoints
-Open Discussions
-Introduction of new concepts/instructions
-Hands-on experimentation of real-world application
-Creative Writing
-Arts & Drawing

Informal assessments will be conducted throughout each lesson by brainstorming sessions and
collectively reviewing concept ideas. 
No formal quizzes or tests will be administered. 
Creative writing homework will be assigned each week, that will be due the following week. 

Students will get to explore and expand their sense of adventure by improving their understanding of the natural world around them by examining and documenting different types of flora, bugs, fungi, birds, tree species, animal species, landforms, crystals, rock formations, reptiles, weather, and natural waterways.