Outdoor Hour Challenge #36 Autumn Tree Study and more

Between rainstorms last weekend we took a break to do our Autumn tree study. The birch tree in our yard has been our focus this year.
Sophie took the worksheet with her and tried to answer the questions.
The leaves haven't really changed color this year. I know last year they turned a very brilliant yellow but this year they seem to just get dry. The leaves are just going from green to brown.
The catkins all seem to be dry too. There aren't many green ones left.
The tree is starting to look a little sparse and the ground is covered with lots of brown dry leaves (unless it just rained and then they are soggy brown leaves.)
Sophie took a few moments to draw on the sheet and trace a leaf onto the page.
Ian and Sophie also had to see how the little papery bark pealed off. Either there wasn't much left to peal or the bark is holding on tight to all it's layers because there didn't seem to be a whole lot there for the kids to pull off. They did notice a trail of ants crawling up the tree busy doing their last minute gathering before the cold weather really sets in.

After our few minutes studying our tree the kids were ready to head out around the block on their scooters. But we did stop to look at the beautiful sky. We were between storms and we were thrilled to see the blue skies. The clouds were amazing to see. My feeble attempts at capturing them don't do these skies justice.

I always laugh because my kids can find a puddle of water and play in it for hours. Here they found a little puddle that was collected on someone's stepping stones. My kids sat here and played and played in that water.
They floated leaves in it and dropped in pebbles. They of course had to splash in it and before we left there wasn't much water left.

I love that my kids find all sorts of nature around them. We live in the city (not downtown but still in the city) and I am always surprised at how much we still have to see and study around us. It may help that we live in a part of California where so many things are able to grow and people plant such lovely things in their yards. I am thrilled that even the simple things like water in a stepping stone can entertain them and becomes a place of experiments and learning for them.