By Karen McCall | Education Coordinator
Each afternoon at Earth Keepers, we gather the children around in an opening circle and give each student a chance to share a nature experience they had since the last session. This is often one of the most exciting parts of the day. It brings the group together and creates a sense of community that values nature connection. Hands shoot eagerly into the air all around the circle awaiting the lead counselor to call a name. All of the children have such wonderful stories to share from telling the group about “a house sparrow sitting in my backyard” (Daniel) to sharing a story of a “hawk sitting in a tree eating a squirrel it caught” (Jack). These connections grow stronger in the minds of the children when they are valued and shared with the group. It is because of you and your donations each child has a chance to be heard. Thank you!
The past few sessions we have given the students tools and skills they would need to participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count. We explained that by seeing and identifying birds in the area they can help scientists discover new things about behavior and habitat. We broke into groups armed with a field guide, pencil, and chart to record the data we collected. We sat quietly in the woods with hushed excitement, each child pointing to a bird they saw in the hopes of identifying it and adding it to our list. By the end of our fifteen minute session every child had seen and identified at least one bird. They joined the closing circle at the end of the session beaming with stories to tell. Thank you for supporting our cause. Your donations facilitate this enthusiasm for the outdoors and hands on learning for each of these children.
This national citizen science project was a big hit, and the students really seemed to enjoy it. Projects like these give the children a taste of what it is like to be a scientist. It teaches observation skills, data collection, and field guide use. What other citizen science projects do you think these students would benefit from? Thank you for all you have given to this project. You are giving us the tools and supplies to reach so many deserving children in our community.
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