Happy Moon Day! In honor of the anniversary of the first human steps on the moon, we’re celebrating space exploration — from the comfort of your home.
Study your environment to the pace of our lunar cycles with this moon phenology wheel activity.
For more on Phenology Wheels, check out this activity!
Explore more resources about SPACE
Explore more resources about NATURE JOURNALING
Post by Marisa
Learn more about astronomy with these resources in our Online Museum Store.
Patricia Larenas loves seeds. With a background in horticulture and art, her work aims to inspire appreciation for this life stage of plants. She also works directly with seeds, helping others grow edible gardens and save seeds. This project explores the germination and growth of a Hopi red lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus). The following is written by Patricia.
Genetic Diversity
I’ve drawn three beans to show the diversity of the seed coat color: 1. solid red-brown, 2. red-brown with dark streaks and spots, and 3. mostly dark with red-brown streaks and spots. The diversity in color of the beans is an indication of the genetic diversity in this variety. This is an advantage because genetic diversity means that this bean could have more ability to adapt to different environments.
For example, lima beans usually like to grow in hot areas like the Southwestern and Southern USA . My garden in the Bay Area is cooler than those areas, so with its ability to adapt, this bean may do just fine in my garden under cooler conditions. By growing it for a few years and saving seeds from the most vigorous and productive plants, I can create my own land race that is adapted to growing well in my area.
Germination
All viable seeds are alive. By viable I mean they have the ability to grow once they germinate. Conditions that kill seeds are: exposure to warm or hot temperatures, old age, exposure to light, humidity that can cause mold to grow or seeds to rot, and diseases. Seeds can stay dormant, but alive, while they are waiting for the proper conditions that will induce them to germinate. Germination is the process by which a seed begins to sprout and develop into a seedling. The proper conditions for seeds to germinate vary greatly for different types of seeds and they have to do with temperature, moisture, and exposure to light or darkness. Additionally, some seeds need a period of exposure to cold, usually about the temperature of your refrigerator (called stratification) before they germinate. This could be from a few weeks to a few months. Other seeds need to have their seed coats abraded or damaged (called scarification) a bit so that moisture can penetrate to begin the germination process. Vegetable seeds rarely need stratification or scarification, but some flower seeds do.
Bean Seeds
Lima bean seeds need soil temperatures of at least 750 F to germinate (up to 900F), besides moisture (water). As shown in my drawings, first, the root radicle grows out of the seed, and the seed coat begins to retract as the bean swells with growth. The seed leaves, or cotyledons, are the two halves that make up the bean seed, these start to open up and the true leaves grow out from in between them, while the radicle develops into a stem and roots. The little seed is now a seedling ready to grow into a full sized plant that will flower and make lima beans!
Patricia Larenas is a featured artist in the 2020 exhibition of science illustration, The Art of Nature.
Find Patricia’s art on Instagram @plarenas_onpaper
See her website for tips on growing your veggie garden and saving seeds http://www.urbanartichoke.com/
Happy Summer Solstice! What better way to celebrate than creating art with sunlight? Follow along and harness the power of the sun to create your own sun prints using objects found in nature, construction paper, and sunlight.
Astronomically, the June solstice marks the first day of summer for the Northern Hemisphere, but many cultures consider this event to signal midsummer. This year, solstice occurs at 2:34 p.m. PDT on Saturday, June 20, 2020, which is the exact moment that the Earth’s North Pole is leaning most toward the sun.
Materials:
Construction paper
Nature objects
Optional:
Saran wrap
Plexiglass
Tape
Scissors
Post by Marisa
Museums might be closed but in this video you can learn to make your own natural history museum at home! Include a favorite exhibit from the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History as well as your own curations.
Post by Elise.
Do you enjoy looking at flowers? What do you want to learn about flowers? Use this step-by-step guide to learn about the different parts of a flower through illustration. Afterwards you will be able to identify perfect and imperfect flowers.
Explore more about plants with the resources in our Online Museum Store.
Post by Elise
Spending time outside can help you feel connected to nature, but there are ways to connect to nature without leaving your house. Find a comfy spot to sit near a window and take 20 minutes to gaze out at the world. What will you notice during this time?
Capture a moment in time out your window through writing, questioning, and drawing. For further instructions, follow along with the activity guide.
Explore these other posts about journaling:
Post by: Elise
Witness the making of one of the pieces in our exhibit, The Art of Nature, while exploring the natural history of the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and learning how to use grisaille and watercolor in your own science illustrations.
Art is essential to increasing scientific knowledge and inspiring conservation. This lecture from Andrea Dingeldein, a local artist and educator featured in the Museum’s 2020 exhibition of science illustration, The Art of Nature, explores science illustration, both historical and contemporary, and its importance as a tool to observe and connect with nature.
Andrea Dingeldein is a marine biologist, naturalist, and general lover of nature. Andrea’s focus is in marine illustration, but she enjoys drawing insects, reptiles, and any other creepy-crawlies she can get her hands on. She specializes in illustrations for peer-reviewed science articles and has published illustrations in Ecological Modeling and Bulletin of Marine Science. Other clients include NC Department of Marine Fisheries, Friday Harbor Laboratories, and Western Society of Naturalists. Explore her work.
Andrea has two pieces in our 2020 exhibition of science illustration, The Art of Nature. Explore the virtual exhibit.
Reuse materials from your home to create a tool to help you observe the secret world of insects more closely — a bug net!
Post by Marisa
Science Illustrator Megan Gnekow shares the story behind her piece, “Plovers in the Dunes,” featured in this year’s The Art of Nature exhibit.
This is an excerpt from a longer conversation with Megan hosted live on Facebook on April 10, 2020. Watch the full program here.