Nature Exploration and Bluebird Habitat Creation: A Service Learning Project

Posted: August 1, 2010

by Richard Schultz, Stratford Friends School

Most of us love those serendipitous experiences in our classrooms. This is the story of one such success: an unplanned series of occurrences that built on each other. A teacher’s goal and direction, an interested parent, a knowledgeable naturalist, and a state environmental program all wove together to produce an integrated learning experience, where each segment cooperated with another to magnify the educational effect. In the process, students encountered scientific inquiry and environmental education, developed woodworking skills, and aided their community through service learning.

After spending the summer cogitating on Richard Louv’s Last Child in the Woods, I decided to tweak the class schedule for my 12 and 13-year-olds at Stratford Friends School. At least once a month, I would allow for an extended (maybe 1½ hours) visit to a local park or natural area. During these “environmental exploration”, students were given some freedom to roam and explore, as well as some time for mini-lessons on environmental topics and time to focus on specific items we encountered. All of our students have specific learning disabilities, so for many of them, hands-on activities are particularly important for their learning styles.

A parent (also a board member and member of Stratford Friends’ Going Green Committee) of one of my students suggested that I investigate the Brandywine Conservancy’s Waterloo Mills Preserve, a natural area which adjoined his backyard and is only a few miles from school. Preserve manager Kevin Fryberger offered to lead the class on a hike throughout the property as one of our monthly excursions. So, we spent an October afternoon rambling in woods and meadows, guided by an accomplished naturalist and educator.

Three months later, searching for appropriate service learning opportunities to break the winter doldrums, I called the Preserve again and learned that Kevin was hoping to build a bluebird trail and would appreciate birdhouses. The students began researching bluebirds on the web. They learned about bluebird habits and requirements, and they soon found dimensions for acceptable bluebird houses. They also reported that some experts preferred a triangular “Peterson” style of birdhouse over the standard square shape. Deciding to run their own experiment, the students asked to build both styles. When all students reported their preference, we found an even split – 7 houses of each type. Fortunately, the students all had a year or two of experience in our woodshop, so they needed only a few science class periods and a minimum of adult help to construct the birdhouses. We were able to salvage good boards from other projects, so our cost of materials remained low.

In March, we returned to the Preserve with birdhouses in hand. Students learned to use the Preserve’s post-hole diggers to prepare a hole, and then they screwed their birdhouses to posts and raised them. The houses were raised in pairs, about 20 feet apart. (If a tree swallow – another desired species - chose one of the houses, it would drive other swallows away from the immediate area, freeing the accompanying birdhouse for bluebird occupancy.) Even as we worked, we noticed a bluebird watching with interest from a nearby fence line! Within a few weeks, the director reported that many of the birdhouses were occupied.

During an earlier conversation, the preserve manager also mentioned a Pennsylvania state program that offered free tree seedlings for students and for habitat restoration. I ordered 6 native species. The seedlings arrived just before Earth Day, creating another service learning opportunity as the class planted 125 native tree seedlings in groves around the preserve. Additionally, each Stratford student was offered a seedling to plant at home, and the remaining seedlings were planted on our school grounds.

A year-end picnic at the student’s house gave us a final opportunity to hike through the Preserve. Unlike the October visit, this time we focused on the results of our own labor: most of the birdhouses showed signs of use, and although some of the seedlings had succumbed, we found others thriving on the forest floor. We see this as an on-going project. In the fall, we will check the birdhouses and clean them. We hope to get an answer to the original question about bluebirds’ preference for house style!

This has been a successful experience. The students enjoyed the activities and remained thoughtful and engaged throughout the process.

More information

For more information on the Seedlings for Schools & Seedlings to Develop Habitats programs of the PA Game Commission: www.pgc.state.pa.us , then use the search box for the “seedling flyer”.

Bluebird information and box building instructions: