1 minute read

Biodiversity on Campus

Throughout 4th Grade science, Green Vale’s 40-acre campus is used as a natural laboratory. A curricular theme is biodiversity and students learn about species that thrive on campus, and how. Units include trees and botany, birds, insects, and mammals. Teacher Rick Geismar includes a research component, tasking the entire class to propose ideas in response to his challenge: How do we increase a particular species on campus?

Initial ideas explored by the class included reforesting (planting seedlings) and installing nocturnal wildlife recording cameras. The idea that eventually captivated the entire grade was the notion of building and installing owl houses, or boxes, for Eastern screech owls to nest. It was both simple and exciting, as some students had enjoyed owl sightings during class.

Their confidence that owls could thrive at GVS derived from their research showing that Eastern screech owls often nest at the edges of forest habitats like much of the Green Vale campus. Their food supply would be plentiful as they eat large insects as well as small birds and rodents.

To ensure that the project would be truly studentexecuted, it became inter-disciplinary. For the past two years, crafts teacher Lizzie Wright has devoted woodworking time to designing and building the owl boxes especially for these “cavity nesters.” Several boxes are now complete and awaiting campus to re-open in order to install them.

“Making these owl houses helped me learn more about their habitat and environment.” — Lucy Woodhouse

This article is from: