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The sounds of birds form the outdoor playlist of our lives. Birds appeal to the public, in part because of the wide variety of interesting sounds they make. This popularity has led to a long history of amateur participation in ornithology, which has recently produced rapid increases in freely available online databases with hundreds of thousands of bird sounds recorded by birdwatchers. These databases provide unique opportunities for teachers to guide students through processes to learn to identify bird species by their sounds. The techniques we summarize here include combining the auditory components of recognizing different types of sounds birds make with visual components of reading sonograms, widely available visual representations of sounds.

Field trips provide real-world learning opportunities in biology education as they promote knowledge about nature among other things. As biodiversity is declining knowledge of species is important for understanding and appreciating the natural world and its implications. Many field guides are digitally available, but differences from traditional book-based guides are understudied. This case study compares the effectiveness of a traditional book field guide with a mobile species identification app during a bird field trip on cognitive, motivational, and affective outcomes for college students (N = 133). Linear mixed models indicate no differences in bird species knowledge between the groups before and after the field trip. However, participants in the book group felt more competent and reported a higher interest after the field trip. This suggests that books could probably still add value to learning in the field. They should not be dismissed as they can be useful tools for students by enhancing confidence and contribute to the learning experience in a different way to mobile apps.

Moreno Valley College, a two-year community college in Southern California, experiences an annual migration of cliff swallows. The presence of these birds inspired the development of the undergraduate research program Flying with Swallows. The assessment of the project indicated significant increases in qualitative student outcomes such as inspiration or global awareness and in the retention and success rates as compared to nonparticipating courses in the project. The lessons learned from designing, developing, and administering the project for five years are provided as a model adaptable to other institutions, with the following elements: research topic, goals and objectives, faculty, intra- and extra-curricular activities, collaboration, administrative support, assessment, dissemination, and sustainability. The data from Flying with Swallows support each element of the model.

This feature article presents the basics of birding, or bird watching, and discusses its appeal, especially to serious birders. A section on "citizen scientists" explains organizations that collect data on birds and describes projects they organize. Other sections discuss the legacy of John James Audubon and the bald eagle.

In the 1990s, classes throughout the United States began participating in Classroom FeederWatch, sending data on birds they had seen at feeders in their schoolyards to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The launch of eBird in 2002 opened up new possibilities for submitting data on all types of bird species, allowing users to record and upload information on species they have seen or heard. The database currently contains over 500 million observations, representing every country and almost all of the world's more than 10,000 bird species. In any location--urban, suburban, or rural--students can observe birds and share data through the eBird citizen science project. By submitting data to eBird, students join hundreds of thousands of citizen scientists throughout the world providing crucial support for professional scientists. Engaging students in investigations related to birds meets the "Framework for K-12 Science Education" goal by piquing their interest in relevant real-world science and opening a window into options for careers in fields ranging from ecology to computer science. This article examines how students have learned by participating in the eBird program and gives examples of lessons teachers have created using it.

Encouraging nonprofessionals to participate in ecological research through citizen science programs is a recent innovation and an effective strategy for gathering ecological information across broad geographical areas. In this paper, we demonstrate how reporting field-based observations through eBird, a citizen-based birding and data-recording program, can be used as a lab activity in an undergraduate ecology class. This exercise exposes students to worldwide data collecting networks in which non-scientific communities serve as major stakeholders. This lab activity also introduces basic field techniques in ornithology and allows students to answer inquiry-based research questions using a citizen science database. (Contains 1 figure.)

This article seeks to contribute to the idea of "posthumanist education" by unfolding an educational situation where an assemblage of two humans and 33 former battery hens is gathered to carry out a so-called cognitive bias experiment for two days. A Deleuzian repertoire is set in motion to configure the dynamics of hens intervening in the research schedule and affecting the results in various unexpected ways, as human-avian subjectivities co-emerge in the context of the fieldwork setting. The cognitive bias experiment ends in an ultimate line of flight; an act of animal liberation: The hens are moved from the research facility, where they were scheduled to be euthanized, to a private home in the countryside. Contained in the research process are two important messages to environmental educators: What are the implicit assumptions about nonhuman animals guiding environmental education practice and scholarship, and what are the connections between research and activism? (Contains 1 figure and 11 notes.)

