First time using the kits

Comparing and contrasting
owl and vulture bird feathers.

During the middle of march, I had an opportunity to meet with a campfire group to share the kits I spent time developing. Recently I took notes on what I would change and general feedback. First, however, I would first like to mention thank you to anybody who helped me improve and finish these kits which I hope will educate and fascinate children. 

This experience to act as a teacher and lead a group of kids to work on something I created was a wonderful feeling. If you would like to know more about the kits there is a previous blog where I explained what they are and what is in them. I ran through both kits with the kids, and one thing I didn't realize was that it would take more time and energy for both. Next time I do this with a group I have decided to do only one kit. This way I have more time to explain and be more in depth with the topic at hand. Additionally, the group will spend more time observing first while I talk with them rather than starting an activity very quickly following a small bit of information. One thing I think worked very well was the drawing that the kids got to do which pertained with the furs by having them draw a habitat for an animal (whose fur we had on the table).

Bird nests kids made 

I also think if I present these more I will have visuals for what certain animals look like and hold them up while talking about it. Moving on to the bird kit which contained many parts to it which added to rushing through the activity. For this kit, I will add an activity where the kids will have a try at communicating how birds do as well as what they may communicate. Having visuals for the bird one will help more visually as the kids can try and see the differences between owls and a hawk when talking about feathers. Overall I am very happy I got this opportunity to do this and help build on the kits I created. Also it was quite fun to both, see kids enjoying what I created and seeing my work in action. 

Blowing out eggs

We used chicken eggs to practice 

The bowl used to catch insides. (kinda gross) 

       A few weeks ago, while working on my bird display case, and kit I learned about egg identification, birds, and blowing out eggs. Since I was learning about birds this peaked my interest as I was used to learning more about a bird’s behavior as oppose to learning how to identify a bird's egg and how to preserve the egg shell. 

Blowing out an egg 

Egg blowing is used when you want to perverse a bird's shell for something like display purposes. We obviously were new at this and wanted to be safe so we used store bought chicken eggs. There are instructions you can closely follow online if you want to try this out for yourself at home. However, essentially all you do is puncture two holes at the bottom/top of the shell making sure one is bigger than the other then you blow through the egg. This forces the inside of the egg to drain leaving the shell intact. It is very intriguing, but since I am rather squeamish I found myself slightly disgusted, but nonetheless intrigued. When I tried this the aspect I had trouble was with how durable the shell is. Puncturing the hole as well as holding it I felt myself being overly cautious since I might break the shell, but that was the only thing I was cautious of. Overall it was a very interesting activity and a great learning experience, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

Identification of eggs

James and I identifying eggs

            A few weeks ago, I spent a couple hours identifying bird eggs with James who was kind enough to bring eggs for the bird display case. This was quite a challenge identifying the eggs since there wasn’t a guide, but us working from one book with pictures of the eggs.

            We identified probably 8 or so eggs some were easy due to the size and color combination. Since the book, we used was not to scale the eggs were harder to identify because the color could have been correct but the size could have been wrong. To identify them we first looked at the color in one of the books and then we would research the size online as well as other details like how many eggs the bird lays. If the egg measured to be the right size and everything else seemed good is how we determined the type of egg it was. Since we only had very little to work with it took depending on the difficulty of the egg 10-20 min for one egg. 

Main goal for the kits

outline of bird kit 

            All throughout the process of brainstorming ideas to planning everything out I realized some of the main objectives I want to get out of the kits. For the animal fur and bird kits I want to have kids who use them to be entertained as well as educated. I want them to use their creative side to think through the adaptations that animals have and think through questions like why do they live in a certain habitat? Finding the balance between fun, but educational can be quite tricky since an activity could be too fun and not have them think about certain aspects like their habitat, while on the other hand if it’s just boring facts they aren’t as engaged in learning but rather bored. That’s why it needs to be educational as well as interactive.

            Eventually I want the kits to match up to a season like spring would be pollinators and flowers. With the future kits, I would love to have them be educational as well as raise awareness about certain misconceptions or dangers happening. For example, most kids see bee’s or wasps and think dangerous since they have stingers, but the kits could teach about which are valuable or which are more on the dangerous side. As well as teach about how the bee population has dropped and the impacts would be disastrous if we didn’t have bee’s. 

What each kit has planned

Outline of the fur kit

            After brainstorming ideas and having more knowledge surrounding birds and mammals I started to put together a draft of sorts. It was a page for each kit which included my layout for what I wanted.

            In the kit working with furs there would be books talking about mammals, as well as books that are more like storybooks which can be read to a group of kids. There are also pictures which they can match the fur to. The main part of the activity are the questions that are asked. The participants of the activity will mainly be asked to observe the fur and think about what animal it is or what kind of habitat they live in.

            The bird/owl kit has books as well which can be read to kids or they can read themselves. The bird it also contains many feathers bird and owl which they can compare. Moreover, there is an activity which has materials like hay and sticks so they can make a mock bird nest. The goal with this is for them to look at the displays of the nests and try and make a similar one. Lastly, there are eggs in the display case that they can look at as well as in the kit there is a plastic egg. The plastic egg is for them to roll on the table,and so they can see that since it’s not a sphere it won’t roll off on to the floor. 

Initial step: Brainstorming (Birds and owls)

  Since there can be two kits and one of them was going to be about animal fur I wanted to figure out another idea for the second one. After meeting Johnathan I had a better understanding of what to put in these kits, and activities involved in them. I had a meeting with another educator, Bobbie Snead, and I talked to her about my idea with owls.

Close to what I first envisioned with how different birds have different feather types

We both concluded that there might not be many activities to put in the kit that would meet the criteria, and thought about how we could make an owl display work. Finally, we decided to have the display and the kit be about birds with a section devoted to owls. When talking to an educator who specializes in a certain topic I learned so much. Bobbie who specializes in owls helped me better understand how to create a kit that could be beneficial to kids learning it, as well as incorporate important and interesting information about birds and owls.

There will be a post more specifically about my objectives I want from each kit, and what is in each kit. Right now, though the fur kit is little bit less crafty and more observations, and questions. This bird/owl kit has a bit more arts and crafts as well as observation about birds. For example, there will be an activity talking about the feathers of birds, and owls where the kids can touch the feathers. The crafty part is an activity where the kids have an option to create a bird nest. Additionally, there is a topic which has the kids observe the egg shape. I want the kits to be somewhat different in the activities so I can learn what works well and what needs more improvement.

     

Initial Step: Brainstorming (Fur kit)

The original fur display case 

          I was assigned a fun project in January, which was to design a kit for a display case drawer that could easily be taken out for kids to play with. When first coming up with ideas I went kinda crazy and made a page long list of different themes like animals or the water cycle and what would be put in the kit. After pondering upon the ideas I had I realized that it needed to be more practical.To expand, it can't be too messy, and easy enough for younger kids to do. Additionally, it needs to be a small enough project to fit in a small kit.
          When I first met with Johnathan Pope an educator we discussed both display cases and thought to use materials we already had so we wouldn't need to go out and get supplies. When we discussed the first display case we decided to have the focus around furs that mammals had. We collaborated about how we were going to execute this idea, and I learned it's nice to have another person to talk to about a certain idea. We went over the display case, and from that made up components of the fur kit. I made up three groups of questions to be put in the kit and also added many different types of fur that the kids would be able to work with.
         My main objective for both kits and future displays are to make it so the kids are able to learn more about their environment as well as it being a fun activity as oppose to one where they are reading something and aren't as fully interested in the topic at hand.