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[glogdog]

gadeb - what fun!  74 pennies is quite a bit!  Thanks for all of your photos to share with us.  For your students to see how big and deep is an eagle's nest is cool too.  Next could be how an eagle's wingspan measures up to their arms.

[glogdog]

Love all of your photos, team.  Thank you for sharing them. Your students are learning so much about Bald Eagles and in such a fun way.  It's the kind of learning that sticks with you. 

[gadeb]

I made some question and answer eagle boards and the kids love them!

A student can write a question on a sticky note and put it on the next available number on the question board.  Another student can write the answer (either they think they know it or research it) on another sticky note and put it on the matching number on the answer board.  If another student has more info to add to the answer he/she may write it and put it over the original answer. 

I am thinking we will ask the mods some of the questions in education chat and let the kids check their answers.  I know their self-esteem will be boosted to know they are getting the answers correct.

[gadeb]

 

[glogdog]

Now here's something neat.  Teachers - read this Blog from the National Wildlife Federation (NWF).  It's about creating a National Wildlife Federation Schoolyard Habitat:

 http://blog.nwf.org/2017/08/studying-water-conservation-results-in-a-national-wildlife-federation-schoolyard-habitat/?s_email_id=20170909_MEM_ENG_Habitat_News_September_Edition|MTOther

[jfrancl]

Educators! RRP educational chat will begin on a limited basis beginning February 12th from 8-10 am and from 1-3 pm (CST) Monday through Friday.  We will extend class chat hours after the first egg is laid. Go here to RRP's website:  https://www.raptorresource.org/birdcams/decorah-eagles/ and click on the  classroom tab.  Teachers and students, we look forward to seeing you all very soon!

[tulsaducati]

Educators! RRP educational chat will begin on a limited basis beginning February 12th from 8-10 am and from 1-3 pm (CST) Monday through Friday. We will extend class chat hours from 8am-3pm after the first egg is laid. Go to RRP's website: https://www.raptorresource.org/birdcams/decorah-eagles/ and click on the classroom tab. Teachers and students, we look forward to seeing you all very soon!

[tulsaducati]

Looks great to me, Lori!

Hope that you can see this.  I am using a new way to post pictures.  Even teachers have to learn new things!

[Bob1603]

I recently gave a presentation about the Decorah eagles to some elementary students and I have been asked to share that experience. 

A few times during the school year the 2nd and 3rd grade teachers at this school put together an hour on a Friday afternoon to bring in 3-4 quest speakers and the students get to pick the presentation they would like to attend.  In addition to my bald eagle presentation there was one by a firefighter, another about camping, and I don?t recall what the 4th one was about.  Anyway, the interest in hearing about the eagles was so great the teacher hosting the presentation had to turn some students away - I thought that was very interesting and quite frankly, very pleasing.

There were 19 students attending my presentation - mostly 2nd graders and a few 3rd graders.  (I really had to smile when the teacher addressed her students as learners).  I laid out my notes and the materials I had along and the teacher got the live feed of the Decorah eagles up on a large screen - as the kids came into the room they were absolutely amazed!  Luckily the parent that was on the nest at the time stood up and we got to see the top of the egg - the kids were ecstatic!

The things I talked about and shared with some 8.5 x 11 pictures I passed around included:

- background about RRP and Mom & Dad's history together
- nest building
- laying of eggs and hatching
- feedings
- nest location and fish hatchery
- feathers - they were amazed at how many feathers an eagle has
- incubation
- wing span and many other topics in answering their questions.

As I mentioned I had 13 pictures I took at the Raptor Resource Project webpage ? two copies of each picture - and a box of pencil and some shredded packing material to show how the eagles interlock the branches when building the nest rails.  The packing material made a nice nest.

I had my notes that I referred to but much of the hour long class was answering the student?s questions and there were a lot of them.  What really made the presentation effective was having the live video feed of the Decorah nest.  I cannot emphasis enough what important that is when making any kind of presentation about the Decorah eagles.

All in all I was extremely pleased about how it all went - each student went home with at least one or two picture and the RRP webpage address.  (One of the kids got my Decorah calendar too!) The kids were very excited during the entire hour and had great questions.  When the teacher asked if I would be interested in making another presentation next month I knew it went well.

[T40cfr403]

Living lesson: Decatur students watch eagles from afar, then meet the real thing at Scovill Zoo (Great story about Muffley School Kinders and teachers. They watch the Decorah Eagles in class!)

https://herald-review.com/news/local/education/living-lesson-decatur-students-watch-eagles-from-afar-then-meet/article_f91d6da8-c6c7-5270-b263-80d75abad9dd.html


Education and volunteer coordinator Benjamin Rapson answers questions from Muffley School kindergartners at the eagle exhibit in Scovill Zoo Tuesday.
JIM BOWLING, HERALD & REVIEW


Anthony Reid and fellow Muffley School kindergartners look over the eagle exhibit at the Scovill Zoo on Tuesday.
JIM BOWLING, HERALD & REVIEW


Muffley student Jiselle Beltran observes Scovill Zoo eagles Quinn and Abby during the kindergarten class' visit to the exhibit Tuesday. The students got the opportunity to see real eagles as part of their study project on the bird.
JIM BOWLING, HERALD & REVIEW

[trthpaintr]

Thank you, Bob. Loved your description!
Truth

[gardengirl]

Educators, if you are looking for a really cool way to expand your science class check out this newsletter from The Raptor Center which explains their Outdoor Investigator program for classrooms. The article is toward the end of the newsletter and is entitled Real World /science lessons, outside written by Fran Howard.  sounds like an awesome way to get kids outdoors and engaged in nature/science.   Here is the link to the newsletter:

https://www.raptor.umn.edu/sites/raptor.umn.edu/files/raptor_release_spring_2018.pdf

[smileawhile]

If you would like to inspect eagle feathers a little more closely, then this is the page for you.
This is the link to the main page of US Fish & Wildlife Service ?The Feather Atlas?
https://www.fws.gov/lab/featheratlas/index.php

I have tried every which way to go directly to the Bald Eagle page but the site just won?t allow me to do it.
On the main page click the heading SEARCH SCANS.
On the page that opens, fill in Common Name - Bald eagle (or if you like to type a lot, fill in Haliaeetus
leucophalus for scientific name)
Click SEARCH, and you will get a page full of individual eagle feathers, including subadults, adults, male, female, primaries, secondaries, etc.
Again, I apologize for not being able to get you directly to this page.
I think it?s fascinating to be able to look at these feathers so closely and see their actual dimensions and relationship to each other.
Also, you may want to go back to the main page and check out ?READ THIS FIRST? about feathers & the law.  I know you already know the drill, so if you want to try to identify other bird feathers using The Feather Atlas, just remember to leave the feather in place, take a photo, try to get a measurement, and take note of colors.  I have been able to identify many a bird feather right down to the individual feather!  It?s fun!
Hope you enjoy exploring the website.

[trthpaintr]

Try this, smile.  I looked in the available scans and was able to access  all the BE info:

https://www.fws.gov/lab/featheratlas/feather.php?Bird=BAEA_tail_adult_BluBk

[smileawhile]

Hi Truth! Thanks for the link.  It works, but the only issue is it shows the one set of feathers, then you have to click on the list for each set of feathers.  If you go through my admittedly convoluted process, photos of all the sets of feathers show up on one page. So either way works, just depends on whether you're looking for something specific or just all of them.  Either way, I think it's a cool site. 
Thanks for your additional help!