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The Boyhood of John Muir
On Sundays, after or before chores and sermons and Bible-lessons, we drifted about on the lake for hours, especially in lily time, getting finest lessons and sermons from the water and flowers, ducks, fishes and muskrats. |
Introduction Studying the Natural World The Young Inventor Resources Home
John was truly a classic 19th century naturalist, self-taught, curious, in love with the natural world around him. Like others who studied the world, he relied on his own observations, and made careful and detailed notes about everything he saw. He paid close attention to the blooming of wildflowers, to the songs of birds, to animal migratory patterns. Nature, both in Scotland and in Wisconsin, was a constant delight to John as he grew up. In the memoir, you can see and hear the birds, the animals and insects that John delighted in tracking. He is particularly descriptive in describing bird calls. He tells us that the meadowlark's song sounded like peery-eery-odical, the robin's was fear not, cheer up.
In your own environment, even an urban one, you can do much the same thing.
Simple Observation Project
Choose an outdoor area close to home or school,
a playground, park, sidewalk or path will work just fine. Define an area of
study, say a ten-foot length of path in a city park, and scout it for natural
and man-made objects. Collect and identify any objects you can (rocks, pieces of
asphalt, leaves, litter). Keep a list of any changes in these objects over a
period of time.
Sharpen your own observation skills by looking carefully at the small changes that take place every day in your school room. Measure the length of an object's shadow at the same time on each sunny day. Mount an indoor thermometer and keep a chart of temperature fluctuations. Be patient, over time you may observe patterns that tell you something about your surroundings.
Hands-on
As a farm-boy, John learned much about the way plants behave by
sowing and harvesting crops in the field. You can observe the seed-to-plant
process firsthand by sprouting a seed in a glass jar. You will need
Dried beans
Paper towels
Tall glass jars
Water
Roll several paper towels tightly together and place them upright in the glass jar. Insert a dried bean between the towel roll and the glass about half-way down the jar. Wet the towels, and keep them moist in the coming days. Watch the bean for signs of sprouting, and make drawings that show the progress of the sprout and the roots. Where is the bean getting the food it needs for this growth?