My goal is to educate children in grades 3-6 concepts in biology and ethology (animal behavior) as well as how to keep the local environment healthy and why. I am hoping that I can bring to light the amazing plant and wildlife diversity surrounding us and by doing so spark an interest that may last a lifetime. If this goes well, I may create a second group for slightly older kids.
I plan to have the group meet twice a month. At each meeting, we will cover some key vocabulary words as well as the concepts behind them. Each meeting will feature a hands-on project to illustrate the selected topic, such as a nature-related experiment, making bird feeders, water-scopes and outdoor explorations. Occasionally we may arrange extra meetings at nature centers and parks. Each meeting will end with a short song, poem or picture book relating to the topic covered. The topics covered will alternate between focussing on a trait found in many animals and how they compare, and focussing in depth on the natural history of a particular local species. This means that there will be one general topic and one species spotlight per month. Contact me for meeting locations and dates.
