Citizen Science Lab Lesson: The Great Backyard Bird Count

The annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is an opportunity to guide your students in discovering a number of websites, collect and report data, explore their surrounds and contribute to the greater community. The official website is https://gbbc.birdcount.org/ and has a great toolkit to get you started with educational and promotional resources. 

Along the way, stop by the Minnesota Bird Atlas (https://mnbirdatlas.org/) and use their interactive maps to discover which species are likely to be in your area.

I believe this could be a great way to engage your students in science, math, photography, cartography and city exploration. Google Sheets would provide a great way to register data and for many students to contribute on a class project. For those of you who love the idea but don't think the timing is right, try incorporating the Audubon's Native Plant Database to mirror the project at another time: https://www.audubon.org/native-plants.

Additional Resources

http://www.audubon.org/content/about-great-backyard-bird-count

The Big Year: a movie about bird watching with Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson.