What is that?
I saw a wheel similar to this one on Instagram and it immediately peaked my interest. As stated on Earthzine, “Phenology is a term that refers to the observation of the life cycles and habits of plants and animals as they respond to the seasons, weather, and climate. A Phenology Wheel is a circular journal or calendar that encourages a routine of Earth observation where you live.”
After doing some research, I decided I wanted to create a wheel of my own. I wanted to do a monthly wheel to record the weather and moon cycle. I was able to find a blank template to help me get started. I made my observations each morning. The center of the wheel is a focus point of your nature study. I used it to document a significant event spent in the natural world during the month of August. This is an incredibly grounding practice. It is a wonderful way to spend time being still, quiet, and to connect with the Earth.
As you can see, August is just about complete. Next month I will make some slight changes to my wheel {less use of pencil, perhaps add more drawings around the wheel to note significant events}.
To create a Phenology wheel is simple and is open to whatever forms of nature you want to record and whatever time scale you’d like to adhere to. I really appreciate its flexibility in that way. This activity is something that can be done at any age level. Some modifications are listed below.
Elementary: Seasonal/monthly wheel. When creating this wheel, you can label the seasons on the outer circle and then have the months on the inner circle, and then have one big circle in the middle. Below is an example of such a wheel. Depending on your child’s age, they could draw the wheel themselves or you could design/print a template for them. Each month you can record what is growing (plants and animals) or what is happening in your environment (ex: wildfire, heavy rain, drought). It is your wheel, you can include what you have noticed or been impacted by the most in the natural world.
Upper grades/adult: Daily/monthly wheel. A daily wheel requires a daily practice/ritual of spending time observing your environment. When completing a daily wheel, I would focus on one aspect of nature: weather, fauna, flora. By guiding your attention to one part of the natural world, it allows you to truly focus and connect. You may also begin to notice how life changes over time with this deep focus.
What is lovely about this process is that you can start it at any time. I am also considering doing a seasonal wheel to document the changes in the biodiversity as the seasons change. What type of Phenology wheel are you going to do?
Link to Earthzine article explaining why Phenology is important and how to create your own wheels.
Lifting Fog Learning 