Wagner Free Institute of Science
Photo by Tom Crane
Observing birds, collecting data, connecting children with scientists
The Wagner Free Institute of Science in Philadelphia is Celebrating Urban Birds!
Staff at the Lab of Ornithology couldn't help but notice large quantities of good data arriving from the museum. We were curious about how this museum is collecting data with the public.
Lauren Zalut, Museum Educator and Communications Coordinator at the Wagner Free Institute of Science has been leading children in participation; over 300 children during June and July, 2008. Here is her inspiring response:
What we do with the children is one of two scenarios:
1) They work in partners, one partner uses the worksheets to identify birds, the other partner checks off the birds they observe. This one works well with children at least 8 years old.
2) The whole group observes together and they tell me what birds they observe and I check them off. This works better for the younger ones.
Summer groups tend to be a wide variety of ages. Either way, the children observe different parts of the same space - our yard. The yard is approximately the size of a basketball court and I set boundaries for them. I try not to let them go anywhere that I cannot see them.
Lauren Zalut
No matter the format in which they experience it, the kids absolutely love the activity! They love being outside and they love using binoculars. They also get to keep the posters, worksheets, seeds, etc. that come in the kit, and of course they are really excited about that.
I hope to make this a regular activity for field trips that occur on good weather days. Thank you so much for providing the Wagner with the materials necessary for a fun, educational, and free activity that exposes urban kids to scientific research.
I inform all the children that they are taking part in a larger study being conducted by "real scientists."
Thanks, Wagner Free Institute of Science, for your commitment to getting kids outdoors, contributing to science and conservation efforts, and your thoughtful methods in leading children in citizen science.
