Although the scientific disciplines conduct practical work in different ways, all consider practical work as the essential way of connecting objects and phenomena with ideas and the abstract. Accordingly, practical work is regarded as central to science "education" as well. We investigate a practical, object-based palaeontology programme…

How can an engineer design a bird feeder that attracts many birds? This question resulted from kindergarten students' observations of the bird feeders in their school's bird sanctuary. The challenging question is the heart of project-based learning (PBL), a teaching strategy in which students tackle real-world problems and design projects to solve…

The decline in hummingbird populations and shifts in their movements may adversely affect their role as pollinators and, in turn, plant biodiversity (Allen-Wardell et al. 1998). For example, Hadley et al. (2014) discovered that larger fragments of forest correlated with larger hummingbird populations and more seeds of "H. tortuosa" being…

When high school students are asked what's the best part of science class, many will say it's the field trips. Students enjoy engaging in authentic, community-based science outside the classroom. To capitalize on this, Patrick Willis created the Bird Box Survey Project for his introductory field biology class. The project takes students…

Most middle school students comprehend that organisms have adaptations that enable their survival and that successful adaptations prevail in a population over time. Yet they often miss that those bird beaks, moth-wing colors, or whatever traits are the result of random, normal genetic variations that just happen to confer a negative, neutral, or…

Using an interactive map-based PDF, students learn key concepts related to biodiversity while developing data-analysis and critical-thinking skills. The Bird Island lesson provides students with experience in translating geospatial data into bar graphs, then interpreting these graphs to compare biodiversity across ecoregions on a fictional island.…

What bird species live in your area? Which migrate and which stay year-round? How do bird populations change over time? Citizen science provides the essential tools to address these questions and more. With ever-growing databases such as Project FeederWatch and eBird, students can connect with people around the world as they make observations,…

This lesson can be used at the beginning of the year to teach students how to conduct inquiries using the essential features described in "Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards" (NRC 1996). The lesson is divided into several activities which may be spread over several days or interspersed with your other beginning-of-the-year…

Operation Magpie was a citizen science project that involved the community in collecting data about magpies. This article describes one aspect of the project from an education perspective. The study began with a collaboration of teacher educators, environmental scientists and a local radio station. After an initial workshop with 75 teachers, three…

Explains the equipment and procedure necessary to conduct a successful field study of birds. Lists books, periodicals and recordings helpful in bird study and outlines a series of activities that students can conduct with birds. (GS)

Explains forest fragmentation, the destruction of physical habitats for animals such as birds and points out the importance of studies on habitat and biodiversity. Introduces project ideas for songbird populations and their habitats which can be conducted in backyards or schoolyards. (YDS)

All animals must make choices regarding what foods to eat, where to eat, and how much time to spend feeding. Optimal foraging theory explains these behaviors in terms of costs and benefits. This laboratory exercise focuses on optimal foraging theory by investigating the winter feeding behavior of birds on the goldenrod gall fly by comparing…

This is the first program in the Science Safari series produced by the Fairfax Network of the Fairfax County Public Schools. The series and the accompanying print materials are designed to show students a broad spectrum of animal life, introduce students to a variety of people who work with animals, and help students become aware of the important…

Describes a bird-study and banding activity designed for students in urban and suburban areas. (PEB)

List of materials needed and procedures are provided for (1) making wobbly bird figures out of plastic pantyhose eggs; and (2) making parrot puppets out of household items. Although geared for art, the activities can be used to complement activities in science or other subjects. (JN)