Educational Opportunities with Rutland County Audubon

Audubon Adventures, a nationally acclaimed, award-winning program that aims to interest children in exploring, learning about, and enjoying the natural world around them, is available to area teachers, homeschoolers, scout leaders, and others who work with children in grades 3 through 6. Audubon Adventures comes as a kit, which contains everything needed to implement the program, including 4-page glossy “newspapers” with information and fun activities for kids on selected topics, and a resource manual for teachers and group leaders with background material and further ideas for activities that bring science to life for kids. Each kit serves 32 students. A homeschool kit is available serving one student. Rutland County Audubon will fully fund the first year that any group participates in Audubon Adventures. The program meets core elementary curriculum standards for earth science, language arts, and civics.

Here is what area teachers have to say about Audubon Adventures:

The articles they are reading connect to their world. Third graders love it! They think it's fun to learn about animals, birds, insects, plants and more.

Audubon Adventures gives students exposure to non-fiction quality reading and allows me to teach science and literacy topics at the same time.

The theme for the 2011-12 school year is Feathers, Fur, Fins, and You. The 4 themes covered are:  Pollinators, featuring hummingbirds and bees; Wild Alaska; Rivers of Life; and Caring for our Planet (a special "Action for Planet Earth" edition focusing on ways that young people can actively participate in Audubon).  The kit will also include Pennies for the Planet.

The Rutland County schools taking part in this year's program are:

Neshobe Elementary School - Brandon
Carolyn Hazen - 3rd grade
 
Lothrop Elementary School - Pittsford
David Hazen - 3rd grade, Linda Clark - 5th grade, Audrey Allaire - 5th grade
 
Clarendon Elementary School - Clarendon
Jan McCoy - 4th grade

Contact Marsha Booker at mbooker105@hotmail.com or 483-6870 for further information.

 Our Bridge-to-Bridge Interpretive Trail, at the West Rutland Marsh, walks visitors through 10 stations set up to bring an awareness and appreciation of the soil, vegetation types, land forms, and birds that constitute a wetland. A teacher’s guide to the Bridge-to-Bridge Interpretive Trail is available for teachers and leaders of groups who may wish to schedule a visit to the marsh as part of their outdoor classroom education program. Contact Marsha Booker for further information or to request a guide. In addition, groups may be eligible for $50 towards the cost of transportation to the marsh.

In October 2009, Patty Bartlett, 3rd grade teacher at Wallingford Elementary School, took her class on a field trip to the West Rutland Marsh. a trip to the marshHere is what she said about the trip: We made it through the first three stations and also got some soil samples to look at. While we didn't see many birds, with your wonderful teacher's guide in hand I was able to teach the children about many other things, including historical uses of cattails and the dangers of phragmites. The children took data on the plants, insects, and birds they saw and drew diagrams. 

Pennies for the Planet is about getting kids involved in protecting the environment. The National Audubon Society, thanks to a grant from Toyota, has teamed up with Weekly Reader to get kids involved in conservation around the country and in their own communities. Pennies for the Planet links environmental education with environmental action, helping kids to learn about ways to protect nature at home and in other parts of the country, and encouraging charitable giving by showing kids how their support helps protect the earth. For more information, visit www.penniesfortheplanet.org.