Lesson Plan by Seamus Lennon, CityYear Corps Member
Hop, Skip, and Fly North
(Birds Migration)

Materials:
Drawings of the following: supermarket, large shopping mall, coffee and donut shop, & parking lot. Tape them to 4 computer mouse pads
Sidewalk chalk to draw a large-scaled hopscotch & wetland features
Poster of birds in a wetland

Procedures:

1. 1. Say, “This is called Hop, Skip, and Fly North. It is called that because birds who migrate (That means birds who go south in the fall and come back north in the spring.) are flying north during this month. We are going to imitate what they go through.”
   
   
2. Point to the wetland poster and some wetland features such as freshwater, cattails, and tall grasses where birds rest and are protected during their rest stops.
   
   
3. Point out the hopscotch game decorated with wetlands drawings such as ponds, cattails, & tall grasses etc. “Unfortunately, birds can't make the trip in one flight so they have to rest… kind of like stopping at motels when you are on a long trip. Each square represents a wetland along the birds' flightbetween Florida and Massachusetts." Let each student hop through the board one at a time.
   
   
4. At this point, close off one square on the hopscotch board by placing a mouse pad on it. Tell students that the closed off squares represent developments where people bulldoze over wetlands and make parking lots and shopping malls so they will not be able to hop on that square.
   
   
5. Let students go through the hopscotch board again and close off another square. Repeat until children are unable to complete the board. Then talk about how humans endanger animal environments. Congratulate everyone for taking turns and listening.

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