Citrus County Audubon Society Connects Students to Outdoors with Nature Journaling

It’s a busy day for students at Inverness Middle School in West Central Florida. They have the usual drop-offs and lunch periods, math and science, but on very special days, they have a novel class in the library: nature journaling.

The nature journaling program is one component of Citrus County Audubon Society’s (CCAS)  partnership with the school, which includes bird walks, meet-and-greets with raptors, Eastern Bluebird nest boxes, and more.

“It all starts with special teachers,” CCAS Education Coordinator Judy Lathrop explains. For Inverness, it was Media Specialist (and nature lover) Sharon Autry, who initially reached out to CCAS for a bird program. As their offerings have grown over the years, Lathrop and CCAS wanted to provide a way to make nature relatable to the students; “Not just reciting facts,” Lathrop continues, “but you want to grab people’s hearts.”

Enter nature journaling. Long used as a tool in environmental research, nature journaling has also been shown to empower students and reduce both stress and anxiety. “It’s so important because you’re doing something good for students as individuals, as well as doing good for the environment and society as a whole,” Lathrop adds.

So, how does it work?

Inverness Middle School buys each student in the program softcover journals with blank pages (CCAS taught five classes and 125 students last year). They begin with a quick presentation to orient the students to the activities – it’s not just sketching but writing, and numbers too! The students then begin writing down the day’s “meta-data:” the date, the time, the weather, and anything else they find interesting.

Then it’s on to what Lathrop calls “the leaf buffet.” On long tables set up with leaves from a range of plants, including native and invasive species, the students choose 2-3 to take back to their desk and describe, sketch, or do a leaf rubbing. Air potato plants are very popular, as the species is featured in the popular computer game “Minecraft.”

Numbers come next, complete with rulers to measure the different parts of the leaves and stems. Finally, students ask questions and make connections by answering the prompts “I wonder” and “It reminds me of.” After each stage, the students can share their in-progress pages, and many of them do.

Currently, the students bring their nature journals back to class the next day to do an activity in their art periods, but in the future, Lathrop also wants to connect with math and science teachers to emphasize the multidisciplinary benefits of nature journaling. With the help of their nature journals and guided activities, Lathrop hopes the students can explore their world in Inverness in a deeper way, making connections across time and space.

This year, CCAS won “Best Education Program, Small Chapter” from Audubon Florida at the annual Assembly in October. “Through this creative and hands-on program, chapter volunteers taught middle school students how to keep a nature journal— combining art, science, and observation to build curiosity and connection with the natural world.” Says Kristen Kosik, Audubon Florida’s chapters conservation manager. “They helped students practice noticing, questioning, and recording details about local plants, sparking a sense of wonder that can grow into a lifelong conservation ethic. The project even expanded into a bird walk and is now inspiring teachers to bring nature into their classrooms year after year.”