"Non-native organisms are a major threat to biodiversity". This statement is often made by biologists, but general conclusions cannot be drawn easily because of contradictory evidence. To introduce pupils aged 11-14 years to this topic, we employed an educational program dealing with non-native animals in Central Europe. The pupils took part in a lesson giving general information about the topic, followed by a species identification quiz. Attitude, emotions and state of knowledge of each pupil were surveyed throughout the program using standardized questionnaires (pre-/post- and follow up tests). One week after the first lesson, a field trip followed, focusing on one out of two non-native bird species in the city of Heidelberg, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. The first species was the Ring-necked Parakeet ("Psittacula krameri") from the Indian subcontinent, and the second species was the East Asian Swan goose ("Anser cygnoides"). Life history information was delivered through a teacher and own observations during the excursions and after four weeks, the newly gained knowledge was tested in a third lesson. The "goose group" scored higher in goose-related questions, whereas the "parakeet-group" scored higher in their topic. The most impressive aspect of the whole program was, that the pupils rated the field trip per se as highest, and secondly, learning about unfamiliar species. Interestingly, the general attitude towards non-native species did not change as a result of this educational intervention. (Contains 3 tables.)

This paper uses narrative and reflective methodologies to examine pedagogical practices that enable the production of meaningful relationships. I suggest that the term "fields of influence" encapsulates practices that enable some people to influence relationships with others. The narrative invites readers to consider how the embodied qualities such as care, commitment, familiarity, patience, inclusion, invitation, opportunity, generosity, consistency, deliberate living, contemplation, encouragement, validation, feeling, and etiquette contribute to these pedagogical fields of influence. (Contains 1 note.)

This research examined lifelong science learning reported by amateur astronomers and birders. One hundred seven adults who reported engaging in an informal (out-of-school) science interest were interviewed as part of an ongoing series of studies of lifelong science learners. The goal of the study was to gain insight into how and why amateur astronomers and birders pursue their hobby, how their hobby developed, and what influenced that development. Educators may use this information to design programs that support informal science learning over the lifespan. Informed by self-determination theory, the characteristics, initial experiences, and interests, influences on continued development of science interests, sources of education, and benefits of engaging in a science hobby were explored. Results showed that most of the participants' lifelong science interests began in childhood and were influenced by events, resources, and family members. Members of both hobby groups reported that, as a result of their informal science interests, they were more knowledgeable about science, more knowledgeable about how science is done, possessed better observation skills, possessed more environmental awareness, and had opportunities to socialize and network with others with similar interests. The intersection of motivation and social capital derived from hobby engagement and lifelong science learning is discussed.

Science hobbyists engage in self-directed, free-choice science learning and many have considerable expertise in their hobby area. This study focused on astronomy and birding hobbyists and examined how they used organizations to support their hobby engagement. Interviews were conducted with 58 amateur astronomers and 49 birders from the midwestern and southeastern United States. A learning ecology framework was used to map the community contexts with which the hobbyists acted. Results indicated seven contexts that supported the participants' hobby involvement over time: home, K-12 schools, universities, informal learning institutions, hobby clubs, conferences, and community organizations. Three themes emerged that described how hobbyists interacted with organizations in their communities: (1) organizations provided multiple points of entrance into the science-learning ecosystem, (2) organizations acted as catalysts to facilitate a hobbyist's development in their hobby, and (3) the relationship between hobbyists and organizations they used for learning eventually became bidirectional. Results showed that both astronomy and birding hobbyists used science-learning organizations to meet their hobby-related learning goals. Most hobbyists in the sample (90% astronomers, 78% birders) also engaged in outreach and shared their hobby with members of their community. Patterns of interaction of the astronomy and birding hobbyists within the seven contexts are discussed.

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 them. This question drives the learning from beginning to end, giving the students a focus for the end product. The creation of a public product motivates the learner, provides a springboard for discussing learning, and is a tool for students to use to share their learning with others. It is also a very powerful assessment of student learning. Creating the bird feeders as a public product was the driving force in the STEAM/PBL project discussed in this article. The materials, lessons, and activities outlined in the article are just one step toward reaching the performance expectations listed in the included chart: Connecting to the "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS Lead States 2013): K-LS1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes.

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 at a natural history museum to identify how palaeontological objects prompt scientific activity among upper secondary school students. We first construct a theoretical framework based on an analysis of the programme's palaeontological content. From this, we build our reference model, which considers the specimens used in the programme, possible palaeontological interpretations of these specimens, and the conditions inherent in the programme. We use the reference model to analyse the activities of programme participants, and illustrate how these activities are palaeontologically authentic. Finally, we discuss our findings, examining the mechanism by which the specimens prompt scientific activities. We also discuss our discipline-based approach, and how it allows us to positively identify participants' activities as authentic. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings.

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 produced. Citizen science engages people to collect, organize, and analyze scientific data at a scale beyond the capabilities of a single research lab. Due in part to the explosion of connectivity technology and social media, research projects using citizen science have increased dramatically, and citizen scientists have contributed to furthering understanding in a wide range of fields, from ecology to computer science (Bonney et al. 2014; Rosner 2013). Working as citizen scientists, students can collect and report data for projects beyond the classroom and actively contribute to furthering scientific knowledge (Jones et al. 2012). This article describes a project to support hummingbird conservation, in which the Oregon State University Citizen Science Hummingbird Project (OCSHP) uses student citizen scientists to better understand the populations and habitat preferences of rufous hummingbirds and other common hummingbird species in Oregon (Figures 2 and 3, p. 28). The OCSHP aims to determine whether--like the tropical species examined by OSU researchers--temperate hummingbirds are sensitive to deforestation and forest fragmentation. Several species of tropical hummingbirds prefer large patches of connected forest and tend to travel in forested habitat while avoiding open areas (Volpe et al. 2014). The OCSHP was started in 2012 through a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded research project. The principal investigators of the study partnered with the Oregon Natural Resources Education Program to include citizen science studies in Oregon that paralleled the research questions of the NSF-funded study. The goal of the OCSHP is to have students build a data set to help determine whether changes in forest cover and human development lead to hummingbird decline.

This inquiry-based activity for high school students introduces concepts of ecology and the importance of data analysis to science. Using an investigative case, students generate independent questions about birds, access Cornell Lab of Ornithology online resources to collect data, organize and graph data using Excel, and make claims based on evidence.

Due to increasing urbanization, wetlands and streams within city limits are being altered, filled in, and degraded. The habitat that remains is critical for providing urban areas with ecosystem services and maintaining biodiversity, yet is often insufficiently monitored by environmental agencies due to a lack of resources. To help fill this void, the Urban-Rural Biomonitoring and Assessment Network (URBAN) was developed as a citizen science education and outreach program for Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Through this program, volunteers gain insight into the dynamics of biological systems, learn how to identify species, and may experience growth personally in terms of environmental stewardship or even career path decisions. The implementation and development of URBAN followed a nine-step model developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Here, we offer an overview of URBAN's development, successes, and challenges by utilizing this citizen science model as a guideline.

Although educational computer games have been recognized as being a promising approach, previous studies have indicated that, without supportive models, students might only show temporary interest during the game-based learning process, and their learning performance is often not as good as expected. Therefore, in this paper, a two-tier test approach is proposed for developing educational computer games. To evaluate the performance of the proposed approach, a role-playing game was developed and an experiment was conducted on the "migratory bird identification" unit of an elementary school natural science course. Two classes of fifth graders participated in the experiment. One class was the experimental group who learned with the proposed game-based learning approach. The other class was the control group who learned with the conventional e-learning approach. The experimental results showed that the proposed approach not only significantly promoted the students' learning motivation, but also improved their learning achievements. Moreover, it was found that the students who learned with the educational computer game showed significantly higher technology acceptance degree than those who learned with the conventional e-learning approach. Accordingly, it is concluded that the proposed digital game-based learning approach is effective.

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 to a nearby wildlife preserve, where they collect data on tree swallows and make recommendations about the nesting boxes based on their findings. The project not only involves students in inquiry-based science, but also addresses both "A Framework for K-12 Science Education" (NRC 2012) and the "Next Generation of Science Standards" (NGSS Lead States 2013). Students generate questions, plan and carry out their own investigations, collect field data, determine independent and dependent variables, and analyze and share their results (Bourdeau 2004). This article describes the Bird Box Survey Project in more detail and how to replicate it.

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. When the lesson is extended to include real data for Puerto Rico, students can explore distributions of selected bird species based on environmental attributes, making connections between each species' adaptations, habitat requirements, and distribution across the island. This introductory lesson provides a jumping-off point for field and Web-based biodiversity investigations.

This article describes a preservice teacher training in line with meeting the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) using geometric reasoning, spatial sense, measurement, representation, communication, and problem solving. The author infers that when preservice teachers lack pedagogical content knowledge they cannot successfully translate this competence for teaching content with meaning. Teachers with weak pedagogical content knowledge will fail to plan meaningful lessons or anticipate areas where students might struggle; they will be unprepared to answer students' questions or detect students' misconceptions; and, inevitably, their students may acquire distorted meanings. In response to this challenge the author explored the impact of a bird house nesting box activity on participants' geometric subject matter knowledge. The nesting box task integrated across mathematical domains (number and operations, algebraic thinking, measurement, and geometry) and across subject areas (ornithology, the scientific study of birds; flight, geography, migration; state birds; art; music; and carpentry). Preservice teachers can take these idea with them into student teaching placements and future classrooms.

This article reports on a classroom study of a unit on New Zealand birds that focused on adaptation and conservation in a Year 7 class. The unit used a "context as social circumstances" model. The researchers observed the nine lessons and interviewed students, the classroom teacher, and three other teachers who had taught the same unit. The students completed a pre-test and a post-test for the unit. Findings indicate that the students enjoyed and were interested in the unit, and had learnt more than usual. The students investigated predators using the tracking tunnel in their school gully and, of their own volition, in their home gardens. Some students pursued this interest into the wider community after the completion of the unit. The "context as social circumstances" unit teachers helped students see the relevance of learning science for their lives, personally and socially, which opens up the possibility of action outside the classroom. The role of context, content and activity selection in the design of a unit that has social relevance is discussed. (Contains 2 notes, 4 figures, and 1 table.)

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, pose questions, conduct investigations, and build deeper connections with the natural world. This article describes several different citizen science investigations in which students learn about adaptation, interactions among species and their environments, and change over time--fundamental principles in biology (NRC 1996, 2012). Students see the real-world relevance of science as they experience authentic processes of science, from posing testable questions to analyzing data and reaching defensible conclusions. (Contains 6 figures and 5 online resources.)

Birds are among the most fascinating creatures on Earth, found on every continent and prevalent even in human-dominated landscapes. Some are beautiful, others are accomplished singers, and all play important roles in the ecosystems in which they live. Even amateur birders have made important discoveries about birds, and there is still a lot to learn and explore. While birding, youth connect with the natural world; if they share their observations through citizen science, they also make valuable contributions to one's understanding of that world. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has developed educational resources, known as BirdSleuth, which are used around the country to support students in citizen-science participation, outdoor activities, and inquiry-based investigations. Each fall, the Cornell Lab publishes the national edition of its student research journal, "Classroom BirdScope," which features student research and creative work by young birders around the country. BirdSleuth teachers use birds and the local environment to teach concepts in science, math, language arts, and art. Emphasizing hands-on, real-world learning experiences, the activities boost academic achievement while helping students develop stronger ties to their community and appreciation for the natural world. (Contains 5 figures, 1 resource, and 4 online resources.)

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 positive survival advantage. Instead, many students hold on to the belief that adaptations arise in response to an environmental challenge and that this environmental pressure is what drives evolution. Fortunately, a set of multimedia slide shows developed by the Genetic Science Learning Center at the University of Utah is taking aim at these commonly held misconceptions. By examining natural selection and evolution at the DNA level, they shift the focus from "adaptations" and place it on genetic variation instead. In this context, an organism's traits are the result of normal genetic processes and not a reaction to an environmental challenge. A genetic variation becomes "successful" in a population over time not because it is superior, but simply because individuals who possess it are alive to reproduce. Adding the slide shows as supplements to the activities a teacher already uses in his or her middle school classroom can help reinforce the concept that evolution is a natural process and not a response to a changing world. (Contains 5 figures and 4 online resources.)

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 teacher educators met regularly with 13 primary teachers who each volunteered to plan and teach a unit of work on birds. Meeting regularly in focus groups, the teachers shared their pedagogical strategies that supported students to connect with their local environment. Findings include the importance of focused professional learning for teachers through ongoing, needs-based support during the planning and teaching of the unit, and the innovative ways that teachers approached the unit. One unexpected finding was that teachers tended to identify student learning in terms of the English curriculum rather than the science curriculum.

The notion of a system adapting itself to provide support for learning has always been an important issue of research for technology-enabled learning. One approach to provide adaptivity is to use social navigation approaches and techniques which involve analysing data of what was previously selected by a cluster of users or what worked for previous users or learners of such system and to use such analysis to guide and help the current user. New techniques are now available that rely on emergent or self-organising methods to analyse a large amount of interaction data being generated by large-scale online learning communities, interactions with learning resources or learning management mechanisms. One such technique is swarm intelligence, a set of computing algorithms in the form of multi-agent systems that simulate how swarms of insects or birds move or work. It has been applied to various intelligent functionalities such as adaptive content planning, computer-adaptive testing and assessment paper generation. In this article, we provide a survey of the various approaches in swarm intelligence that explores potential mechanisms to adapt and individualise learning and assessment. We hope that this article can inspire future studies in this exciting area. (Contains 3 tables.)

This paper focuses on the implications of two emerging digital technologies on the act of field birding, and the implications of these objects for thinking about wild birds. While the adoption of new immaterial technologies promises to improve the ease with which birding is practiced, their use leads to new ethical considerations. Using the Internet to share bird sightings, for example, lowers the barrier of entry to access this information. Therefore, bird sightings proliferate, often with little thought to the consequences of birders visiting the reported birds' location. A digital image, captured by digital cameras, perhaps marks the greatest change. With the adoption of a digital camera the nature of identification is effectively changed: captured images remove birds from the field and their broader ecological context. Given that birding is proposed as a way for western culture to reconnect with the more-than-human world, these digital objects promise to redefine a relationship with birds and the larger natural world. (Contains 1 note.)

In this paper, we describe the outcomes of the first year of an intensive, urban ecology focused, summer program for urban high school youth. Students in our program conduct scientific investigations of their urban ecosystems while exploring potential career options in science and technology fields. In conducting their investigations, the students used geographic information systems (GIS) coupled with computer modeling tools and visualization software to explore the ecological services provided by their urban forest canopy and the impact of urban noise upon birdsong. The goal of the program was to improve students' self-efficacy toward science and their sense of environmental stewardship. To that end, we conducted pre-post surveys of students on their beliefs regarding their (1) science self-efficacy, (2) science interest, (3) environmental stewardship and (4) career knowledge and career awareness. In this paper, we focus our discussion on the first three outcomes and found that participation in our program significantly improved students' science self-efficacy and environmental stewardship. We found that by engaging students in locally, focused, in-depth and targeted environmental science investigations, students could develop the confidence to investigate and solve local problems that increased their confidence in their ability to do and study science. (Contains 2 tables and 4 figures.)

This paper describes what happened in four teachers' classrooms as a result of participating in Operation Magpie, a Citizen Science project. The range of strategies used to engage their students in observing magpies in the schoolyard and in nearby parks is the focus of the teachers' stories. "Magic spots", data collection, class blogs, binocular use, creative writing and orienteering walks to monitor magpie family groups are all part of the story. (Contains 6 figures.)

A new online tool called "Science Pipes" allows students to conduct biodiversity investigations. With this free tool, students create and run analyses that would otherwise require access to unwieldy data sets and the ability to write computer code. Using these data, students can conduct guided inquiries or hypothesis-driven research to investigate patterns and trends--such as the distribution of plant and animal species across biomes or the migration routes of various bird species. (Contains 3 figures and 3 online resources.)

Connecting mathematical thinking to the natural world can be as simple as looking up to the sky. Volunteer bird watchers around the world help scientists gather data about bird populations. Counting flying birds might inspire new estimation methods, such as counting the number of birds per unit of time and then timing the whole flock's flight. In particular, birding provides a context for students' interests to "take flight" both in and beyond the classroom. Students can put their estimation skills into practice by participating in citizen science projects such as the great backyard bird count. This article in the "problem solvers" department involves computing and comparing area. It features problems for students and then discusses the results of presenting a previous problem to students. Problem solvers activity sheet and solutions are also included.

