Backyard Science & Discovery Workbook - Pacific Northwest: Fun Activities & Experiments That Get Kids Outdoors

Why settle for less? Utilize educational content tailor-made for your part of the country, and introduce children to nature in the Pacific Northwest.

National workbooks are great—but regional content is even better! Focus on the habitats, plants, and animals specifically found in the Pacific Northwest.

Written by Dr. Robert Niese, a naturalist from the West Coast, the Backyard Science & Discovery Workbook: Pacific Northwest does what other workbooks can’t: It gets specific about climate, geography, state symbols, weather, and especially birds, fungi, insects, minerals, trees, wildflowers, and so much more. With over 20 simple, fun introductions to scientific subjects—like astronomy and geology—it gets children excited about nature in their own backyard and teaches them to love and protect the great outdoors. More than a dozen activities help kids to make hypotheses, experiment, and observe. The 19 hands-on science projects—such as raising native caterpillars, making mushroom spore prints, and attracting moths with an ultraviolet light—put students in control of their own learning!

You never know what your children will uncover in their outdoor classroom. Every day is a little treasure hunt. If they keep good records and share what they find, their observations can even help scientists learn more about nature in the states of Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. So get the Backyard Science & Discovery Workbook: Pacific Northwest, and get started on a lifetime of discovery.

Regional workbooks are better:

• Introduction to the Pacific Northwest’s geography, plants and animals, and biology
• Activities specific to your part of the country
• Fun hands-on projects that spark wonder
• Regionally accurate information about biomes, natural history, phenology, and more

Dr. Robert Niese is a lifelong nature nut. He has been collecting and identifying plants, animals, fungi, rocks, and fossils ever since he was a child, exploring California’s diverse habitats. As an undergraduate at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington, his hobbies became invaluable skills; he was hired by the Slater Museum of Natural History to write and implement science curricula for hundreds of elementary school classrooms throughout western Washington. In 2013, Robert took his enthusiasm and expertise for Pacific Northwest flora and fauna to Montana, where he received his Ph.D. in comparative vertebrate anatomy. In his free time, he wrote nature journal entries for his blog, NorthwestNaturalist, which has thousands of followers. Today, Robert continues to teach college students about mammals, plants, birds, and bones, both in the Pacific Northwest and in Costa Rica, where he is an instructor for study-abroad courses.