In school many helpful facts and ideas can be obtained from science teachers and science books. There are nature study books for young people in bookstores and libraries. Some of these books are listed at the end of this article. Handbooks of the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and Camp Fire Boys and Girls give nature information. Many articles in this encyclopedia contain nature information. Some of them are mentioned later in this article. In addition, there are a number of educational television programs and CD-ROM products for computers that provide nature information.

Many museums, especially museums of natural history, have exhibits of natural objects. Some of the exhibits are habitat groups, lifelike specimens of animals and plants shown as they live together in nature. Planetariums and some museums have exhibits showing many interesting facts about the earth and other planets, and the stars. Botanic gardens, zoos, and aquariums contain living things from all over the world.

State and national parks often have small museums. In many parks there are nature trails and guides who conduct tours. City parks are often good places to observe small local animals and to study plant life.

You will need a notebook and pencils for writing down the facts you discover, and for sketching things you find. It is not necessary to have a camera, microscope, or binoculars but they are helpful. A hand magnifying glass is useful. Small fieldbooks that describe natural objects help you identify them.

When exploring nature it is important to remember safety rules. The nature books you read will tell which living things may harm you. For example, it is hard to tell poisonous mushrooms from nonpoisonous ones, so it is wise not to handle any that you find in the field. Poisonous snakes and other dangerous animals should be handled only by experts.

Be careful not to destroy plants and wildlife unnecessarily. Some kinds of plants and animals are becoming scarce, and there are laws to protect them. It is against the law to destroy or collect natural objects in parks and forest preserves. Your teacher or parents can help you find out what things you are allowed to collect and where you can collect them.