It wasn’t long after our move to northern California that we learned of Liberty and Patriot, the two iconic bald eagles that had began nesting near the Sun Dial Bridge in Redding in 2004. The two eagles have touched the hearts of Shasta County residents and a live webcam was installed in a tree adjacent to their nest so that the community could peak in on them each year. Many in the community have also stood behind the pair when Turtle Bay expressed interest in building a motel on the property where their nest resides.

Bald Eagles
Each year the birds return, Liberty lays her eggs, and the pair migrates in July after their eaglets have fledged. In 2013, however, their story took a dramatic and somewhat surprising twist, as Patriot disappeared in March and a third eagle entered the picture, killing two of the couple’s freshly hatched eaglets.

Patriot returned in April but died in May after fighting with another male, whom some believe is Liberty’s new mate, Spirit, who joined her in the fall. Liberty laid her first egg with Spirit earlier this month. When we observed them on Friday, we were able to see Liberty move about in her nest with the aide of a spotting scope. However, we didn’t see Spirit during our stay.

bald eagle

Bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) are native only to North America. Our national symbol nearly became extinct in the 1970s, with only 419 known nesting paris in the lower 48 states. Thanks to legal protection and education, as of 2007 there were 13,000 nesting pairs. Shasta Lake, in northern California, is the most densely populated breeding spot with 22 pairs. In July 2007, bald eagles were removed from the Endangered Species List, but remain protected by other legislation.

Ninety percent of the bald eagle’s diet consists of fish, living or dead. They are at the top of the food chain. Humans are their only threat.
Bald eagles don’t get their distinctive white head and tail until they reach maturity between three and five years. Juveniles are solid brown and are often mistaken for golden eagles.
Nesting pairs mate for life and will continue to add on to the same nest year after year. The largest recorded nest is 30 years old and weighs over two tons.

Upon our return home, the kids illustrated an eagle in their nature journals as I read aloud some of the past news reports about the birds. I also shared with them the facts above and they were encouraged to add these to their journal.

If you are interested in learning more about birds, read my post Bird Anatomy where you will find free printables and access to a PowerPoint Presentation.

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Submitted to the Outdoor Hour Challenge at the Handbook of Nature Study.

I have always been fascinated by history and have enjoyed interacting with volunteers at reenactments across the country – in Boston, Williamsburg, and closer to home at the Lewis & Clark National Historic Park in Astoria. When we first started homeschooling, we even volunteered at the High Desert Museum as living history interpreters. I was delighted to have the opportunity to volunteer with my children in historical costume.

Living Museum

Living history is an activity that incorporates historical tools, activities and dress into an interactive presentation that seeks to give observers and participants a sense of stepping back in time. A year ago, I initiated a Living History / Wax Museum day for our local homeschool community. Coordinating the event is easy – I simply posted a notice (with the guidelines described below) and reserved a room at the library for the day of the presentations.

Guidelines for Coordinating a Living History Museum

Participants in the Living Wax Museum were instructed to choose a famous historical person to research, prepare a research poster display, and develop a 2-3 minute speech (in first-person) that summarizes the life of the famous historical person.
The selected historical person must be someone who has done something significant in history, or has made a positive contribution to society. The famous person can be someone who is still alive.
Participants create a costume, dress as the chosen person, and then assume the identity of the historical figure.
Participants dress in costume to portray their subject. This costume should accurately convey information about the subject and the time period in which they lived.
Participants should create a display or backdrop of at least 22” x 28”. The famous person’s name must be prominently displayed in large letters. A minimum of 4 photographs should be included. A timeline, map, and notable quotes are also highly suggested.
Participants need NOT memorize their speech but are encouraged to do so. The use of note cards is permitted.

The number of students who have taken part varies each year and many come only to observe the presentations. Either way, it is a wonderful afternoon – providing the participants with experiences in research, writing, public speaking, and costume design. Audience members are introduced to historical persons and time periods in a fun and innovative way.

In 2013, my daughter selected Marie Curie, a Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. This year, she chose Irena Sendler, a Polish nurse/social worker who served in the Polish Underground during World War II, and as head of children’s section of Żegota, an underground resistance organization in German-occupied Warsaw.

Last year, my son brought Snowshoe Thompson to life, the Norwegian-American immigrant and early resident of the Sierra Nevada region. He is considered the father of California skiing. This year, he introduced us to Arnold Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller, the late Danish shipping magnate.

If you interested in learning more about our living history experiences, I encourage you to check out Homeschooling in 1880.

What is citizen science? I’ve never heard of it before.

