Objectives
Students select an area to map with birds in mind. They will map bird-friendly physical features, such as cavity nesting trees, food sources, sheltering trees, and water, as well as threats such as cats, pesticide-treated grass, and polluted water.
Method
Students will:
- learn how to map physical features of an area that they select to map habitat for birds; and
- identify which bird-friendly habitat features are present or missing from the mapping area.
Materials
Newsprint or Bristol board for map; crayons and pencils; clipboards and paper
Background
Map-making is a familiar, flexible, and fun tool. Your map project may be simple or complex and can involve classroom, school, or community collaboration. Maps can be technical and precise, creative and artistic, or a combination of both.
Maps will depict a "bird’s-eye view" of an area, whether of your schoolyard, an individual's backyard, or a neighbourhood. The data gathered through maps will offer ideas about the quality of bird habitat within your mapping area and ideas about how habitat may be improved for feathered residents. Depending on the project’s scope, your students' maps could provide data to be used by community groups or agencies to create or restore habitat for birds.
Procedure
- Tell students they will make a group map that will focus on how an area could be made more attractive for birds. Review habitat requirements for birds (food, water, shelter, and space in a suitable arrangement).
- Have students decide on an area to be mapped. It can be as small as a sliver of your schoolyard or as large as your neighbourhood. The scope should be reasonable for students' age levels. Familiarize young students with mapping techniques by having them map their classroom.
- Divide students into groups of four or five. Have each group brainstorm, and then present to the class, habitat elements that ought to be depicted on the map. Here are some tips to get them started:
- nesting sites (e.g., cavity nesting trees; coniferous and deciduous trees and shrubs; bird boxes);
- food sources and types of food (e.g., seed, nut, or berry producing trees and shrubs; a diversity of flowering plants that attract insects);
- water sources (e.g., natural sources, such as a river, or made by people, such as bird-baths.
- shelter (e.g., coniferous and deciduous trees and shrubs);
- landmarks (e.g., rock roosts for perching, meadows, large and small trees);
- bird species living in, or regularly seen in, your mapping area and where they were seen;
- location of lawns, gardens, and parks;
- areas under potential development; and
- dangers for birds (e.g., cats and other predators, lawns sprayed with pesticides, windows into which birds could fly).
- Explain that the map is a group project. A large sheet or two (or more) of newsprint or Bristol board taped together will do for the map surface.
- Have students draw the location of their school in the centre of a sheet of paper. Provide each student (or each group) with a clipboard on which to mount their drawing and take them to the area to be mapped. Have them do a rough sketch of all physical features that ought to be included, such as trees, nests, vegetation, fences, or buildings. Back in class, have students brainstorm for ideas for symbols to represent the various features in the map's legend.
- Using an overhead projector or the blackboard, make a "rough draft" map with as much detail as possible, then have students transfer these details onto the newsprint or Bristol board for the final copy (to scale is optional).
- Once the physical features are drawn in, take another stroll around the mapping area with clipboards in hand. This time have students sketch in features that appeal to birds, as well as indicate those that may be missing or harmful. Ask students to look at the area as if they were birds: What would appeal to them in the area? Are there any tasty berry bushes, trees for shelter, or a diversity of wildflowers to attract insects that birds like to eat? Don’t forget that plants we consider weeds offer a banquet of seeds and insects for birds. Include areas such as stretches of concrete or places sprayed with pesticides.
- Back in class, make a rough sketch of these features and have students draw in the bird-friendly and unfriendly elements onto the master map.
- Date the map, create a legend, and include compass points and scale (optional). Display the map in a hallway at your school.
Extensions
- Have students brainstorm other ways to use the information on your bird habitat map, such as building a database of information, creating a Web site, or designing a brochure or a guide book.
- What would your map look like if your schoolyard were more bird-friendly? What steps would you need to take to create an ideal bird habitat?
Copyright Notice
© Canadian Wildlife Federation
All rights reserved. Web site content may be electronically copied or printed for classroom, personal and non-commercial use. All other users must receive written permission.