Students love a mystery. So what do America's most majestic bird, a bag of habitat clues, and a soft-shelled egg have in common? This easy-to-do inquiry activity engages students as they connect clues to problem-solve how the bald eagle reached the brink of extinction in the 1960s in the lower 48 states. It was designed to give students an opportunity to wonder, discuss, and discover interactions in habitats. (Contains 1 figure, 5 resources, and 4 online resources.)

Students love learning outdoors, but how do you ensure they are absorbing the science and gaining skills as they do so? The authors found a way--a fourth-grade classroom teacher, a gifted/science resource teacher, and a group of fourth graders--embarked on a yearlong study of birds and the plants they depend on. They used their school yard as the backdrop and incorporated community resources into numerous hands-on experiences that transformed students into eager wildlife investigators and stewards of their local environment. Here they share their inspiring story. (Contains 1 figure.)

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 lessons. Students learn the essential features of inquiry through direct experience by conducting an initial field-based inquiry, which helps them come to an early understanding that science is not linear. (Contains 5 figures.)

The emerging field of urban ecology has the potential to engage urban youth in the practices of scientists by studying a locally relevant environmental problem. To this end, we are developing curriculum modules designed to engage students in learning science through the use of emerging information technology. In this paper, we describe the impact of one of the developed modules, urban bird bioacoustics, on students' understanding of sound. This module incorporates a technology-rich scientific investigation with traditional, well-established sound learning activities. Our findings suggest that while the investigation was successful, students' understandings of the properties of sound were mixed. These data suggest that instructional designers who are engaged in constructing a similar technology-enhanced curriculum should consider embedding their instructional support resources with appropriate student scaffolding questions, making explicit the connections between the investigation, technological tools and traditional science activities, and leveraging the multiple opportunities to learn content afforded by the technological tool. These findings will be used in next redesign of the curriculum materials. This work both shows how design-based research can be used to build knowledge about student scientific understanding and instructional and curricular design.

Nature studies are an often overlooked part of healthy child development. Living in urban or suburban areas can present a big obstacle to studying the natural world with any authenticity or depth. Quite often, the only sense of nature children have is from picture books, stuffed animals, play sets, and nature programs on television and in mimicking animal sounds. Children spend much of their time with their feet on pavement; it's easy for them to forget they are surrounded by nature. School, district, or state regulations may prohibit teachers from having classroom pets. But, wherever one is, there is one constant reminder of nature--birds! For teachers in any area, a deep study of birds is easy to implement and lets children experience the natural world authentically. In addition to observations and in-depth discussions, stories and art activities allow children to role-play and become birds themselves and then reflect on their experiences. In fact, the whole classroom can be transformed into a bird sanctuary. In this article, the authors tell the story of the many ways children can investigate birds. (Contains 11 resources.) ["For the Birds!: Seeing, Being, and Creating the Bird World" was written with Susan Gallagher Colurciello and Rebecca Kelly.]

The Building Migratory Bridges (BOMB) program--a collaboration between the Marvel wood School and Audubon Sharon in Connecticut and Conservation Research Education Action (CR EA), a U.S. not-for-profit in Panama--uses nontropical migratory bird research in the United States and Panama to demonstrate how negative environmental impacts in one country can have harmful consequences in others. This article discusses the BOMB program in terms of student-learning and community-service opportunities it presents. It further suggests that more hands-on science programs that analyze root causes of critical global issues are needed if students are to comprehend and tackle world environmental challenges. (Contains 6 figures.)

In this case study, based on the reported rediscovery of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker in April 2005, students examine a real-world example of the scientific process and explore the practical implications of their conclusions. The case tells the story of Brad Murky, a student and research assistant who must decide whether the available evidence is sufficient for him to accept the bird's existence. In a series of e-mails, Brad and his sister debate the evidence, and Brad is left to wonder whether the press conference called to announce the rediscovery of the bird has been scheduled in haste. (Contains 2 figures.)