Hawk Mountain's Educational Research

What has kept me motivated has been the moments in which I’ve had the opportunity to inspire students in the same way my English teacher in high school had inspired me. One of these moments occurred recently when  I was invited to teach a lesson on birds and what it means to be a bird scientist for a 7th grade class at Long Valley Middle School.  

I began the lesson providing an introduction as to what ornithology entails, and more specifically, what a raptor is.  I loved having a simple discussion with these bright 7th graders about the characteristics that make birds-of-prey different from songbirds.  Borrowing materials such as talons, skulls, and wings, from Hawk Mountain’s education department, majorly enhanced my lesson.  We were even able to look at Great Horned Owl and Red-tailed Hawk feathers under a digital microscope to observe the differences!

To inspire and engage my students, I wanted them to get the experience of what it means to actually be an ornithologist.  Using my own experience as a scientist conducting nest observations in real life, I designed an activity to allow students to conduct nest observations using a computer.    

Using YouTube, I found a video of a Great Horned Owl nest camera.  Then, I created a “Field Notes” worksheet for students to complete as they watched the video.  They took observations on the sights and sounds, they drew a picture, they described the habitat, and they took behavioral observations.  I was so excited about how engaged in the activity every student was.