I don’t have a degree in science. I couldn’t possibly contribute anything of worth.

It’s probably too expensive.

How do I get involved?

These are just a few of the questions or comments I hear as I share with other homeschool families about our experiences with citizen science. Citizen science is nothing new. The National Audubon Society began annual Christmas Bird Counts in 1900 – engaging people across the country in identifying and cataloging native birds.

Now, using the power of the internet, citizen science projects and service learning opportunities are exploding. Citizen science is the collaborative effort of volunteers and professional scientists working together to collect and/or analyze data. Citizen scientists are individuals in all walks of life – regardless of age, level of education, or socio-economic class.

Watch this informative Oregon Field Guide video segment from episode #2402.

You do not need to have an advanced degree in science to guide your children or students in productive participation in citizen science projects. Citizen science falls into many categories – astronomy, biology, ecology, entomology, environmental science, and water quality.

There are many benefits to incorporating citizen science into your curriculum. Involvement in citizen science projects enables students to make connections with relevant, meaningful, and real experiences with science. In turn, their experiences help facilitate their own investigations as they gain confidence.

Our Citizen Science Project Reports

We’ve had the opportunity to take part in a variety of citizen science projects over the years. I share some of our past experiences here:

Hunting the Lost Ladybug

Malama Honokowai – Weed Warriors

Rainforest Caterpillars

School of Ants

Water Quality Monitoring

More Citizen Science Opportunities

Earthwatch Expeditions – Opportunities to volunteer all over the world

Great Backyard Bird Count

Journey North Citizen Science Projects (including Tulip Test Gardens, Monarch Butterflies, and Bald Eagles).

National Phenology Network

World Water Monitoring Challenge

YardMap

We have read about the first European colonists in the Americas and constructed paper models of Jamestown. We explored the ecosystems of North America and created posters to illustrate food webs. We have created travel brochures to teach others about Alaska. We have even created multi-media news reports to share our experiences at Chinese New Year. And the lapbooks. When we first started homeschooling, we created many, many lapbooks.

Sound familiar? When you were in school, did you make posters, dioramas, and models of buildings or volcanoes? As a homeschool mom and teacher, you have also likely asked your kids to do many of these similar projects. If you have older kids, you have likely asked them to research a topic and present information with PowerPoint slides? While these projects have worth, they are also examples of the kind of meaning-lite assignments that we tend to us as projects. A classroom filled with student work may suggest that students have engaged in meaningful learning. However, it is the process of students’ learning and the depth of their cognitive engagement— rather than the resulting product—that distinguishes projects from busywork.
#pbl

Project based learning is a dynamic approach to teaching in which students explore real-world problems and challenges. With this type of active and engaged learning, students are inspired to obtain a deeper knowledge of the subjects they’re studying. When designing or planning projects, the work or task is meaningful if it fulfills two criteria. First, students must perceive the work as personally meaningful, as a task that matters and that they want to do well. Second, a meaningful project fulfills an educational purpose.

As my kids got older and their skills have advanced, they are more critical of assignments and are quick to call out busywork. “What is the point?” they ask. “We’ll probably just throw it away in 6 months.” I have thereby stepped back. I now allow their interests to lead and their own motivations to set our course. This doesn’t mean I don’t provide motivation from time to time. I am becoming adept at creating challenges.

Like most young boys, my son is fascinated by planes, trains, and automobiles container ships. He and his sister spent a weekend at Grandma’s recently and came home with a box full of books she had given them. Amongst the titles (most of which were novels) were a few fiction titles that grabbed their attention. The Pocket Guide to Military Aircraft was one my son had selected. It kept him engaged for the entire six hour car ride home. As he began to rattle off all the facts he was learning, I presented a challenge. Can you create models of these aircraft in Lego? How could you improve your designs?

7 Steps to Project Based Learning Success

Project based learning incorporates real-world problems that capture student interest and provoke serious thinking as the students acquire and apply new knowledge in a problem-solving context. The teacher plays the role of facilitator, working with students to frame worthwhile questions, structuring meaningful tasks, coaching both knowledge development and social skills (if working in small groups), and carefully assessing what students have learned from the experience.

1. A Need to Know

Many students find schoolwork meaningless because they don’t perceive a need to know what they’re being taught. They are unmotivated when told they will need it later in life or simply because “it’s going to be on the test.” With a compelling student project, the reason for learning relevant material becomes clear: I need to know this to meet the challenge I’ve accepted. Whether you are a homeschool parent or a classroom teacher, you can powerfully activate your students’ need to know content by launching a unit in a way that engages interest and initiates questioning. This can take the form of a video, a lively discussion, a guest speaker, or even a field trip.

2. Driving Questions

Good driving questions capture the heart of the project in clear, compelling language, giving students a sense of purpose and challenge. The question should be provocative, open-ended, complex, and linked to the core of what you want students to learn. It could be abstract (When is war justified?); concrete (Is our water safe to drink?); or focused on solving a problem (How can we improve this website so that more young people will use it?).

3. Student Voice, Student Choice

In terms of making a project feel meaningful to students, the more voice and choice, the better. However, teachers should design projects with the extent of student choice that fits their own style and students. On one end of the scale, learners can select what topic to study within a general driving question or choose how to design, create, and present products. In the middle, teachers might provide a limited menu of options for creative products to prevent students from becoming overwhelmed by choices. On the other end of the scale, students can decide what products they will create, what resources they will use, and how they will structure their time. Students could even choose a project’s topic and driving question.

4. 21st Century Skills

A project should give students opportunities to build such 21st century skills as collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and the use of technology, which will serve them well in the workplace and life. This exposure to authentic skills meets the second criterion for meaningful work—an important purpose. A teacher in a project-based learning environment explicitly teaches and assesses these skills and provides frequent opportunities for students to assess themselves.

5. Inquiry and Innovation

Students find project work more meaningful if they conduct real inquiry, which does not mean finding information in books or websites and pasting it onto a poster. In real inquiry, students follow a trail that begins with their own questions, leads to a search for resources and the discovery of answers, and often ultimately leads to generating new questions, testing ideas, and drawing their own conclusions. With real inquiry comes innovation – a new answer to a driving question, a new product, or an individually generated solution to a problem.

6. Feedback and Revision

Formalizing a process for feedback and revision during a project makes learning meaningful because it emphasizes that creating high-quality products and performances is an important purpose of the endeavor. Students need to learn that most people’s first attempts don’t result in high quality and that revision is a frequent feature of real-world work.

In addition to direct feedback, scoring guides or other sets of criteria to critique one another’s work are useful tools that educators can coach their students to use successfully. Teachers can arrange for experts or adult mentors to provide feedback, which is especially meaningful to students because of the source.

7. Engage the Public

Schoolwork is more meaningful when it’s not done only for the teacher or the test. When students present their work to a real audience, they care more about its quality. Once again, it’s the more, the better when it comes to authenticity. Students might replicate the kinds of tasks done by professionals – but even better, they might create real products that people outside school use.

~ ~ ~

Project based learning emphasizes learning activities that are long-term, interdisciplinary and student-centered. Unlike traditional, teacher-led classroom activities, students often must organize their own work and manage their own time in a project based class. Project based instruction differs from traditional inquiry by its emphasis on students’ collaborative or individual tasks to represent what is being learned.

My son’s military aircraft models are only the beginning. As he continues to pursue his interests, the 7 steps outlined above can help educators like myself to facilitate the development of students’ skills. Not all pursuits or interests need to be carried through all steps, however. As a homeschooler, we have the prerogative to change course as our children develop other passions. Keeping these steps in mind though will assure they have the skills for success in the future.

I have come to believe that my generation is just too busy. Our children are rushed from one activity to another with hardly the time to breathe between. Some time ago, I came across a post or link on Facebook (I honestly can not recall) that discussed the glorification of busy. I wish I could find that post now, but The ‘Busy’ Trap is another great article that touches on the same topic. Ooohh .. the words in these posts hit me like a ton of bricks. It feels like everywhere someone is ‘bragging’ about how busy they are .. rattling off their to-do list with pride. I admit, I have been guilty of this myself but I have made a conscious effort to combat this tendancy.

When I’ve encouraged friends to join the Sons of Norway lodge or invited them to join us on our Roots & Shoots outings, the common response is we are just too busy. When I have tried to make plans with family to get together for holidays or even just because, there is always something else that keeps them away (if they have kids, it is frequently sports or school).

When did busy become synonymous with value? Are we too busy to connect with others and to make a commitment to community and family? I fear we have lost our balance.

Avoiding commitment

Most Sons of Norway lodges celebrate the holiday season with an annual Jultrefest. This past weekend, my family and I drove to Central Oregon to visit friends and to attend Fjeldheim Lodge’s annual dinner. So many people wish to attend the dinner at Fjeldheim that for the past several years, they serve three consecutive dinners (80+ people each night) – complete with a Santa Lucia procession, singing of carols in Norwegian and English, recitals by the children, and a visit from Santa. It is a beautiful evening and a highlight of our holiday season. It is no wonder that so many people attend.

The weekend prior, we attended our local lodge Jultrefest. Though only one night, there were over 90 people attending. While these numbers may seem impressive, the lodge officers like myself know that it gives a false sense of involvement. Look around the room and the faces are essentially strangers. As children or grandchildren of members, this is the only lodge event they attend all year. They do not see the value in joining the lodge themselves or they simply do not want to commit. It saddens me because the lodge is a wonderful place to connect generations – for the elders to share their knowledge and skills with our youth. Yet lodges are closing all over the country as their memberships dwindle.

Are we too busy to commit?

Courtesies forgotten

The simple act of writing a thank you note is also a dying art. I know I stereotype here – but it seems to me that few people in my generation take the time to write notes of gratitude and thereby teach their own children this grace. We have attended many birthday parties over the years and have received a note of appreciation from the child only rarely. When one was received – would you be surprised to know that it was a homeschool child? I’ve spoken with other adults ~ members of the lodge, my own parents, and in-laws ~ and they confirm they seldom receive thank you notes, even from their own grandchildren.

Are we too busy to express our appreciation?

I plan numerous enrichment opportunities for local homeschool families – art shows, living history presentations, science fairs, and nature walks. In an effort to plan ahead and make the events as memorable as possible (I love to create buttons, clever programs, and certificates for the kids), I ask that the families RSVP at least two weeks in advance. I receive so few that I have in fact cancelled events thinking no one was interested – only to receive a wave of calls lamenting my decision and begging me to reconsider. There have even been times when my kids and I show up only to discover we are the only ones. This is difficult to understand and even more difficult to explain to the kids.

On the other hand, I have also been surprised by guests arriving when I was quite unprepared. At a lodge dinner recently, a family I wasn’t expecting showed up, late no less. In addition, it wasn’t the mother and son who came, but the father who I had previously never met (the mother arrived an hour or so later). I was so thrown off, I didn’t know how to react. As a result, my husband (who due to a work obligation was expected to arrive after dinner) was not able to sit with us when he arrived a short time later.

Technology today makes staying in contact with others so easy. Why then is it so difficult to respond to invitations in a timely manner? Are we too busy?

Reaching out

Each year, our local lodge takes part in an annual multicultural faire at the local mall. The event is coordinated by the county Sheriff’s office with booths throughout the mall representing the many cultural groups and organizations in the community as well as a stage for entertainers (dancers, musicians, and martial arts demonstrations). My daughter stayed with me at the faire all day – from 8 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. My son volunteered from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. He went home with his father after the grand march. On our drive home later that evening, I asked my daughter why she chose to stay with me. Her reply was, “I wanted to stay because I wanted other kids to see that kids are part of Sons of Norway, too. I thought that if they saw me having fun they would want to join, too.”

I love that she is so dedicated and so aware at such a young age, yet it saddens me. How can we encourage today’s youth to get involved? How can we show them the value of reaching out and connecting with others?

Are we too busy to get involved?

When we first moved to California, my son made repeated efforts to maintain a relationship with a boy he perceived to be a close friend. He wrote letters, sent postcards, and even mailed a gift in a clever package. Sadly, he never received a reply in acknowledgment. In time, he lost interest in writing knowing that his extension of friendship was not reciprocated. Relatedly, we mail over 100 Christmas cards every year to friends and family. We receive less than 20.

Are we too busy to reach out to others in friendship?

Growing apart

When I was growing up, I remember fondly family gatherings for birthdays, holidays, and any reason just to spend time with one another. In the summer, we had annual family reunions whereby we got to meet and get to know the families of my parents’ cousins – our extended family. My mother has 6 siblings and I thereby have many cousins .. most of whom now have children of their own. Christmas and Thanksgiving were huge … my grandmother’s house was literally overflowing with loved ones. My husband has similar stories to share of gatherings and traditions.

Today, the only contact I have with most of my cousins is on Facebook. Reunions are rare and poorly attended – for many, as jobs take us away from the communities in which we grew up, it is just too far to travel. Holiday gatherings with my parents and my brothers are short – we typically can find only a short window to meet for a meal at a restaurant; thereby there is little feeling of warmth and comfort. This is due in part to distance – I live 6 hours away from my siblings. Partly, due to circumstance – my parents divorced shortly before the birth of my eldest and we thereby haven’t really grown accustomed to the change.

I could write an entire post on this issue alone but much is personal. I feel though that we have lost not only our sense of cultural identity and community, but also our sense of family. I feel lonely. I miss the closeness we had as a family growing up. I miss gatherings with family to share in our successes and celebrate the children’s milestones. I miss my family.

