Super Sleuths Journal 

2020 ________________________________ 

Journalist’s Name 

  

In partnership with Milford Nature Center & Dorothy Bramlage Public 

Library   

Before we begin, use the space below to write how you feel about nature and exploring outside. 

 What I like about nature… ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  My favorite place to spend time outside is… ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  My favorite person to go outside with is… ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  When I am outside, I like to… ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

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Day 1 Neighborhood Birds 

 Check the things you have in your yard or park that will attract birds  

Grass A building 

Flowers brush pile 

Water A dead tree 

Trees Potted plants 

Bugs bird house 

A bird feeder bird bath 

Bushes  Any of these things in a yard or park will attract birds!  

 

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Neighborhood Birds  Find 3 different kinds of birds. If you know what kind they are, write them on this page.  1.  2.  3.  Try to get a good look at the birds and write notes or draw pictures of the important characteristics of your birds.   Size Shape Type of Beak Type of feet/Legs 

Sounds Habitat Season Color 

   

  

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Neighborhood Birds  Use this page to draw the birds you saw. The important characteristics will help you figure out what kind of bird you found!  

 

   

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Neighborhood Birds  

Try to count all the birds you find! Some people try to collect bird sightings and they keep records of each bird they see. You can do this online too. Cornell Lab of Ornithology has an app called eBird. It’s free and helps scientists count birds all over the world! Sharing your sightings makes you a citizen scientist.  https://www.birds.cornell.edu/citizenscience  What did you enjoy most about discovering neighborhood birds? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  

 

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Day 2 Plants Near You 

  

Go outside and find 3 plants or trees. If you know what kind they are, list them here… 1.  2.  3.  If you knew what kind of plants you found, how did you know what kind they were? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  

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Plants Near You  

Find 3 leaves. Place on this page. You can glue them on, or you can trace around them instead. If you trace them, remember to draw the leaf veins onto your leaf. Use the next blank page if you need more space!                     

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Plants Near You                          

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 Plants Near You 

 This page and the next page have many leaf shapes. Find and circle the leaf shape that most resembles your leaves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Plants Near You  

 

 

 

   

Finding out the shape of the leaf is one way you can identify what plant or tree you have found!   Another way to identify your plant is from the flowers.    

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Plants Near You  

Flowers are the plant’s way of reproducing itself.  Find a flower you want to explore. You can take them apart and find the reproductive parts!  

 Could you find all of the parts in the chart above?   Maybe your flower looks different. Draw what your flower looks like on the inside:        

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 Day 3 

Creepy Crawlies 

  

  

Let’s discover the small creatures living in your world  

         

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Creepy Crawlies How do you feel about bugs? Write one word describing your feelings about the pictures...   

_______________________  

_______________________  

_________________________ 

_______________________ 

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Creepy Crawlies  

Let’s find some bugs! Go outside to look and listen carefully. You may need to sit down on the ground to get a close look, or even dig in the soil.  Find 3 bugs. Look at them closely to answer these questions:  I found… a _____________________________ 

It has this many legs ______ Does it have wings? YES or NO What colors do you see? ________________ What do you think it eats? _______________ 

 I found…a_____________________________ 

It has this many legs______ Does it have wings? YES or NO What colors do you see? ________________ What do you think it eats? ______________ 

I found…a_______________________________ It has this many legs ______ Does it have wings? YES or NO What colors do you see? ________________ What do you think it eats? _______________ 

 

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Creepy Crawlies Insects are arthropods. The word arthropod means “jointed leg”  Insects, arachnids and crustaceans are all arthropods, but they do not look the same!  Insects Arachnids Crustaceans •6 legs •8 legs •10+ legs •3 body segments •2 body segments •Many body  

Segments  Spend 15 minutes looking for bugs. Check or circle the ones you find...  Insects Arachnids Crustaceans Ladybug Spider roly poly Butterfly tick  Fly Cricket Beetle Ant Wasp Moth bee  

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Creepy Crawlies  You might also find worms, grubs and many other tiny creatures. Describe any other creatures you saw here:    If you need help identifying the bugs you find, you can get lots of help using the internet, the library, or your county extension office.   Websites we recommend:  www.bugguide.net  www.inaturalist.org          

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Day 4 Mammals  

  Mammals are animals that have hair, produce body warmth, give live birth to babies - they don’t lay eggs - and produce milk.  One mammal you see everyday are humans! Let’s see what other mammals live near you.      

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Day 4  Mammals 

  

Let’s take a survey of the mammals in your neighborhood.   Take your journal and a pencil outside with you. Sit quietly in a spot near your home or in the park.   Write down every mammal you see. Here is a list of common mammals of Kansas. Write a check mark ✔ for each one you find.  Fox Squirrel Cottontail Rabbit White-tailed deer Red Fox Coyote Mouse Vole Wood Rat 

Raccoon Virginia Opossum Striped Skunk Black-tailed Prairie Dog Bats Woodchuck Beaver Mole 

   

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Day 4 Mammals 

 There are many more mammals in Kansas, can you think of some more?                   

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Keep this journal and use it often! Add more pages to record the time you spend in nature. 

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