Grades 3-5
These free resources provide educators with an opportunity to explore nature and science in the classroom and in their school yard.
Explorer’s Guidebook
We want to help you get kids outside and enjoying their local parks and natural areas. Take kids on a habitat scavenger hunt, create a sound map, and test bird ID skills with this adaptable activity book designed to be used by families, school groups, and anyone looking for a fun way to connect to nature. It’s also available in Spanish, French, and Portuguese!
Habitat Scavenger Hunt
These Habitat Scavenger Hunt cards will help children see their local environment in a new, fun way! Each card contains an image-rich beginner version on one side and an advanced version on the other, great for both younger and older students! Spanish and French versions are included with the download.
Bird Bingo
These bird bingo cards will provide an easy and engaging way to encourage young people to find birds and notice their behaviors. Each sheet contains two different bingo cards that will keep children focused and challenged on a nature walk. Spanish version is included in the download.
Spark Guides
These five guides offer quick and easy activities to spark your student’s curiosity about the natural world. Depending on your student’s interests, you can choose one or complete all five. Each guide has an activity than can be used alone or used as an entry point into inquiry-based science.
Feathered Friends
Engaging science lessons brought to you by your local birds! Our friends at Pennington Wild Birds are working with us to educate and engage children in the pleasures of feeding and watching birds with this free download.
Bird Communication
Have you ever wondered what birds are saying as they sing, call, quack, and drum? With these dynamic activities, you and your students will investigate why and how birds communicate.
Bone Identification Chart
A mole, a vole or a shrew? What could those bones in your owl pellet possibly be? Download our free bone identification guide to solve the mystery!
Bird Count Tally Sheet
Use this tally sheet when submitting to eBird.
Educator Guides
eBird Explorers: Youth Action for Birds
Designed for out-of-school settings in collaboration with New York State 4-H and the New York State Network for Youth Success, these 11 lessons use birds and the eBird participatory-science project as the spark to get youth ages 8-15 excited about nature and inspire them to view themselves as scientists. Through hands-on activities, youth explore what it means to be a scientist, learn to identify birds, contribute to real scientific projects, and design an action project to help birds in their own communities.
eBird Essentials Educators Guide
Participatory-science projects like eBird can help make concrete connections between classroom learning and life skills, preparing your students with the tools they need to thrive in the world. This guide gives educator-tested tips, tools, and activities for scaffolding students in identifying birds and submitting data as a class.
FeederWatch Classroom Guide
Engage your students in Participatory Science with Project FeederWatch. This Guide helps you engage K-8th grade students in participatory science by providing the necessary tools and skills to help monitor bird communities across North America.
Life In A Nest
Use the Cornell Lab Cams and these four activities to get a wonderfully unique glimpse into the real lives of birds.
- Introducing Nesting Birds
- From Nestling to Fledgling
- Create a Field Guide to Local Birds
- Investigating our Habitat
Think Outside the (Nest) Box
Build, install and monitor nest boxes to help your students grasp a better understanding of life cycles. Download the free lessons to accompany the videos and activities.
Students as Scientists: Nature-based Inquiry
Are you looking for a way to make science exciting, meaningful, and hands-on for your students? Give them the tools to explore the natural world, ask their own questions, and design their own investigations with our Students as Scientists: Nature-Based Inquiry unit.
Free eBird Explorers 3-5 Lesson
Build bird identification skills with students by downloading a copy of your free eBird Explorers: Discover Schoolyard Birds 3-5 lesson, “Color Pattern.” Besides size and shape, what clues can students observe to name a mystery bird? Why color, of course! Learn about color patterns and field marks then take your students outdoors to put their new knowledge to the test. The lesson includes access to teaching images, videos, eBird Data Sheet, and a Journal page.
These downloadable book guides include a variety of detailed activities that support student engagement with nature-based kids’ books. Engage students while meeting NGSS, Math, ELA, and Art Standards.
Discover adaptable curriculum units and kits that explore science and nature themes inside the classroom and out.
eBird Explorers: Discover Schoolyard Birds
Aligned to 3-5th grade Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core State Standards, eBird Explorers: Discover Schoolyard Birds helps students engage in participatory science while building connections to their local habitat. This kit supports students in building observation skills by diving into bird ID, bird behavior, and the structure and function of bird feathers through hands-on explorations.
Owl Pellet Kit
Dissecting an owl pellet is a great way to learn about the different ecological roles organisms play in their environment. Our all inclusive kit challenges students to think critically about these ecological roles and to make evidence-based predictions.