This is a moderated group for those using the Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock (Copyright 1911, 1939, 1967; ISBN 0-8014-9384-6).

The purpose of the group is to help those who are using this book with messages that will provide inspiration, motivation and practical help. Practical help may include suggested schedules, adaptations for specific states or regions, updated information and additional resources.

This is not meant to be a general nature study group, but is really intended to focus on using the Handbook of Nature Study specifically. However, additional resources that may be helpful may be mentioned.

Whenever possible, please use helpful titles when posting messages. Examples:

Our Schedule
Birds, Lesson 2
Texas: Birds, Lesson 11 ...or...
Birds, Lesson 11, Texas substitute?
Update for Lesson 221: Homemade Barometer

(In the examples above, Lesson 11 has to do with the Robin and his spring-time habits. This bird comes to Texas in the winter. And Lesson 221 gives instructions on how to make a barometer with a glass tube, a small cup and (yikes!) mercury! There are other ways to make a homemade barometer and the poster could provide links or details.)

Using titles in this way will be helpful for others who are searching for specific information.

I am not an expert. I am a homeschooling mom. We have owned this book a long time, but not used it much. I have recently decided to make a determined effort to use it, and as part of my preparation for doing so, spent some time going through it. It occurred to me that a group could be a useful repository of information for those who are using the lessons.

The book was written about "the most common species of plants and animals in the Northeast" (from the foreward to the 1986 reissue), which means that those who live in other parts of the U.S. may find that the information needs to be supplemented or adapted. It was written in 1911 and revised in 1936, so there is that, too.