Field guides and keys are a useful, student-centered strategy for introducing content to students. Below is a list of field guides we’ve used, we’ve created, or that come highly recommended from partners.
A Few of our Favorite Field Guides
MacroInvertebrates
Trees
- UW’s Forest Trees of Wisconsin (guidebook and dichotomous key)
Intertidal
- LiMPETS Field Guide (for the west coast)
From BEETLES!
Night Sky
Intertidal and Sandy Shores
- Pacific Intertidal Life
- Handbook of Sandy Beach Organisms by Catherine Halversen
- What Lives on a Sandy Beach? by Catherine Halversen
- Seashore Northern & Central California, Lone Pine Field Guide by Ian Sheldon, Lone Pine Publishing
- National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Seashore Creatures, Alfred A. Knopf, NY
- Beachcomber’s Guide to Seashore Life of California by J. Duane Sept, Harbour Publishing
- Life on Intertidal Rocks: A Guide to the Marine Life of the Rocky North Atlantic Coast
Trees & Plants
West Coast:
- Laws Field Guide to the Sierra Nevada by John Muir Laws
- The Laws Pocket Guide Set: San Francisco Bay Area by John Muir Laws
- The Laws Pocket Guide Set: San Francisco Bay Area by John Muir Laws
- Pacific Coast Tree Finder: A Pocket Manual for Identifying Pacific Coast Trees
- Redwood Region Flower Finder
East Coast & South:
- Berry Finder: A guide to native plants with fleshy fruits
- Fern Finder: A Guide to Native Ferns of Central and Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada
- Tree Finder: A Manual for Identification of Trees by their Leaves (Eastern US)
- Wildflowers Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains
- Winter Tree Finder: A Manual for Identifying Deciduous Trees in Winter (Eastern US)
- Winter Weed Finder: A Guide to Dry Plants in Winter
- Flower Finder: A Guide to the Identification of Spring Wild Flowers and Flower Families East of the Rockies and North of the Smokies, Exclusive of Trees and Shrubs
Midwest and Rockies:
- Flower Finder: A Guide to the Identification of Spring Wild Flowers and Flower Families East of the Rockies and North of the Smokies, Exclusive of Trees and Shrubs
- Rocky Mountain Flower Finder: A Guide to the Wildflowers Found Below Tree Line in the Rocky Mountains
- Rocky Mountain Tree Finder
- Winter Weed Finder: A Guide to Dry Plants in Winter
Mammals
- Mountain State Mammals: A Guide to Mammals of the Rocky Mountain Region
- Pacific Coast Mammals: A Guide to Mammals of the Pacific Coast States, Their Tracks, Skulls and Other Signs
- Track Finder: A Guide to Mammal Tracks of Eastern North America
- Mammal Tracks & Signs: A Guide to North American Species by Mark Elbroch
Birds
- Sibley Birds West: The Sibley Field Guide to Birds, by David Sibley
- Sibley Birds East: The Sibley Field Guide to Birds, by David Sibley
- Sierra Birds: A Hiker’s Guide by John Muir Laws
- Bird Tracks & Sign: A Guide to North American Species by Mark Elbroch
- The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior, by David Sibley
Insects
- Tracks & Sign of Insects and Other Invertebrates: A Guide to North American Species, by Charley Eiseman and Noah Charney
What other guides have you successfully used with students? Let us know in the comments below!
We also recommend making your own simple keys to organisms and stuff specific to your site. Inspired by the simplicity of the BEETLES Lichen Key, Juita “Trillium” Martinez of San Mateo Outdoor Education made this key to amphibians at her site:
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