The in-class program consists of hands-on activities from our teacher's guide "Giving Back to the Earth" by Pete Salmansohn and Stephen Kress. The guide contains dozens of activities based on seabird biology and conservation. Activities emphasize specific subject areas such as language, writing, art, math, geography and science. For most schools, the program consists of multiple sessions, each with a distinct topic such as seabird adaptation, connections in the marine ecosystem, or puffin geography (learning coastal geography frequented by puffins).

More than 400 students from nine of the 30 schools also participated in field trips to Egg Rock aboard the Hardy III, a tour boat operating out of New Harbor, Maine. This two-hour tour was narrated by "Puffin Pete" Salmansohn. Participants circled Eastern Egg Rock, observing the puffins in June when they were courting and starting to feed their young. Students were able to watch puffins, but they also learned about interactions with terns, gulls, eiders, guillemots, and other seabirds.

In addition to presentations in the classroom, the seabird education program organized three teacher workshops focusing on seabirds as a way to introduce children to the ecology and conservation of the Gulf of Maine. The workshops were sponsored by Friends of Monomoy (Chatham, MA), New England Aquarium (Boston, MA) and National Audubon Society (Bremen, ME). A total of 92 teachers participated and some obtained credit for participation through the University of Maine. These workshops and classroom sessions were sponsored in part by grants from the U.S. Gulf of Maine Association, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Mid-coast Audubon Society, Sea World, and DownEast Energy Corporation. 
From mid-June through mid-August Audubon also sponsored 11 trips each week to Eastern Egg Rock aboard two commercial tour boats, the Hardy III (New Harbor) and the Pink Lady (Boothbay Harbor). Together these one- and three-hour trips brought a record total of 4,139 adults and children to circle Eastern Egg Rock (no landings are permitted). Participants learned how to identify common seabirds and marine mammals and also learned basic information about the ecology of the Gulf of Maine and conservation issues affecting seabirds such as over-fishing, pollution, and human disturbance.

Project Puffin (our 32-page full-color childrens' book) and its accompanying teacher's guide Giving Back to the Earth by Stephen Kress and Pete Salmansohn won three important awards in the first year following their publication:

• Smithsonian Institution "Notable Children's Book for 1997" 
• National Science Teachers's Association and Children's Book Council 1998 "Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children" 
• "1998 Skipping Stones Honor Book"

Both books are available from most bookstores or contact the publisher at Tilbury House, 132 Water Street, Gardiner, Maine, 04345, or phone 1-800-582-1899.

For General Information and Questions: puffin@audubon.org

Mailing Address: Project Puffin 159 Sapsucker Woods Road Ithaca, New York 14850 (607)257-7308