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Nature Nuggets

Week Five "Nature Nugget" Outdoor Activities:

iNaturalist BioBlitz  |  Finding Your Name in Nature
Bird Behavior Scavenger Hunt |  Froglympics
Phenology Scavenger Hunt


iNaturalist BioBlitz with Christy Belardo
Nature Nugget  |  April 20th

Finding Your Name in Nature with Christy Belardo
Nature Nugget  |  April 21st

Bird Behavior Scavenger Hunt with Lauren Borer
Nature Nugget  |  April 22nd

Froglympics with Cathy Shiga-Gattullo
Nature Nugget  |  April 23rd

Location: Indoors/Outdoors
Great for: Ages 4 and up , Students and Families 

Jump like a frog! Frogs need to jump quickly to escape predators and catch food. Their bodies are adapted to help them do that (leg muscles, tendons, shock absorbing skeletons, etc). Measure how far you can jump as well as how far you would jump if you were a human-size frog!  

  1. You’ll need: a tape measure or yardstick, some rope or yarn, masking or washi tape (or a marker, if you dare put it in the hands of a child). You can use chalk on a sidewalk or driveway, too.  You can also use the tape on the floor of a nice long hallway. 
  2. Measure out foot-long markings along the rope, yarn, or on your sidewalk or floor. You’re using the tape, marker or chalk to mark the foot increments. Lay out your rope or string, securing the ends with more tape or rocks.
  3. Agree on a starting point and how you will jump – standing long jump? Running start? Feet together? Crouching like a frog with your hands on the ground? Or try all methods!
  4. You can mark the landing spots with flags of tape, or with the chalk on the pavement. Create a leader board to record everyone’s jumps.  

Bonus: Figure out how far you would jump if you were a human-sized frog! (See photos below for frog sizes) Measure how tall you are. You’ll do some multiplication. Multiply your height by the jump factor for a Green frog and measure out on the ground how far that would be! 

Extra bonus: Do this for different types of frogs (frog sizes are rounded for easier math):

Selected resources: 

How frogs jump: 

If You Hopped Like a Frog; David M. Schartz and James Warhola; Scholastic, 2017. 

Actual Size; Steve Jenkins; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009. 

How Long? (Wacky Comparisons); Jessica Gunderson and Igor Sinkovec; Picture Window Books, 2014. 

Phenology Scavenger Hunt with Lauren Borer
Nature Nugget  |  April 24th

Banner Photo by Christy Belardo