teaches Physics, Algebra, and Geometry at Charlestown High School.
Collaboration with Charlestown High
Teacher Karen Prussing;
Birds and Beyond, Mass. Audubon Society; Boston College Urban Ecology Institute (UEI), Tina Bosch, Vista Fellow; Donald Kroodsma, Author; MASSPORT Little Mystic Channel; Project STAMP Kyle Jellison, K-12 Fellow; Raven Software, Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology (CLO).
| Classroom Activities | |
• |
Watch CLO video Birding, a student led field study of urban birds |
| • | Read Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem The Birds of Killingworth |
| • | Use RAVEN software to interpret bird sound recordings |
| • | Create PowerPoint presentation on sounds, spectrograms & birds |
| • | Work with Vista Fellow on keeping Birding Journals, corresponding with birders & identifying bird songs |
| Community Activities | |
• |
Take field trips to Little Mystic River local field site near school |
| • | Test river water & examine newly planted bushes & vegetation that encourage bird biodiversity |
| • | Record bird sounds at site |
| • | Attend lecture at Harvard Museum of Natural History by author of The Singing Life of Birds |
| • | Invite classes to PowerPoint presentation |
| • | Present project at Fifth Annual Student Research Conference at Boston College UEI |
| • | Contribute illustrations to UEI student newsletter eco[tone] |
This project enabled us to encourage Special Education students and English Language Learners to listen, communicate, and socialize with volunteers, partners, and organizations that helped us. We encouraged students to be aware of the natural resources around the school and to utilize them. Using RAVEN software was critical, and students were able to overcome their language difficulties to learn to understand and utilize the program in order to interpret their sound recordings. I am proud of my students for all their accomplishments and for having the courage to present before a large audience, speaking a language they’re just acquiring.
Growing up in a Chinese city, I didn’t see many birds. Through this project and the sound waves lessons from the RAVEN program, I learned how the bird sounds we recorded in the field showed up on a spectrogram. Ms. Bosch taught us how to interpret the sound wave diagram. High pitch has high frequency; low pitch has lower frequency. Birds use their songs to communicate and show their feelings. We did a presentation about our project at the Annual Urban Ecology Institute This was the first time that I had to speak in front of so many people. I learned a lot from other students who did similar projects. Now I hear birds singing in the morning, and I encourage friends and neighbors to enjoy the natural songs that calm us down.
