From: Linda Shore (lindas@exploratorium.edu)
Date: Thu Feb 27 2003 - 08:28:41 PST
Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 08:28:41 -0800 From: Linda Shore <lindas@exploratorium.edu> Subject: For the birds... Message-id: <3E5E3CB8.A4E9F34F@exploratorium.edu>
Interested in engaging your students in the study of birds? Here is a
brand new opportunity from Cornell University you might be interested
in...
Cheers
Linda Shore
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Allison Wells, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 607-254-2473,
amw25@cornell.edu
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/cfw
BIRDS ENGAGE MIDDLE-SCHOOL STUDENTS IN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
Cornell Lab of Ornithology 2003 School Year Science Curriculum Now
Available
In hundreds of classrooms across the nation, thousands of students
are gazing out their classroom windows-and learning about science and
math in the process. They're taking notes on the flurry of bird
activity, as part of real scientific research designed by scientists
at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
The students and their teachers are participating in Classroom
FeederWatch (CFW) 2003, an innovative middle-school science
curriculum developed by the Cornell Lab with sponsorship from the
National Science Foundation. Now in its seventh year, the program
guides students on how to set up bird feeders in schoolyards and
engages them in the scientific process through the simple act of bird
watching. CFW includes lesson plans, called Explorations, designed
for classes in upper-elementary school through middle school.
Students participating in the program learn to identify birds and
collect bird data anytime from November to April. They provide their
data via the Internet to scientists at the Cornell Lab. This
interaction with university scientists provides students a real sense
of purpose knowing that the data they have collected are part of a
continent-wide effort to learn more about bird population dynamics.
The CFW curriculum supports the National Science Education standards,
developed by the National Research Council. An important goal of the
standards is to provide students with a deeper understanding of
scientific concepts by engaging them in scientific inquiry.
Students also learn to interpret data to answer their own questions
about birds. They formulate questions and ultimately design and
conduct experiments to answer them. For example, Josh, a 7th-grader
from Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, experimented with birdseed mixes to
determine which ones the House Finches liked best. Kristina, a
10th-grader from Hillsboro, Oregon, collected data and determined
that Dark-eyed Junco visits at her school feeder were on the decline,
coincident with the construction of a housing development nearby.
The students complete their scientific experience by contributing
their research reports as well as essays, poetry, and drawings of
birds, to the annual newsletter, Classroom Birdscope, published by
the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
"Classroom FeederWatch helps students realize that learning can be
exciting and fun," says Claudia Zan, CFW Project Leader. " That's
true not only about science but about other subjects as well.
Teachers from many disciplines have found the CFW curriculum
essential. English teachers use it to suggest writing assignments
about birds, geography teachers use it to introduce topography and
mapping, and art teachers put it to use so that students can create
original artwork based on birds. Because birds occur in a variety of
habitats and thus are readily seen, they are ideal for students to
observe, study, and ask and answer questions about."
Teachers participating in CFW report that the project inspires
students to become involved in research in a way they never have
before. "I have witnessed the excitement and enthusiasm of bird
watching among children and parents of this school. Your program has
allowed students to feel like real scientists!" says Carole
Prendergast, a school librarian from New Jersey.
Susan Botts, an elementary school teacher from Florida concurs, "CFW
is the best way I know to help kids understand the nature of science.
It is real science!"
Mike Ashton, an 8th-grade teacher from Pennsylvania was delighted
with the program: "I never expected so many of my kids to get excited
about birds. CFW really motivates them."
But the best testimonies come from the students themselves. Ryan, an
8th-grade student from Pennsylvania expressed, "I think this was a
very fun project. We got to go outside and work hands-on. I think it
is a lot easier to learn when you get to do things yourself."
"With constant calls for more rigorous scientific training in our
schools, CFW provides teachers with an innovative teaching tool for
introducing scientific concepts," says Rick Bonney, education
director for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. "Capturing kids'
imagination is the best way to foster their interest in science and
other subjects-an interest that, we hope, will last a lifetime."
The cost of the curriculum is $99 with an annual renewal fee of $20.
Also, while supplies last, classrooms will receive 15 free
educational slides of the most common birds in their area. Classrooms
receive 10 Exploration lesson plans, a teacher handbook, a student
workbook with drawings of birds and Exploration worksheets, a
full-color poster of common feeder birds, and the Classroom Birdscope
newsletter. They also gain access to the CFW web site containing
curriculum support, data entry features, and information about birds.
Teachers and their students need no previous knowledge in bird
identification. To find out more, visit
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/cfw, email classroomfw@cornell.edu, call
1-800-843-2473, or write to Classroom FeederWatch, Cornell Lab of
Ornithology, 159 Sapsucker Woods Road, Ithaca, NY, 14850.
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a nonprofit membership institution
interpreting and conserving the Earth's biological diversity through
research, education, and citizen science focused on birds.
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