What is Celebrate Urban Birds?

Watch kids from South Allegheny Elementary tell you about the project in their words!

The kids presented this fantastic video for the school network system. It is now available through the district's website. http://www.southallegheny.org

Audrey Aubrecht writes:

We received a $1,054.65 grant entitled "Birds Count"  from the Consortium for

Public Education. This Consortium grants classroom, school, and district grants for Great Idea Grants. This was a school grant that allowed us to buy 30 binoculars (Eagle Optics buy 15 get 15 free education program), 3 different sets of laminated field guides, and rain ponchos to participate in different bird counts. We plan on participating in your Celebrate Urban Birds!, E-Bird, the Great Backyard Bird Count and the PA Breeding Bird Atlas. We also are inviting community members to join us to lead bird counts and teach the children about bird identification and behavior. Classes from second through fifth (approx. 550 students) are also encouraged to participate in the counts.

The children enjoyed participating in the Celebrate Urban Birds! project. We went out twice to four different spots around our school. They submitted the counts and were amazed to see our school's location by satellite. We want to go back to the sites and submit our data monthly.

We used the pictures and Powerpoint from your site. I also used your pictures to use in our CPS (classroom performance system). It is a system that lets the children choose answers with a remote. We used the system to identify the 15 species of birds.

We also made two bulletin boards and presented the Celebrate Urban Bird program to our whole elementary school through our school broadcasting television program. We are working on having a Bird of the Week spot on the school broadcasting program. We may even be involved in the district video/podcast link!

Celebrating Urban Birds

On May 21, 2008 South Allegheny Elementary held an evening event and invited parents and guests of the Harmony Habitats environmental group. The purpose of the meeting was to showcase all the activities that the children had been involved with during the 2007-2008 school year. This was a great opportunity to connect the arts with our bird studies.

Miss Kosewicz, our art teacher, had taught two sketching bird classes to our group on May 13^th and 15th. We borrowed the focus bird display cases from the Carnegie Museum’s Education Loan Program. After teaching the basics of sketching, the focus birds were used to practice sketching. The children’s sketches were displayed in the room for the evening meeting.

The favorite final activity from the classes was the 5 birds in 5 minutes sketch challenge. Miss Kosewicz blew her duck call as a signal for the group to move to a new case after a minute. They rotated five times to sketch five birds. This activity was repeated for the parents and guests. Miss Kosewicz emphasized how quickly you need to sketch before the bird may fly away.

Miss Karen Kadar, our instrumental music teacher, displayed her photographs of birds to each group. She discussed how a photography hobby can lead to great pictures of birds, plants, flowers, and animals.

Jessica Stombaugh, director from the Regional Environmental Education Center, showed a slide show of pictures of the center and presented upcoming events. She also encouraged families and friends to take advantage of any outside activity as an opportunity to observe and become more aware of nature that surrounds them.

Audrey Aubrecht showcased all the activities that the Harmony Habitats group had been involved with over the 2007-2008 school year. She presented the Celebrate Urban Birds website and the video of the children explaining the Celebrate Urban Birds program.

Other bird counts that the group participated in were explained. The children also participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count, eBird, and the 2^nd Pennsylvania Breeding Bird Atlas. She also discussed the classroom vermicomposting and composting program that was initiated by the Pennsylvania Resource Council and the Penn State Master Gardeners. Free samples of worm castings were given.  The Great Sunflower Project data information and sunflower seeds was passed out for the children to participate in over the summer. Small bird journals were given to every child who attended.