It's the Weekly Owl Report!
"This first video was just for kicks as a way to show the [5th grade] class what was going on in the owl box. Not only did [the teacher] make The Weekly Owl Report a highlight every Friday, but he also worked it into the weeks' lessons. The class read stories about owls, hosted bird experts, and had discussions about nature. [The school district science coordinator] was flexible and responsive, including The Weekly Owl Report in every [Columbia School District] Science Show. Both focused on promoting backyard ecology observation and getting kids outside. At home, the school encouraged students to get out in their yards and neighborhoods."
I learned about this from Henry's father and checked to make sure Henry would enjoy a link on the Althouse blog. It's so encouraging to see kids finding ways to study science outdoors and to turn the unfortunate exclusion from the school building into something so positive. I love the way one boy's project energized the rest of the students. Congratulations to Henry!
Watch all of Season 1 here. I'm embedding Episode 3:
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21 comments:
Learned a lot. Thanks, Henry and Co.
Cornell's Department of Ornithology, perhaps the best in the world, has a few fantastic "citizen science" programs. Most suitable for kids >8 yo is Project Feeder Watch for which participants count feeder birds at the same time each [not every] day and submit a weekly report. Cost is $18 per winter, and it's real science because there's no analytical substitute for massive aggregate numbers, which are almost impossible to obtain without citizen participation.
Another Cornell citizen science project, for more-experienced birders, is E-Bird which costs the user nothing, because it is of such incredible scientific value, providing solid data on populations, migrations, nesting, diversity, and so on. Cornell also has a number of excellent online programs for learning bird ID, calls (so you can ID those pesky warblers by ear), life cycles and other good stuff.
I'm fortunate to have three species of owl nesting here on the farm: Great Horned, Barred, and Eastern Screech. The Saw-Whet and Barn owls are periodic winter visitors. All in all it's very "owl-y" around here, and we make very sure to get all five of our kitties inside before dark.
thanx for posting! It was much more professional looking than i'd thought it'd be!
It's amazing; How little things like a Shirt and Tie, can make Such a Big Difference!
[this message brought to you from The Shirt and Tie Corp of America]
Seriously, it was good!
Thanks Bart. In our community the conservancy is flooded with bird research projects. There’s a big bluebird study and counts. Residents participate in counts and we get regular updates on unusual sightings and activity.
The owl in our neighborhood is a bit elusive but at least once a month he sits in the oak outside my bedroom for a 3am hoot fest…
Henry gets MUCH Better at his anchor job, as the year went on.
Excellent. This is what I expect of my fellow Americans! Thanks for sharing this Althouse.
The necktie is indeed a civilized touch. Good for him for looking professional.
As a former 3rd and 4th grade teacher, I truly appreciate what a brilliant and successful collaboration this was for all concerned. I never knew anything about the owl's digestive process. Thank you, Henry and company, for the very interesting report.
As the parent of an adult child with a disability I can see that Henry is struggling with pronunciation but his reading skills are great! He should be very proud of himself and this project. The series is captivating and educational, a delight to watch.
There’s a time slot open at CNN.
Very professional. I'm happy to see the kid with a speech impediment doing public speaking. That's real guts. Nice to see little sister as the field reporter. Family projects are the best.
"the unfortunate exclusion from the school building"
"Unfortunate." That's one way to characterize the most oppressive and inequitable attack on underprivileged young people in recent history.
That is charming. 100% charming. I defy anyone to watch that and not smile.
Worst hit: Marxists/Democrats who were convinced they could crush the human spirit through lockdowns.
Very cute and a nice story.
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of other kids are experiencing social withdrawal, anxiety, depression, and worse.
Good for Henry for making lemonade out of lemons, but it's just a tiny point of light in a national tragedy and failure of policy-making...
When I taught 4th grade for a few years in the 90s one of the things the kids liked the best was when we dissected owl pellets and attempted to identify the bones in the pellet. Everyone wanted to find a mouse skull. We also dissected cow eyes, it all was great fun and they learned some things.
Anything that eats squirrels is fine by me and owls look cool to boot.
Great presentation! A+
CNN? Kevin, he need not start at the bottom! Keep crushin it, Henry!!!
Well that's it for this week's fun fact!
I'm going to work that line into my work emails.
I knew about owl diet and the pellets, but I did not know anything about the mechanism itself.
Gizzards are cool.
I love this and he’s beautiful. Owls are cool, too:0)
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