Go Outside and SEEK Spring

Welcome to Spring! By this point, you and your kids are probably getting a little stir crazy thanks to COVID-19. I have been really impressed with the way that teachers have mobilized and shared such amazing online resources. In honor of today being the first day of Spring, I want to share one of my favorite apps that I have not seen mentioned on any resource list. Take a look at seek and let's Go Outside and seek Spring while still maintaining our social distance. Remember that even when sheltering in place that the outdoors are still open. 

Seek by iNaturalist is a FREE app for either iOS or Android that utilizes your camera and location to identify plants and animals in your environment. Simply open the app and point the seek camera at living things. That's it! This app has been around for a number of years, but it works far better than it did in the past. Honestly, it is pretty magical.

To get your kids' initial buy-in, tell them that it is like Pokemon Go! or Harry Potter: Wizards Unite except with plants and animals. With that in mind, let's go on a hunt outside to see what we can find. I put it to the test by exploring some of the living things in my yard. Here's some of what I found. 

---

I first looked for signs of Spring and found that the Azeleas are beginning to bloom. 

Seek identified the particular type of Azalea in my yard. I never knew that it was a Tsutsusi. That is a fun word to say! 

Seek also presents the entire taxonomy of the species that I captured. 

In looking for other signs of Spring in the yard, I collected a whole series of really nasty looking weeds that I know have names for. 

---

I hope that this gives you and your students something new to do rather than another online activity. Let's get outside and explore some nature. Taking a walk or a hike is a great way to reconnect with nature and to maintain some sanity during these crazy times. 

Let me know what you identify on your nature quest by posting below. 

---

Seek by iNaturalist from iNaturalist on Vimeo.