How to Observe Plants in the Wilderness

Observing plants is, in many ways, the very opposite of observing animals. The plants keep still and quiet and we pass by to observe their growth and change of seasons.

Things You'll Need

• Magnifying Glasses
• Notebooks

Instructions

1. 

   Choose a specific plant to observe. Note a prominent characteristic so that you are sure to recognize it each time you visit it.

2. 

   Identify not only the name of the plant, but its properties. Is it edible, medicinal or poisonous? What environment does it grow in - what type of soil, light and terrain? How does it reproduce itself? Get a book on plants to answer these questions, then look to the plant to observe what you read.

3. 

   Use a magnifying glass to observe your plant as closely as possible.

4. 

   Draw your plant. This is not so much an art project as an exercise in careful observation. Drawing something forces you to note of every detail. Minute details are very important. Do several drawings from different perspectives and of different parts of the plant. Try to depict exactly what you see.

5. Visit your plant throughout the course of a year and take notes on how it changes through the different seasons. Much can be learned about the cycles of life by watches the changes of seasons affect plant-life.

6. Take seeds from your plant and grow it for yourself. Incorporate everything you've learned about your plant to make it grow in as ideal an environment as possible.

Tips & Warnings

• A garden is an excellent way to observe and interact with plants.