Junior Journaler Nature Magazine - July 2021

ISSUE 2 | JULY 2021

JJ Nature Magazine

In this issue: TIPS FOR NATURE JOURNALING AT THE ZOO

TOOL OF THE MONTH BINOCULARS

JJ OF THE MONTH JOVI COLACURCIO!

TABLE OF CONTENTS What is nature journaling Tips for nature journaling at the zoo

New skill: Metadata

Tool of the month: Binoculars

Brood X How to draw cicadas

Junior Journaler of the Month

Journal share

Help support me

DEAR MAMMAS AND PAPPAS: I created this magazine to inspire kids to follow their wonder through nature.

Nature journaling is a great opportunity to explore. I want to encourage you to give them the freedom to explore and journal what they want rather than the object or place you had planned. It’s okay if they would rather ask questions then find the answers. Their journal is a place for them to document the nature around them, whatever that looks like.

They are the makers and seekers. It’s your job to help guide them and provide the tools they need to have a successful journal time. I hope you will journal along with them and find as much fun in nature as they do.

What is Nature journaling?

Nature journaling is a really cool way to explore the world. By using Words, Pictures, and Numbers. When we do that we become a really cool scientist called a Naturalist. Nature journaling can be hard at first but overtime it will be easier. Practicing daily will make you better. In the nature journaling community we call this pencil miles.

When we journal it’s also important not to worry about making our drawings and paintings all about being pretty. It’s more important that we put our thoughts and observations into our journals.

Happy journaling!

Have you ever been to the zoo? Have you ever nature journaled while at the zoo? I have and here are some tips I learned.

Tip one: Go to the zoo as early as you can. I find animals are active earlier in the day.

Tip two: Stay as long as you can at an exhibit.

You never know what could happen next.

Tip three: If you are sketching animals I find it’s best to have lots of unfinished sketches than one finished drawing. Sketch the animals in different positions. When they move start a new sketch. It’s okay if your sketches are incomplete.

Tip four: Write down everything! Your questions, your thoughts, and observations Tip five: If you get tired of sketching the animals then take a look at the plants in the zoo. I find zoos always have a great selection of plants!

A new skill for your journal: Metadata Metadata is one of the most important things to include in your journal. What is meta data?

Metadata is : the date, time, location, and weather.

Metadata is important because it helps us record important information. It may seem like those things aren’t important but they are. When you get older you may want to look back on your journal pages and see how old you were or you might want to know where you went so you can explore the place again.

Metadata is a super cool way to help us record our observations.

Hashi Clark

Gabriel Shreeve

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Binoculars!! Who loves them? I do! This is a great tool to include in your field kit. Why? Well I like binoculars because they are basically a magnifying glass but for far away things. You can use binoculars for a LOT of things! But why I love binoculars so much is because not only can we see things up close that are far away, but we can also look at things that are semi close and see so much more.

What can you see with your binoculars?

Do you see birds? Do you see the hairs on the sunflower stem? How about the stars? Binoculars can really help us take a closer look at them.

So explore new things with your binoculars record what you see in your journal. Ask questions on the things you find.

I can’t wait to see your pages.

BROOD X

BY ANDREW S. GERVASE

As I was laying in bed one night trying to read my book, I heard a loud fluttering as if a large bug was flying around in my room bummping into things. Suddenly, the bug I had heard fell from out of nowhere and on to my bed. I realized with a start that the bug was a cicada! As I started to get out of bed, the cicada took off again and flew into my bathroom. I followed it in there and to my surprise it allowed me to pick it up. I then escorted it outside and released it back into the wild. Since then, no more cicadas have been found or spotted in the house. I wonder how it got there?

What is a cicada?

There are two types of cicadas, annual and periodic. Annual cicadas can be found all over the world at almost any time of the year. They are consistently in the wild. Periodic cicadas, on the other hand, live under ground and come up every 13 or 17 years depending on the species.

Peiodical cicadas are inscects that belong to the order Hemitptera (true bugs) and are in superclass Cicadoidea. While both below and above ground, they feed on xylem, or plant fluids.

Where are they found?

Brood x (x is 10 in roman numerals ) is one of the largest broods of 17-year cicadas. This brood is found in three separate areas centering around: i. Pennsylvania and Northern Virginia ii. Indiana iii. Tennessee

When do the cicadas arrive?

Cicadas are often spotted when the ground reaches a temperature of 64 degrees Fahrenheit (around 18 degrees Celsius). Brood X cicadas are out from the first or second week of May to through the end of June.

Why is it that they come out in large number?

Like all animals or insects, cicadas are prey to certain predators. Common predators are birds, racoons, opossums, foxes, mice, shews, frogs, toads, turtles, fish, as well as a fungus called Massospora. By coming out in huge numbers , all the predators that eat cicadas can get their fill and there will still be plenty of cicadas left to breed and continue the species.

It's a survival strategy. There is a larger number of cicadas then their predators.

Cicadas are really quite neat. If you live in an area that the cicadas also live in, you should take the opportunity to try and find them. They are often found in trees. Or you might even find a cicada in your room!

A female cicada lays her eggs in a tree

After the egg hatches the cicada burrows under ground. While the cicada lives there it goes through a series of mulching.

After the final mulch, the cicada becomes an adult

Once the cicada is ready it will go above ground. While it lives up above it will mulch one last time.

Step one, First we will draw the head and eyes

Step two, Then we will start to draw the body.

Step three,

Then we will add then front legs.

Step four, Now we will add the back legs.

Step five, Then we add the wings.

Step six, Now we add the veins inside of the wing.

Step seven,

Then we add a few details……

Now you have your cicada!

JOVI Age, 11 COLACURCIO

Lives in California

What is your favorite thing to nature journal?

I like to nature journal places I go to and my favorite pages from books.

What is the coolest thing you have seen in nature?

I thought Yosemite Falls and Hetch Hetchy Reservoir were pretty awesome.

What is your favorite animal?

I like dogs, wolves, and nudibranches.

What is your least favorite animal?

I dont like aye aye lemurs at all.

What advice would you give kids just starting to nature journal?

I would say that you can nature journal anything you want, even if it isn’t nature. I have a journal page about ice cream and one about a tin foil boat challenge I did. Always remember the beauty of imperfection.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

I want to be a zoologist, marine biologist, and conservationist. A conservationist is someone who helps save endangered animals.

Do you want to be the next jj of the month email me!

Jjnaturemag@gmail.com

J O U R N A L S H A R E !

Ari

Age, 11 lives in Washington

Send me your favorite journal pages to be featured!

Jjnaturemag@gmail.com

“Look! Ari followed last months how to draw a hummingbird! “

“Great page Laura! What a great idea to include the ruler into your drawing! That’s a great way to show what the object looks like to scale”

Laura

Age, 15 lives in California

Gabriel

Age, 5 lives in California

“Great job asking questions on your observations! What a great idea to have a box for each topic on your page.”

“ What a great idea to include facts on the animal you are learning about. Do you often do this?”

Brighton Age, 10 lives in California

H E L P

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M E !

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