Are we too busy to stay connected with friends and family?

What is important is balance

I realize that finding balance is difficult. I certainly don’t have all the answers. As a homeschool mom, we have to juggle our activities and make occasional accommodations in our schedule. I make service learning and volunteering a major part of our curriculum. When opportunities present themselves, we talk things over as a family and weigh our options. We have made sacrifices, passing on swim meets and formal lessons to connect with family and friends. As we strive for balance, I will keep reaching out but I can not do it alone.

To the delight of the kids, we’ve moved into vertebrate animals in our 10-week survey course this week. I created a chart (similar to the invertebrate chart I shared previously) with which the students could use to compare and contrast the five vertebrate animal classes as they took notes during the lecture portion of class. However, I was surprised to discover that they could essentially fill it out without any input from me. They were experts on vertebrates.

Birds

Birds belong to a larger group of animals called vertebrates (animals with backbones) and they make up a special group or class of the vertebrates called Aves. Aves is the Latin word for bird. All birds share many characteristics.

Feather Lab

Birds are the only animals in the world with feathers. There are two main types of feathers: contour feathers, which are found on the bird’s body, wings, and tail; and down feathers, which are fluffier and softer and lie close to a bird’s body, under the contour feathers. I showed the class a contour feather and explained that the hard center tube is called the shaft and the rest of the feather is the vane. The shaft is a hollow tube made of a very hard material called keratin (the same material of which a reptile’s scales and our fingernails are made).

The vane is made up of hundreds of barbs that look like skinny hairs coming offing the shaft in rows. Under a microscope you can see that tiny barbules grow off each of the barbs. These barbules have rolled edges on one side and tiny hooks on the other that interlock side by side much like a ziplock seal. We observed a feather beneath the microscope and the kids were encouraged to sketch and label their observations. Encourage the kids to sketch and label the parts of a feather in their notebook.

Download the lab notebook printable, Feather Lab.

Bird Anatomy

We then talked about the other characteristics that make a bird different from other animals – wings, bone structure, binocular vision, excellent hearing, poor sense of smell, air sacs attached to each lung, and a crop and gizzard to aid in digestion. We played a fun relay game and then focused on bird adaptations using a number of stations that were set up to simulate bird beaks.

We discussed the shape and design of different bird beaks and how the design helps birds to survive. Eight stations were set up around the room, each with a different type of “food” that fits one of the eight different types of beaks described (e.g. styrofoam peanuts in a small aquarium of water to represent fish, a test tube of water to represent flower nectar). At each station there were three tools (e.g. chopsticks, pipette, tongs, slotted spoon), each representing a different type of bird beak function – one tool that worked well to get the food and two that didn’t work so well. The students were asked to visit each station and to decide which tool would be the most efficient. They were then asked to identify which food different birds would eat based on the shape of their beak.

To accompany this activity, I’ve created a slide presentation, Fill the Bill, available as a free download to my subscribers (a thumbnail is shown above). Following this activity, we gathered in teams to play a relay-style game called Pass the Part. The kids had a lot of fun. Both of these activities were adapted from activities described in Birds, Birds, Birds! (Ranger Rick’s Naturescope Series).

Extension Activities

To expand upon what we covered, I suggested many extenstion or enrichment activities and the students were encouraged to choose at least one to do at home.

Begin a bird life list and go on a bird outing. You can find numerous local bird checklists online.
Consider entering the US Fish & Wildlife Federal Junior Duck Stamp Program and Scholarship Competition.
Find a picture of your favorite bird (or draw one of your own) and then label the parts of the bird (crown, rump, breast, belly, primary feathers, nape, crest, throat, mandible, chest, thigh, chin, eye-ring, tail feathers, etc.)
Draw pictures of birds in their nature journal – use a field guide to help with details
Use Barb’s Outdoor Hour Challenge as inspiration to observe and study bird feet – Woodpecker Bird Study
Do a research report on a bird of choice
Create a poster that compares/contrasts the five vertebrate animal groups
Do a bird survey in your backyard. I’ve created a free notebooking page to aid in recording your observations.

Download the Bird Survey Data Form

bird survey notebooking page

I’d like to encourage everyone to do the bird survey. This is a fun family activity and a great way to contribute to ongoing citizen science. Get started now and become acquainted with the birds in your area. You will then be very knowledgeable, and can easily identify most (if not all) of the birds in your backyard for the annual Great Backyard Bird Count in February 2014. I will be sharing more about this wonderful citizen science project as we get closer. I hope you will join us.