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Free Homeschooler's Guide to Project FeederWatch

David Bonter, Project Leader, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

For more than 20 years, Project FeederWatch has been an easy, fun way for children to learn about birds and strengthen their skills in observation, identification, research, computation, writing, creativity, and more. FeederWatchers keep track of the numbers and kinds of birds at their feeders through the winter and report what they see to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

The Homeschooler's Guide to Project FeederWatch will guide you through bird-related activities that promote learning across many disciplines, including science, math, history, and the arts. Examples of these activities include:

• Natural history: Observe and research a bird's behavior and life cycle
• Math: Calculate average seed consumption rate and graph data
• Writing: Keep a nature journal to write stories and poetry
• Geography: Research the geographic ranges of birds
• Art: Keep a feeder-bird sketch book or create a papier mache mask

To download the Homeschooler's Guide to Project FeederWatch, visit http://www.FeederWatch.org and click on the "Education/Home School" button. You'll be able to download the PDF in low (2.2MB) or high (6.7MB) resolutions.

You may choose to use the free guide as a stand-alone resource, or sign up for Project FeederWatch to submit the data you gather. If you would like to be a project participant, the signup fee is $12 for members of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, $15 for non-members. There are discounts for group participation.

If you have any questions, please let us know how we can help by emailing feederwatch@cornell.edu.