John (Jack) Muir Laws is a principal leader and innovator of the worldwide nature journaling movement. Jack is a scientist, educator, and author, who helps people forge a deeper and more personal connection with nature through keeping illustrated nature journals and understanding science. His work intersects science, art, and mindfulness. Trained as a wildlife biologist and an associate of the California Academy of Sciences, he observes the world with rigorous attention. He looks for mysteries, plays with ideas, and seeks connections in all he sees. Attention, observation, curiosity, and creative thinking are not gifts, but skills that grow with training and deliberate practice. As an educator and author, Jack teaches techniques and supports routines that develop these skills to make them a part of everyday life.

Laws has written and illustrated several books including How to Teach Nature Drawing and Journaling (2020), The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling (2016), The Laws Guide to Drawing Birds (2012), Sierra Birds: a Hiker’s Guide (2004), The Laws Guide to the Sierra Nevada (2007), and The Laws Pocket Guide Set to the San Francisco Bay Area (2009), all published by Heyday. He is a regular contributor to Bay Nature magazine with his “Naturalists Notebook” column.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE NATURE JOURNAL QUICKSTART GUIDE (inside front cover)

FOREWORD BY AMY TAN

INTRODUCTION

• Why We Teach Nature Journaling
• Why Nature Journaling?
• You Can Do This, and It Is Worth It
• MANAGING THE OUTDOOR CLASSROOM
  
  • How to Lead Journaling Activities
  • Nature Journaling In Different Contexts

  NATURE JOURNALING ACTIVITIES

  • Activity Format

  GETTING STARTED: INTRODUCTORY JOURNALING TECHNIQUES AND ACTIVITIES

  • Example Journal Pages
    
    • Use Words, Pictures, and Numbers
    • Mix It Up
  • Activites
    
    • I Notice, I Wonder, It Reminds Me
    • My Secret Plant
    • To Each Its Own
    • Comparison
    • Zoom In, Zoom Out

    OBSERVATION AND NATURAL HISTORY

    • Example Journal Pages
      
      • Look Big, Look Small
      • Make Comparisons and Study Categories
      • Get Lost in Wonder
    • Activities
      
      • Collection or Field Guide
      • Timeline
      • String Safari
      • Animal Encounters
      • Species Account
      • Forest Karaoke: Transcribing Birdsong
      • Soundscape Maps

      INQUIRY, INVESTIGATION, AND SCIENTIFIC THINKING

      • Intentional Curiosity and Inquiry
      • The Crosscutting Concepts
      • Who, What, Where, When, How, and Why
      • International Baccalaureate Key Concepts
      • How Do You Answer Your Questions?
      • Example Journal Pages
        
        • Ask Questions and Think Like a Scientist
        • Practiced Precision
        • Nature Puzzles
        • Follow Curiosity Chains
      • Activities
        
        • Mysteries and Explanations
        • Questioning Questions
        • Mapping
        • Landscape Cross Section
        • Phenomenon Model
        • Team Observation

        WORDS: ARTICULATED THOUGHT AND STORYTELLING

        • Writing to Think and Observe
        • Example Journal Pages
          
          • Find Poems Within and Around You
          • Reflection, Connection, and Joy
          • Practice Scientific Storytelling
          • What Pictures Cannot Show
        • Activities
          
          • Writing to Observe, Writing to Think
          • Event Comic
          • Event Map
          • Poetry of Place and Moment
          • Sit Spot

          PICTURES: DRAWING AND VISUAL THINKING

          • Observational Drawing
          • Observational Drawing, Step-by-Step
          • Building New Skills: Basic Drawing Exercises
          • Drawing Tricks and Tips: Instruction for Students
          • Page Structure and Layout
          • Example Journal Pages
            
            • Think with Pictures
            • Balancing Flexibility and Structure
            • Look, and Look Again
          • Activities
            
            • Inside Out
            • Nature Blueprints
            • Infographic
            • Photo, Pencil, and Found-Object Collage

            NUMBERS: QUANTIFICATION AND MATHEMATICAL THINKING

            • Numbers and Quantification
            • Making Quantification Tool Kits
            • Example Jounral Pages
              
              • Show Where the Numbers Came From
              • Use Numbers to Find the Pattern
            • Activities
              
              • Hidden Figures
              • Biodiversity Inventory
              • Timed Observations
              • Change Over Time

              INCORPORATING JOURNALING INTO LESSONS, FRAMEWORKS, AND ASSESSMENTS

              • Journaling Over Time
              • Developing Skills: Ideas, Practice, and Feedback
              • Grading and Evaluation
              • Evaluation Rubric
              • From Activities to Longer Lessons
              • Journaling in Units
              • The Next Generation Science Standards
              • The Common Core State Standards
              • Teaching Science and Inquiry: A Deeper Dive

              FINAL THOUGHTS
              
              APPENDICES

              • A: Tools and Materials
              • B: Activity Summaries, Learning Goals, and Possible Phenomena
              • C: NGSS Connections
              • D: Evaluation Rubric
              • E: Cut-and-Paste Nature Journal Strategie
              • F: Cut-and-Paste Quantification Tool Kit

              Notes
              
              Acknowledgements
              
              About the Naturalist Journal Contributors
              
              About the Authors