Gardner's Eight Intelligences: Nature

One of the concepts *I wonder* about with my children is the application of Gardner's eight multiple intelligences. I am going to review all of them as *I wonder* in a (obviously) eight-part series. 

The naturalist intelligence refers to the ability to recognize and classify plants, minerals, and animals, including rocks and grass and all variety of flora and fauna. The ability to recognize cultural artifacts like cars or sneakers may also depend on the naturalist intelligence. …(S)ome people from an early age are extremely good at recognizing and classifying artifacts. For example, we all know kids who, at 3 or 4, are better at recognizing dinosaurs than most adults.

We have the beach quite close to us on vacation. Ty loves the beach, like a boy who just met a pretty girl. He talks about the beach, wants to see the beach, gets excited if someone mentions the beach, and if the beach rejects his presence (like raining), he cries. 

He runs and examines the driftwood and chases the seagulls. He stands in the water to see when it will knock him down. He digs in the sand and looks at how wet it is. He tries to mold the sand and adds water and sand for his desired consistency. He eats the sand and drinks the water. He looks at the sand all over himself and laugh.

*I wonder* if this is just a two-year old activity or the start of someone who learns through nature.