should be encouraged to think big, while being realistic about what can be accom- plished in as little as a couple of weeks or as much as one growing season. This provides an opportunity for students to problem solve and develop decision-making skills.
Procedure
Students work in groups of 3-4 to develop a proposal for the schoolyard. To help students stay on task as they develop their project proposals, write a timeline on the board itemizing the steps that need to be accom- plished within 50 minutes. When students compare the species
“captured” in their schoolyard versus those in a nearby protected area, they will notice some species present in one site but not the other. Ask them what characteristics of the protected area supported the species seen in the remote-camera photographs. Which native grasses, forbs, trees, and shrubs provide food and cover for wildlife? These plant species might be espe- cially attractive additions to the schoolyard. The cameras also capture photographs of birds. Since
students tend to be excited about increasing the number of homes for wildlife in the schoolyard, consider the species of birds observed in the cameras. A schoolyard project building and putting up nest boxes to increase habitat for specific bird species might be another excellent project option.
• For 10 minutes, group members should discuss possible projects. One member should write down all the group’s ideas, so it will be easier to choose one at the end. If the group has problems reaching a consensus, ask them to take a vote. The teacher may provide a tie-breaker if needed.
• Write an outline of the project (15 minutes): The outline should include dates and length of the project; a schedule of steps for the completion of the project; the number of volunteers, including adults needed for each date (if mul- tiple days are required); the amount of money required; and how the money will be raised. I have been surprised at how well 5th-grade students are able to conduct this part of the exercise.
• Each group briefly describes their idea to the class (15 minutes).
• The class votes both on which project to present to the principal and/or school board or PTA.
Dawn Tanner is a PhD candidate in the Conservation Biology Program at the University of Minnesota. Working in collaboration with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MN Project WILD), Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve, Afton-Lakeland Elementary, and Afton State Park, she created the Taking Action Opportunities (TAO) curriculum that makes use of remote cameras for environmental education. To learn more about the curriculum, visit
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/projectwild/tao/index.html. She would like to thank the students, teachers and PTA at Afton-Lakeland Elementary for their inspiration and
support, along with the partner organizations mentioned above, plus Gander Mountain, Stillwater Area Schools, Bell Museum of Natural History, and Minnesota Trappers. Chris Wemmer provided advice about working with remote cameras and through his blog, I met teachers across the country, and got a better idea of the questions they had as they prepared to install cameras in their schoolyards.
References
1 T.L. Cutler and D.E. Swann. 1999. “Using remote photography in wildlife ecology: a review,” Wildlife Society Bulletin, 27, 1999, pp. 571-581.
2 M.E. Gompper, R.W. Kays, J.C. Ray, S.D. LaPoint, D.A. Bogan, J.R. Cryan, “A comparison of noninvasive techniques to survey carnivore communities in northeastern North America,” Wildlife Society Bulletin, 34, 2006, pp. 1142- 1151.
3 F. Michalski and C.A. Peres, “Disturbance-mediated mammal persistence and abundance-area relationships in Amazonian forest fragments,” Conserva- tion Biology, 21, 2007, pp. 1626-1640.
4 D. Tanner, Taking Action Opportunities: Connecting kids to wildlife with trail cameras. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Minneapolis, MN 2009.
5 Project WILD/TAO, 2010, Retrieved January 15, 2010 from http://www.dnr.
state.mn.us/projectwild/tao/index.html
6 D. Tanner, “Analyzing Wildlife Habitat with Google Earth,” Green Teacher 87, Winter 2009-2010, pp. 9-15.
7 C.L. Burdett, R.A. Moen, G.J. Niemi, L.D. Mech, “Defining space use and movements of Canada lynx with global positioning system telemetry,” Journal of Mammology, 88, 2007, pp. 457-467.
8 K.R. Foresman and D.E. Pearson, “Comparison of proposed survey proce- dures for detection of forest carnivores,” Journal of Wildlife Management, 62, 1998, pp. 1217-1226.
9 M.L. Gibeau and C. McTavish, “Not-so-candid cameras: how to prevent camera traps from skewing animal behavior,” The Wildlife Professional, 3, 2009, pp. 35-37.
10 J.C. Halfpenny, Scats and Tracks of the Midwest: A Field Guide to the Signs of Seventy Wildlife Species. Morris Book Publishing, Guilford, CT, 2007.
11 Minnesota Trapline Products, 2009, Retrieved December 5, 2009 from
www.minntrapprod.com
12 C. Henderson, Woodworking for Wildlife: Homes for Birds and Animals. State of Minnesota, Department of Natural Resources, St. Paul, MN, 2009.
13 Council for Environmental Education. Project WILD Wild School Sites: A Guide to Preparing for Habitat Improvement Projects on School Grounds, Houston, Texas, 2005.
14 R. Mason, B. Slattery, K. Reshetiloff, L. Hewitt, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Ser- vice’s Schoolyard Habitat Project Guide, Chesapeake Bay Field Office, 2009, Retrieved September 4, 2009 from
http://www.fws.gov/ChesapeakeBay/pdf/ habitatguide.pdf
15 National Wildlife Federation, “Create a Schoolyard Habitat,” 2009, Retrieved September 2, 2009 from
http://www.nwf.org/schoolyard/
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