LILL's LIST

One of the things I like most about homeschooling my kids is that I get to do things with them that I wouldn’t if they went to school. Sure, schools have field trips that parents can chaperone, but I’d rather just walk out the door and join the kids in the fields and woods around our rural home. One opportunity that lets us do that is Project Budburst.

If you’d like to participate, you can go to their web site and sign up to report from your area. They’re collecting information on when buds appear and open, when trees leaf out and other signs of spring from around the nation. If you register, you can save your information so that you can compare it with spring’s arrival for years to come. If you’re like me, this works better than depending on my sometimes faulty memory or writing it down and then forgetting where I put it.

Phenology is the science of measuring the seasonal events of nature and many famous people like Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin have done it. However, there are many more ordinary people – non-scientists with no formal training – who are phenologists and contribute to scientific research on global warming and environmental matters. It’s a good habit to develop in kids, because it can lead to a lifetime of paying attention to nature’s changes and being involved in caring for the earth.

Nestwatch is another good project for families or kids. Like its name says, it involves watching nests and reporting what you see. It’s one of the oldest programs of its kind for citizen scientists and has been around since 1965. Its data includes the number of eggs in a nest, when they’re laid, how many birds hatch and data on how the fledgelings develop. For those who need a little help with nest watching, there are links on the site to workshops and information to help you get started.

The program’s participants have monitored over 300,000 nests and this information will be very important in global warming research. Many of the data comes from city dwellers who observe nests in trees, on telephone poles, under eaves and on top of tall buildings. You don’t have to live in the country to find nests. Birds are everywhere.

If you’d like an excuse to get outside this spring, either of these programs would be a good one. There’s nothing nicer than combining learning with a family outing. It’s not expensive. All you need is a notebook, maybe some binoculars or field glasses and an interest in nature. Oh, and a picnic lunch would be a good idea because nothing stimulates kids’ appetites like some healthy exercise in the fresh air.

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1. Great Green Links for Kids
2. Bee Green
3. Two Great Green Mamas
4. Cool Green Sites for Kids and One for Parents
5. How to Have a Lovely Lawn Without Poisons and Pesticides