Leaping Lizards - Nature Mapping

The program featured in the video above is a great example of hands-on education. 4-H groups might want to become involved in NatureMapping too! (The video is from Edutopia.org)

"Shortly after I began working at Waterville, I was handed a binder of lessons to get me started teaching elementary school science. I quickly realized that the curriculum was boring and shallow. We had to do something different. I signed up for a NatureMapping workshop, and that got me started incorporating the program into my curriculum, beginning with birds, because I knew a lot of bird-watchers. The kids would bring in their own sightings and team with birders by phone to record what species they saw, and where. We would write up the information and email it to Karen Dvornich, the NatureMapping coordinator at the University of Washington, who added it to a growing collection of data about sites where common Washington species are found."

- Diane Petersen is a teacher at Waterville Elementary School.

Go to "How To: Start Counting Critters."