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What is phenology?
Phenology is the study of the
seasonal timing of life cycles in nature. For example, when the
first leaves fall in autumn, the first frost happens in winter,
or the first robin returns in spring.
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Why is phenology important?
Studying phenology can help students
begin to see the patterns of seasonal change and how they
are connected to day length, temperature, and precipitation.
Tracking phenology encourages students to improve their
observation and critical thinking skills, and can heighten
students' awareness of how all things in nature are
interconnected.
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Post Visit Activities
The following activities are intended to extend the CWES
experience to a students home and school, and are designed
to provide your students with a basic understanding and
interest in phenology,
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Phenology Lesson & CWES Blog
Have your students collect phenology data
and contribute to our knowledge of Wisconsin's phenology on
our
Blog. This could include the first sighting of a
robin or hummingbird in spring, the daily temperature and
day length, or the first leaves to change color in the fall.
Included is
a lesson that introduces students to phenology, a
letter
describing the procedure to your students, and a
phenology observation form. There are two lesson
opportunities, one that focuses on the phenology around the
school and a second that looks at the phenology at a
student's home or neighborhood. Please review the
materials and the
Nature Navigator and decide which opportunity is best
for your students. The collection of this data will
enhance your students' awareness of local phenology, and may
also spur questions and critical thinking.
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Learning New Calls
If you are able to locate an
Identifier or a CD of birdcalls, spend a few
moments each day teaching your class a new bird or frog/toad
call. Have the class help you create “mnemonics†to go with
each call. This would include putting words to the birds
call, such as “the chickadee says its name:
chick-a-dee-dee-dee.†Have students listen for these
creatures throughout their stay at CWES or near their own
homes and schools. Common calls might include common crows,
mourning doves, black-capped chickadees, red and white
breasted nuthatches, blue jays, and hairy and downy
woodpeckers. In the spring, this is also a great activity to
do with frog and toad calls (PDF
Calendar of Calls). Having a knowledge of these songs
and calls helps scientists survey/keep track of how bird and
frog populations are doing each year. Students can use this
information to become more aware of the species in their
local community.
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Nature Journaling
To help your students develop their
observation skills and acquire a better understanding of
phenology, ask them to keep a nature journal. You may
use the
nature journal template, or create your own. Ask
students to record the day's date, weather (including cloud
cover and temperature), and their personal observations and
questions about nature. They may wish to include these
observations in both a written or pictorial format. Journals
could be done during the school day, or sent home with
students as a short, daily assignment. You may also ask
students to bring their journals with them to CWES to record
the plants and animals they learned about there. Here is a
sample journal grading rubric from the
National Park Service.
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Classroom Field Guide
Have each student research a
common local mammal, insect, bird, etc. They can then use their
findings to compile a short report on their animal using the
provided
template. Put the reports together to create a classroom
field guide for your local area. |
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Additional Resources
For phenology curriculum with correlated
standards and assessment tools see
Journey North and their teaching resources.
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