Jan. 28, 2008

Project Feederwatch ~ Homeschool Curriculum *Free*

(Click on the above image to take you directly to the FeederWatch curriculum PDF)

I'm sure that you've probably heard of Cornell University's Project FeederWatch where they enlist the help of the public to track winter bird populations which starts on the second Saturday in November and runs for 21 consecutive weeks ending on April 4th of this year. Well they have put together a science curriculum for homeschoolers to go along with their program. It is in the developmental stages as it is the first year they are offering it so it is FREE right now and in return they are hoping that we will be able to give them feedback on what we do or do not like or think needs improvement.

It is meant to be used in conjunction with their FeederWatch program which has an enrollment fee of $15 for US citizens and $35 for Canadians which includes a really neat research kit that is mailed to you with all sorts of goodies, but I think that you could easily use it for your own bird watching activities without joining their program if it doesn't fit into your budget.

Here are some of the components it covers:

• Learning to ask scientific questions & answer them
• Learn to identify birds & use a field guide
• How to collect data, interpret & analyze findings
• Fine tune your observational skills
• Nature Newsletters

Activities:

• Where do birds eat
• Observing bird physiology & behavior
• Graphing bird visitors & feed consumption
• Study birds of our world & their communications
• Bird anatomy
• Create your own bird fact sheets & feeder records
• Plus More

I think it is pretty good and there are quite a few external links throughout it as well. We won't be joining Project FeederWatch this season as it would take a while for our supplies to arrive and it is nearing the end but I'm considering it for the coming November :)