No matter where you live, whether there is a dramatic change in temperature or more subtle change from the other seasons, winter is the time of basic regeneration in nature.

Here are some journaling studies you might want to do this season.

PLANTS
Identify the plants that remain as dried stalks. Find five different dried plants; cutting carefully, bring them inside to study. Do any of them have unusual growths on them, such as the galls on goldenrod stems? Can you identify milkweed, Queen-Anne’s-lace (wild carrot), or evening primrose in their winter state? Can you find some plants that stay green all winter, such as Christmas fern or pachysandra?

TREES
Practice drawing the silhouettes of various types of evergreen and deciduous trees to get to know their distinctive shapes. Explore the differences between trees and shrubs, broad-leaved evergreens and evergreens with needles. Examine and draw the twigs, buds, and any fruits and nuts you find. Look at bark patterns of trees; can learn to recognize a number of trees from their bark alone?

ANIMALS
Read about and draw the five most common animals you think live near your home. Do each of these stay active all winter? Which ones sleep some of the time? Which ones hibernate? Can you find the places where they sleep or hibernate?

BIRDS
What birds live near you? Study five birds that do not leave your area in winter. Where do they find shelter? What do they eat? Do they travel in single-species flocks or in mixed-species flocks? How do they communicate in winter? Notice that on bright, sunny days more birds are out singing and flying about. By February, birds such as pigeons, house finches, and sparrows are actively courting. (And in the wild, great horned owls and mourning doves are, as well.)

Winter is pair-forming time for many ducks. Watch them in patches of open water and record their courtship behavior.

WEATHER AND SEASONS
Much has been written about the rigors of winter. Survival through this season has been very difficult for many human cultures and many kinds of animals. What does winter mean to you? Record what you like and don’t like about the season. Keep a month long record of weather, moon phases, and precipitation.

Carefully chart sunrises and sunsets from mid-December to mid-January so you can determine the actual length of each day (in daylight), and track the changes before and after the winter solstice - the longest night (and shortest day) of the year.

If you live in a snowy region, record the snow-crystal patterns, the depth of snowfalls, and the type of snow received in each fall. If you live in a southern region, record periods of rainfall or drought.