SPRING 2003/VOLUME 17, NUMBER 2


Second-graders Work for the Birds

Photo credit: Nancy Reid
Second-graders at Avery School hang “birdy bagels” on a newly planted tree.

At Avery School in Oak Park, Michigan, a group of second-graders is helping to build a new nature center and outdoor classroom. These “Avery Adventurers” shared their visions with an audience of parents, teachers, and administrators during the Open House on January 23, 2003.

The students showed maps and photographs of the courtyard with newly planted trees and bushes. Several students told how they attracted birds by making “birdy bagels” and filling the “bird condo” with three pounds of seeds. They explained how they counted Mourning Doves, juncos, wrens, finches, and cardinals and “worked alongside scientists” as they reported their data over the Internet, along with other schools involved in the Lab's Classroom FeederWatch.

Every student was excited to share what he or she was learning. As I watched the students make their presentations, I know I saw the beginnings of the leaders of tomorrow.

                                                      — Nancy Reid, second-grade teacher

“I think the birds are going to just love all the new feeders we are making.”
                                  —Austin

“It's the biggest responsibility I ever had—to take care of birds.”
                                  —Micah

“I like trying to count all the birds while they're eating.”
                                   —Lim

How to Make “Birdy Bagels”

1. Spread peanut butter all over both sides of the bagel.

2. Lay the bagel in a tin foil pan full of birdseed.

3. Shake it a little as you take it out.

4. Tie the bagel to a tree with a piece of pretty yarn.

5. Watch the birds come eat, and count the birds for Classroom FeederWatch.

Return

Suggested citation: Birdscope, newsletter of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Spring 2003. www.birds.cornell.edu

For permission to reprint all or part of this article, please contact Miyoko Chu, Editor, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 159 Sapsucker Woods Rd., Ithaca, New York. Phone (607) 254-2451. Email mcc37@cornell.edu