The Seabird Education Program

MAINE SEABIRDS, like the charismatic puffin and globe-trotting tern, are an excellent starting point for exploring broad issues such as marine conservation. By learning about puffins, children become interested in the ocean environment, how birds and other creatures are adapted to survive there, and what is happening all around us in this closed system we call earth. This list of themes includes our core curriculum, but we can tailor our classes to your interests and connect it directly to your course of study. All of our lessons are congruent with the Maine Learning Results.

For further information, cost of presentations and to schedule classes call Sue at 529-2722, or email sschubel@audubon.org. For rates and registration info, please see our registration form (PDF | MS Word).

Themes

1. The Restoration of Puffins and other Seabirds to the Coast of Maine
In 1973, when Dr. Stephen Kress came up with the plan to get puffins back to Maine, it was a groundbreaking idea. Kids will be inspired by the story of how creative thinking and a lot of unusual techniques led to the successful restoration of puffins on Eastern Egg Rock and Seal Island.

2. Seabird Adaptations
These truly marine creatures, seabirds, spend months or even years at sea without touching land! How do they survive? Your students will explore feathers as raingear, blubber as insulation, beaks as tools, and plumage as a fashion statement.

3. The Dangerous and Interesting Lives of Seabirds
Seabirds live in a rigorous environment and are subject to many natural and human pressures. In our game, "Puffling's Journey", students will be challenged by an environment filled with hazards and will have to help their puffin chicks negotiate them as they travel out to sea and back to the island. Our game results will be compared with real survival data from the puffin islands.

4. The Marine Ecosystem
Puffins are just a small part of the ocean community. The Web of Life Game will link us all together as we "become" different organisms and talk about our roles. Students will then craft a colorful food chain mobile based on their favorite ocean organisms.

5. The History of Wildlife and Humans in New England and America
People were originally drawn to New England for the plentiful fish and abundant wildlife. Due to excessive hunting for food, eggs, and feathers the seabird population was dramatically reduced by the late 1800's. We will explore a timeline of events and then enact some exciting role-playing theatrics to understand different sides of the issues.

6. Current impacts on Seabirds and the Ocean
The environment today is more complex and dangerous than it was 50 or 100 years ago. A hands-on oil spill cleanup is one way students get directly involved in thinking about current issues. We can also explore over-fishing, water pollution, and trash issues with fun games and activities.

7. Learning to be a Scientist
Good science demands careful observation, correct methods, and excellent record-keeping. In the Tern Feeding Study activity, students will learn what our summer biologists learn - how to identify terns, their prey (fish), and their individual chicks. We'll begin by sketching, then have a mock "feeding study" with the class drawings. This activity is ideally scheduled as two class periods so that there is time to look at real video footage or slides, and also to graph class data for comparison with actual data collected on the islands. Other activities within this theme include observing and charting bird feeder behavior, and estimating bird populations using mark/recapture techniques (with paper airplanes as the birds).

8. Birdwatching
We'll bring binoculars and beautiful large-size bird flashcards. After learning how to use binoculars, we'll concentrate on bird identification using the concept of field marks. Then we'll go outside to observe local bird-life. If you choose this as a two-period activity we'll have students play Bird Behavior Bingo - a game which goes beyond simple identification.

9. Environmental Action - personal and group activities
Students will make an individual environmental pledge (a fun way of changing one's environmentally-negative behaviors) after we share with them what others are doing. A little effort can make a big difference. Additionally, school or local projects can be initiated. This can include planting shrubs for wildlife, building bird boxes, etc.

10. Migration (under development - this topic available after December 1)
The Arctic Tern is the master migrant of the bird world, flying 20,000 miles a year! (Tell that to your students when they think they're having a tough time.) It's an amazing story and one which will unfold as your students track the path of the terns. We'll use real data from birds banded in Maine which travel south along our coast, then over to Africa, down to Antarctica, back to South America, and up to Maine in time to lay another egg the next spring. This is a great one to link to geography, oceanography, anthropology, etc.

11. ART and Science
Many great scientists were also artists. Creating art helps a person to observe more carefully, think about their subject, and, it is FUN! Many of our themes include small craft projects, but this offering allows your class to really focus and create a large scale project. Class quilts, sculptures, murals, mobiles, puppets, or decoys are possibilities. With a seabird theme, of course!

For further information, cost of presentations and to schedule classes call Sue at 529-2722, or email sschubel@audubon.org.