Neighborhood Nature Folder
A fun way to encourage scientific exploration and writing is to create a Neighborhood Nature Folder. These folders can be used to store songs, notes, drawings, data sheets, and anything environmental. Neighborhood Nature Folders are a unique idea for a journal/portfolio, reusing a common household "throw-away."

Materials:

Instructions:

1. Take out a used grocery bag. Unfold the bottom by carefully tearing it open.

2. Flatten the bag on a desk with the store name or logo facing up. Pull the sides out so that one side is now part of the front and the other side is now part of the back.

3. Find an adult partner to help you use the scissors. Cut off the bottom of the bag at the last fold.

4. Glue the top edges of the bag together and the bottom edges of the bag together as well.

5. Lay a ruler (should be a 30cm ruler) from the top of the folder towards the bottom (it will not reach all of the way), then, fold the bottom edge up to where the ruler ends.

6. Glue the side edges of the bottom flap to create pockets for papers. Wait until the glue dries (5 minutes or so). Fold it in half.

7. Write your name on your folder, then decorate it. Use your imagination to create a folder with a pretty, multi-colored scene. Color both sides, if you wish.

Ideas for Your Nature Folder
  • Draw and color pictures of your favorite birds.
  • Keep a diary of all the animals you see on the way to school.
  • Make a graph that includes all the different types of trees near your home
  • Draw a map of your school. Be sure to include locations of green space.
  • Keep a list of how much water you use in a day.
  • Trace the leaves you find on the ground near your house or school.
  • Write poems about the animals and plants you see.
  • Make up songs about the environment.
What other ideas
can you come up with
to reuse a paper grocery bag?