 |
Petrarchan47 at English Wikipedia, Creative Commons
|
Spring is the time when we greet new
life and through the first half of the year there is a great
opportunity to observe nesting Bald Eagles through the Raptor Resource Project's live stream eagle cam. The Raptor Resource Project
put out their first eagle cam in 2007. The camera is fixed atop a
tree housing an eagle nest in Decorah, Iowa. In 2011 they switched
over to a Ustream live stream and the project went viral. I'll admit
I was one of those people watching the camera as if it were a popular
sitcom. It is addictive!
This post contains affiliate links, please see disclosures for more information.
If you tune into the live streaming video in your classroom or home, you might see the parent eagles bringing food to the chicks, preening, or cleaning up the nest. You'll see this majestic bird gently tuck her babies under her body to keep them warm. With night vision, the video continues 24 hours a day so we can all watch the comings and goings of both parents.
Throughout the years as more and more
people tune in, more opportunities for education and sharing of
educational projects surrounding the eagle cam are coming about. The
Raptor Resource Project is hosting two forums that will be great
resources for those of you who would like to use this in your school
or home classrooms. The first forum is
"Links to Eagle Activities for Teachers, Parents and Grandparents" and the second is "Education in Action" a
place to share how you are using the eagle cam in the classroom and
to get new ideas from others.
I found in years past that if I was teaching in a room where we had a projector or a spare computer set up that having the video streaming throughout the day was not a major distraction during the student's work and allowed for some great discussion as teachable moments came up on screen. Unfortunately, there are now advertisements on the feed, so be aware of this if you are using it in your classroom. If you pay for a Ustream membership you can avoid the ads.
Watching the eagles gives so many
opportunities for learning. Science topics such as food webs,
ornithology, animal behavior, ecology and wildlife biology are fairly
apparent. The story of the Bald Eagle as a national symbol and the
Endangered Species Act are great ways to incorporate this project
into social studies, government and history.
In addition to the live feed, the Raptor Resource Center Youtube page, Raptor Resource blog, and the forums you may wish to check out these related books: "Three Little Eagles and How They Grew: Jacob's Story Decorah eagles" is the story of a boy who fell in love with watching video of the Decorah Eagles. "Decorah Eagles: A Love Story" a photographic account of the Decorah Eagle pair, and "Bald Eagle Nest: A Story of Survival in Photos" a beautiful photographic story of a pair of Bald Eagles in Montana.
Eagle Resources:
- The Raptor Resource Project
- Decorah Eagles streaming video on Ustream
- Links to Eagle Activities for Teachers, Parents and Grandparents
- Education in Action: Ideas for the Classroom
- The Raptor Resource Project Blog
- The Raptor Resource Project on Youtube
No comments:
Post a Comment