Keep a Signs of Spring (Phenology) Journal

Click and Print
for Ready-made Journals

Journal Cover

Journal Page

Tips for Teachers
Use these journal pages the way we designed them, or customize as appropriate for your class. Just click to download, open through your Word application, and print! Or edit to enter your own questions, categories, or layout. Student's journal entries can be inspired by their weekly outdoor observations and by prompts in our monthly Phenology Observation Reminders. (They can also draw from original comments on the Signs of Spring map or list or on Journey North's other spring maps.)

  • Print a cover for each student and a stack of journal pages. Journals can be stapled, bound, or kept in each students' pocket folder to pull out on "Journey North days."
  • Use the "This Week I Observed . . ." section for students to summarize their observations of the natural world. In addition to observations of living things, weather, water, and so on, they should add what they've noticed about sunlight, daylength, and shadows.
  • "These things have changed since last week (or month)" prompts students to think about indicators that spring is progressing in their hometown.
  • Prompt students to use the "What I think caused these changes" section to think about the chain of events that triggers seasonal changes. (For instance, "The sun warmed the soil, so the earthworms came up.")
  • If students are using one of Journey North's Phenology Checklists, they should include these in this journal.
  • Helpful Links: Journey North Journals; Journaling Questions and Assessment