Meet the living subject or observe the natural phenomenon first. Ask a few questions aloud and give students time to discover what observation can answer. Leave the unanswered questions for later research. A sketch or written narration belongs in a paper nature journal.
This historical lesson is reproduced as a source, not as current animal-care, collecting, medical, or experiment advice. Observe wildlife without disturbing it, follow local rules, and check present-day safety guidance before any hands-on work. Never look directly at the Sun.
01How to use this lessonA short field guide for the adult
Let the subject lead.
Read the teacher material in advance if possible. During observation, select only the questions the student can investigate today. Do not answer on the student’s behalf while there is still something to see, hear, compare, or measure safely. Afterward, invite an oral narration or a picture in a paper nature journal. Discuss remaining questions only once observation is complete.
02The teacher’s readingComstock’s original preparatory text
The teacher’s reading
Text from the original handbook. Page markers are omitted; layout is adapted for reading. The source may reflect 1911 knowledge and practices.
This lesson has no separate teacher story. Read Comstock’s introduction and method in the original lesson below before meeting the subject.
03The original lesson and questionsTake these to the subject itself
Questions to explore
Choose what fits this encounter. Some original prompts ask for collecting, handling, or other historical activities; use a safe observation instead. Write or draw only in a paper nature journal.
The Study of Birds’ Nests in Winter
There are very good reasons for not studying birds’ nests in summer, since too much familiarity on the part of eager children is something the birds do not understand and are likely, in consequence, to abandon both nest and locality. But after the birds have gone to sunnier climes and the empty nests are the only mementos we have of them, then we may study these habitations carefully and learn how to properly appreciate the small architects which made them. I think that every one of us who carefully examines the way that a nest is made must have a feeling of respect for its clever little builder.
I know of certain schools where the children make large collections of these winter nests, properly labelling each, and thus gaining a new interest in the bird life of their locality. A nest when collected should be labelled in the following manner:
Name of the bird which built the nest.
Where the nest was found.
If in a tree, what kind?
How high from the ground?
Bird Homes, by A. R. Dugmore is a book which affords practical help in determining the species of birds which made the nests.
After a collection of nests has been made let the pupils study them according to the following outline:
1. Where was the nest found?
a. If on the ground, describe the locality.
b. If on a plant, tree or shrub, tell the species, if possible.
c. If on a tree, tell where it was on a branch, in a fork, or hanging by the end of the twigs.
d. How high from the ground, and what was the locality?
e. If on or in a building, how situated?
2. Did the nest have any arrangement to protect it from rain?
3. Give the size of the nest, the diameter of the inside and the outside; also the depth of the inside.
4. What is the form of the nest? Are its sides flaring or straight? Is the nest shaped like a cup, basket or pocket?
5. What materials compose the outside of the nest and how are they arranged?
6. Of what materials is the lining made, and how are they arranged? If hair or feathers are used, on what creature did they grow?
7. How are the materials of the nest held together, that is, are they woven, plastered, or held in place by environment?
8. Had the nest anything peculiar about it either in situation, construction or material that would tend to render it invisible to the casual glance?
Comstock, Handbook of Nature-Study, Lesson XXXV. Read the illustrated original at Project Gutenberg. Public domain in the United States.