PIE 4-5 students, young naturalists at work!

The 4-5 PIE students have been observing their outside classroom courtyard to see if any signs of spring have appeared. The snow has finally started to melt away (hurray!) and the kids have been keeping their eyes on the various bird feeders hung up outside to see what type of bird species fly in to get some food.

Mr. McLaughlin and Mr. Kirschke have been working on a Bird Unit with the children. They learned about naturalists, people who are explorers of nature and ornithologists, who are scientists who study birds. The teachers told the kids it's easy to be a naturalist- all you have to do is go outside and observe the nature that is around you. First, the students had to learn about a naturalist's code of ethics.

Students also learned about what tools you need to use when you are out in the field observing nature. Tools that are important for naturalists to use while working are: cameras, binoculars, notebooks, pencils and a field guide.

Each child did research on a different type of bird and used their notes to create a Backyard Birds book.

Front Cover

Mapping out Range and Status for each bird

"This and That" comparing/contrasting birds

The students wrote a poem about their bird.

The completed books are works of art! I had the chance to interview some students about their Backyard Bird books and they told me they liked learning about birds and they especially enjoyed learning about new types of birds that they hadn't heard of before. When they went on their class hike at school they were able to spy several blue-birds and they even spotted a red-tailed hawk! When I asked them what new things they learned about birds they told me the following:

• the bluebird is our state bird
• birds can make two sounds at the same time because they have 2 windpipes!