New Curriculum from Cornell Lab of Ornithology
by Missy Wipf
We’d like to invite you to learn more about an exciting new curriculum being offered by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and to take part in our teacher workshop on Saturday, August 20, 2011 at PRBO’s Headquarters in Petaluma, CA, and subsequent nation-wide field test. The Cornell University’s Lab of Ornithology and seven science organizations including PRBO Conservation Science have come together to develop the Connecting Kids Through Birds curriculum. This curriculum links children to nature, building scientific and environmental literacy through school-based and field experiences focusing on birds and their habitat needs.
Through this new hands-on curriculum, we want to empower students to recognize science as an exciting and dynamic field, and empower them to become part of the solution. Using bird observation, they will learn key concepts such as habitat, diversity, and life cycles. Designed for 4th through 8th grade teachers and their students, this curriculum will help you teach to your standards in a way that is exciting, and fun!
Workshops are free, and trained teachers will get a resource kit and access to the lessons online, a 5-hour training workshop, a complimentary 1-year PRBO Membership, and a small stipend once lesson delivery and evaluation have been completed. The lessons cover four themes: Migration, Conservation, Science Process and Collaboration, and Citizen Science. The eleven lessons will take a total of 15 class sessions, plus optional follow up activities and an optional field trip. We ask that field test teachers will teach at least seven of the lessons and provide feedback on their experience.
To pre-register and receive more detailed information, please visit this site.
If you have any questions, please contact me at mwipf@prbo.org or 707-781-2555, x 302. You can also visit our website Bird Events page for more details.
Missy Wipf is the conservation educator for the PRBO Conservation Science.
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