Monday, May 12 marked the official start of UGDSB's 4th annual Backyard Bird Count. This year, the invitation went out to all schools, with 10 secondary, 44 elementary and 1 ECPP program participating. This includes students in ECPP, LRC classrooms, and elementary remote learning programming.
Students in all divisions from primary to senior will spend time outside over the next two weeks using biodiversity sheets from the University of Guelph Arboretum and other resources to track local birds and collect data. During this time, students will have a chance to extend curriculum learning in a variety of subject areas, including numeracy/math, literacy/language, the arts, French, and geography and science.
Some of the specific goals outlined by teachers include helping students to see that learning opportunities are all around, to develop an awareness and appreciation of the animals in our community, practice mindfulness, engage in authentic learning tasks related to data collection and representation, and explore biodiversity and sustainability concepts in meaningful ways.
The bird count will culminate with a sharing and celebration week, where all data shared by schools will be displayed on an internal google site. This will also include other student learning artifacts created, such as artwork and poetry.
As part of our on-going relationship with the UofG Arboretum, the UGDSB will host a virtual presentation by nature interpreter Krista Wise, who will discuss the data and make connections to how data collected supports important work related to sustainability and environmental stewardship.