- Jul 20, 2016
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- 20,209
I've been involved with land conservation and trusts for many years. The big question always has been how to help others become aware of the bigger picture.
I found this article from the Tug Hill Tomorrowland Trust in New York. They've started a bird watching program in elementary schools and with home-schooled children. This project is incorporated into the science, math, and English curriculum, which is the best way for anyone to learn. When a concept is attached to something in life, then it becomes lasting knowledge, as opposed to rote learning.
In May, colorful birds signal the approaching summer. Over the course of a week, the students see cardinals, blue jays, crows, robins, sparrows, juncos, and goldfinches. They even see hummingbirds flitting and hovering around the flowers in the school garden.
They record the kinds of birds they see and they start asking questions. Why are the male birds more colorful? Why do they go to this feeder and not that one? Why are they drawn to bright flowers more than white ones? What do they eat when they’re not eating birdseed?
Soon, it’s not just the birds at the school feeders that get their attention. Susan says, “It was exciting because they’d come back in from their weekends and say, ‘Oh, I saw this, Mrs. Jeffers,’ ‘I saw a cardinal,’ or ‘I saw a Blue Jay.’ So they were becoming more observant of their own world, not only in school but outside of school.”
http://s3.amazonaws.com/landtrustalliance.org/article/files/TugHillTomorrowLandTrust-BirdQuest.pdf
I found this article from the Tug Hill Tomorrowland Trust in New York. They've started a bird watching program in elementary schools and with home-schooled children. This project is incorporated into the science, math, and English curriculum, which is the best way for anyone to learn. When a concept is attached to something in life, then it becomes lasting knowledge, as opposed to rote learning.
In May, colorful birds signal the approaching summer. Over the course of a week, the students see cardinals, blue jays, crows, robins, sparrows, juncos, and goldfinches. They even see hummingbirds flitting and hovering around the flowers in the school garden.
They record the kinds of birds they see and they start asking questions. Why are the male birds more colorful? Why do they go to this feeder and not that one? Why are they drawn to bright flowers more than white ones? What do they eat when they’re not eating birdseed?
Soon, it’s not just the birds at the school feeders that get their attention. Susan says, “It was exciting because they’d come back in from their weekends and say, ‘Oh, I saw this, Mrs. Jeffers,’ ‘I saw a cardinal,’ or ‘I saw a Blue Jay.’ So they were becoming more observant of their own world, not only in school but outside of school.”
http://s3.amazonaws.com/landtrustalliance.org/article/files/TugHillTomorrowLandTrust-BirdQuest.pdf
