Family Field Packs

Many years ago, one of my students included "feild kit" on his Christmas wish list.  We had just begun using them for field work on field trips, and he wanted one of his own.  Last year I finally implemented a project that has been percolating a long time.  In college, I volunteered in an elementary classroom where students could check out Book Packs, backpacks with a set of books around a theme (weather or space, for example) with a reading journal in which families could respond to the books and tell about any associated activities they did together.  In order to connect science and literacy and make field work more accessible to our families, I adapted this idea to include the tools for field work.

Each field pack includes at least one non-fiction text on the topic, a biography of a field scientist who works or worked in this subject, a book on how to do this type of field work, and the tools and field guide(s) to do field work of your own!  Families can start their adventure by reading about the topic.  Next, they use the tools (and suggested resources) to explore the topic outside with family field work.

Our most popular family field pack is the Astronomy Adventure pack.

It contains:
* Starry Messenger by Peter Sis
* Find the Constellations by H.A. Ray (curiously, the author of the Curious George books)
* Constellations (A True Book) by F. S. Kim
* a Galileoscope
* a tripod
* a red LED flashlight
* a compass
* a star chart
* colored pencils
* a field notebook

Next is our Birding Adventure family field pack.

It contains:
* For the Birds: The Life of Roger Tory Peterson by Peggy Thomas
* Flute's Journey by Lynne Cherry
* Urban Roosts: Where Birds Nest in the City by Barbara Bash
* Take a Backyard Bird Walk by Jane Kirkland
* Houston Birds
* Birds of Southeast Texas & the Upper Gulf Coast
* binoculars
* colored pencils
* a feathered field notebook

Our third family field pack features a Coastal Exploration.

It contains:
* Manfish: A Story of Jacques Cousteau
* One Small Square: Seashore
* Wild Beach by Marion Coste
* Take a Beach Walk by Jane Kirkland
* The Ultimate Guide to Shells & Beach Life of the Texas Gulf Coast
* Shells of Texas
* Gulf Coast Birds
* binoculars
* a hand lens
* colored pencils
* a beach-themed field notebook