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Las Pilates Nursery has a lot of information on planning habitat plantings using CA natives. They include plant lists with bloom periods as ideally want to have something always in bloom. Las Pilates offers great photos of birds, bees and other pollinators and the plants that attract them.
Creating wildlife theme gardens allows the class to break up into smaller groups for observations. Include clear sit spots around the study zones. Plant native salvias and manzanitas to create a Hummingbird Patch. Did you know that hummingbirds are the only birds to fly backwards? They can fly 25-30 mph. The Anna’s hummingbird has been know to fly up to 50 mph when diving! |
If you have open spaces adjoining your garden you might consider installing some nest boxes for cavity nesting birds like the Western Bluebird and the Violet Green Tree Swallow.
Cornell University has developed a wonderful Citizen Science program called Nestwatch which is linked to a 5-8 grade free curriculum called Thinking Outside the (Nest) Box. |
Acorn Naturalists- a fantastic collection science and environmental education supplies for teachers, outdoor educators, schools, educators, entomologists, trackers, storytellers, parents and their children.
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NO Student Left Indoors -Nature is not a destination, it is everywhere — including right in your own schoolyard! This essential educator’s guide helps students discover, observe, and record nature in their urban, suburban, or rural schoolyard. A wonderful multidisciplinary hands-on project that teaches children to learn to appreciate nature…and find it in the most unexpected places.
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Opening the World Through Nature Journaling by John Muir Laws. A free download that includes great kid tested sketching activities, poetry writing, and more detailed tips on drawing in nature (you will love the material on drawing plants). This is a great resource for teachers, outdoor leaders, and home school parents.
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Schoolyard-Enhanced Learning -shows how the school grounds—regardless of whether your school is in an urban, suburban, or rural setting—can become an enriching extension of the classroom. In this comprehensive handbook, Herb Broda blends theory and practice, providing readers with practical suggestions and teacher-tested activities for using the most powerful audio-visual tool available—the outdoors. Schoolyard Ecology-Students become schoolyard ecologists, learning key ecological and biological concepts as they investigate the multiplicity of life that exists right outside the classroom window.
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A Butterfly is Patient by Long Aston
Monarch and Milkweed by Gore Frost There’s a Hummingbird in My Backyard by Gary Bogue On Meadowview Street by Henry Cole Planting the Wild Garden by Kathryn O. Galbraith |
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