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Alissa,
There is certainly a lot to do with the harbor- but another direction for you to look towards is common city animals like pigeons, squirrels, etc. I vaguely recall a bunch of examples from various sources for studying the nature on a city block-- and it helps kids to realize that they are also connected to nature even as city kids.
Wasn't it Cornell that had some sort of pigeon study? Kids kept track of different color patterns on the pigeons.
You can also do transect studies in any sort of small natural area and make counts of bugs, plants, etc.
Along the channel, beyond setting traps for crabs and such, you can pull up ropes or look at the side of docks to see what lives there. (For older kids, there is a good invasive species story with that too.)
I developed some curriculum at one point too about geology in the city-- identifying rocks from the stonework on buildings downtown.
Maybe other folks can fill in the blanks on some of this.
Otherwise, neighbor, feel free to contact me if you want to connect about this. We have some similar ideas in the works.
-Rebekah
Rebekah Stendahl
Manager of Education Programs
New England Aquarium
Central Wharf
Boston, MA 02110
[log in to unmask]
617-973-6580
617-226-2149 Family Programs
-----Original Message-----
From: Informal Science Education Network on behalf of Daniels, Alissa
Sent: Thu 1/3/2008 11:35 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: urban museums and the environment
ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
*****************************************************************************
I am trying to develop an environmental education school program for our visiting school groups, and I'm looking for tips/suggestions/advice. We don't have an actual exhibit, although we do have a green roof, which visitors can see, and a number of other green building features that are "invisible." We have a small and kind of weird little area of native plants outside, but aside from that we are very much in the middle of the city, although we are right on the Fort Point Channel, which connects to Boston Harbor. Our age range is K-5, heavy on K-2. The program would want to be 30-60 minutes. Many of our school kids are coming from within the city, and don't often spend time outdoors.
Anyone out there do anything similar? Any ideas would be appreciated, and feel free to respond off list.
many thanks, and a very happy 2008 to all!
AD
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Alissa Daniels, Science Program Manager
Boston Children's Museum
617-426-6500 x342
www.BostonChildrensMuseum.org
The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not "Eureka!" (I found it!) but "That's funny..." --Isaac Asimov
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For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers and the Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org.
Check out the latest case studies and reviews on ExhibitFiles at www.exhibitfiles.org.
The ISEN-ASTC-L email list is powered by LISTSERVR software from L-Soft. To learn more, visit
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