A display of items in a home museum of nature
Image:
Benjamin Moorhouse
| DOC
Museum of Nature
Introduction
Collect, describe, display and curate nature treasures from your own backyard, and begin to identify personal meanings and connections to nature.1. Gather your items
- Define and agree on a ‘back yard’ area to work in.
- Take a basket, box or bag to collect treasures in.
- Gather a range of nature ‘bits and pieces’ – leaves, stones, sticks, nuts, seeds and flowers. These could relate to a keyword, eg Autumn, or they could just be interesting bits that ‘speak’ to you.
2. Make your museum
Organise your museum
Make a museum display of the items – arrange in types or shapes or colours; make cards with descriptions, real or made up.
Describe the items
Choose one or more items to describe. How does it feel? Smell? Sound? What job does it have in the environment?
Create a scene or picture
Use your collected nature items to make a picture, or miniature land. You could sketch items in your nature journal.
Give a tour
Be a tour guide. Show friends and whānau about the items in your museum of nature.
Get help identifying species
Get help from scientists and fellow nature observers to identify the plants and animals in your photos by uploading them to iNaturalist, Seek and/or NZ Bird Atlas.