creative lesson plan on birds - teachers of india

1Selections from 'Basbhumi' : booklet - 5

Creative Lesson Plan on

BirdsBirdsBirdsBirdsBirds

for teachers, educators and community workers

ENREEcology and Natural Resource Education

Development Research Communication & Services Centre

2 Selections from 'Basbhumi' : booklet - 5

'Creative lesson plan on Birds' (Selections from ‘Basbhumi’ : booklet - 5)

Project Coordinating & Concept Development : Ardhendu S. Chatterjee

Lesson Plans Design, Illustration & Editing : Satoko Chatterjee

Content Review : Ardhendu S. Chatterjee, Anshuman Das, Parthib Basu

Translation & processing of feedback data : Sanjib Chatterjee

Feedback from teachers and children of ENRE network :

Samir Biswas, Sudip Kumar Mondol, Sourendranath Sen, Amal Sarkar (Swanirvar),

Debasish Panda, Sek Jobok Ali ( Kajla Jana Kalyan Samiti), Shantonu & Manosi

Chatterjee (Chandannagore), Madhumita Ata, Alok Maji (Ashurali)

Comosition & Layout : Somjita Mukherjee

Cover : Satoko Chatterjee, Abhijit Das

Copyright - 2004 ENRE project / DRCSC (Contributions towards printing cost : Rs. 30 / also

available on exchange with EE materials & publications)

Booklets are available in Bengali also.

Your contributions will help us to keep producing forthcoming booklets.

No restrictions on copying for educational and non-commercial purposes, but do mention the

aource and if possible please send us a copy.

For comments, suggestion and more copies, contact us :

ENRE project / DRCSC,

58A Dharmatola road, Bosepukur, Kasba, Kolkata 700042, West Bengal , INDIA

((((( 2442 7311, 2441 1646 E-mail : [email protected]

We are thankful to AEON Group Environment Foundation (Japan) for partial financial

support towards the production & distribution cost of this booklet


PAGE

About this booklet & how to use 4

About ‘Creative Lesson Plans’ & Curriculum Connection 6

Overall goal and Activity steps 8

We got Feedback from... 10

Lesson plans and their feedback ( Step 1)

Preparatory Work – for growing children's interest

Activity (A) ‘Birds in Stories’ 12

Activity ( B) ‘My Experience with Birds’ 26

Review and Make Sure (Step 2) – for platform towards next step

Review & Discussion 38

Teachers' Note : 'Source Books for Birds' 39

Put it Together & Gap Filling Work 40

Teachers' Note : 'Supportive Materials for Learning 43

Birds'

Lesson plans and their feedback (Step 3) – Investigation / Project

Work

Activity (A) 'What is their Relation? - Agriculture, Birds and

Scarecrows' 46

Activity (B) 'Inviting Birds into SchoolYard' 52

Check List of Birds Appeared in Children's Feedback 62

Resources – for strengthening your guiding role

Expert’s view point :

Birds and Our Environment 66

Books and other Interesting Lesson Plans 73

ENRE Partner Organisations' address 78

From ENRE 78

Your Feedback Slip 79

ContentsContentsContentsContentsContents


vbooklets on each topic

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materialsprepared bychildren

databaseinformation

lesson plans

for other schools, teachers & children of other gropus

<how this booklet has been prepared>

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• teachers get an idea about

the lesson plans and activities

• teachers work out withchildren according to thelesson plans

V

V

training of ENREteachers

B i r d s

àOverview of the Expert

ENRE ResourceCentre

Feedback from teachers

☺☺☺☺☺ ☺☺☺☺☺

☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺

☺☺☺☺☺ ☺☺☺☺☺Basbhumi

topic 4 - Med.plants5 - Bird

6 - Fuel1st step

2nd step3rd step

ø

referencebooks

æ

æ

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☺☺☺☺☺

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☺☺☺☺☺

(Please see page 78 for forthcoming issues)

All the lesson plans included in this booklet were developed by ENRE team

and tried out (and sometime modified ) by the teachers and children’s

groups of ENRE network. Originally these lesson plans were provided to a

network of teachers as model lesson plans targeted for the children of

class IV-IX in shape of bi-monthly ENRE newsletter ‘Basbhumi (Habitat)’.

With the skill of ‘active learning methods’ imparted through our teachers'

training, they have tried out each activity with their students in their class or

as extra curricular activity for last 2-3 years. Their feedback makes this

booklet more unique and life related.

12 topics related to Natural Resources and their sustainable management

etc. were discussed in various issues of ‘Basbhumi’ (in Bengali). 'Birds' is

the fifth topic booklet.

We hope this booklet is useful for other teachers and educators, as well

as community workers and even for those parents who are actively

involved in environmental education or environmental activities in their own

local

community.

And we shall be

delighted if this

booklet can

help in

nurturing the

mind & spirit of

young

generation who

can take a key

role for caring

their own

environment

and community

life.

About this booklet —

modifying &additional

informationà

=


•

How to use this booklet —

The lesson plans in this booklet are designed step wise (see page 8 & 9). Wesuggest to try out these activities following the steps, but you can also adapteach core idea according to your local context.

For teaching & learning process :

Ø You can get some ideas on how to prepare your own lesson planpromoting action learning.

Ø You can try out several participatory learning & sharing tools (eg, brainstorming, making charts & graphs, mapping, ranking, timeline, datacollection, interview, presentation etc. ) for your class.

Ø You can get ideas on how to connect your class room to localcommunity.

Ø You can use these lesson plans both for school curriculum and extracurriculum work and obviously you can generate children’s interest &enthusiasm on environmental issues and activities.

For community aspects :

Ø You can help the children to collect local data on natural resources intheir neighbourhood and encourage them to know more about theirsurroundings.

Ø You can organize children’s group to improve local environment through collective action.Ø You can grow community members' awareness on environment through

children’s activity.

For home :

Ø You can try out some of these activities with children in your homeduring their school holidays. We are sure you can design your own'home –based' activity for a greener world, because we have already gotfeedbacks about this.

In ‘reference’ section, we have included expert’s view point on the topic andalso have introduced some useful documents. You can get some ideas howcommunity based activity can be related and contribute to global environmentalissues etc. and hopefully you can utilize these resources & information tostrengthen your capacity of facilitating activities.

As a checklist of birds' name in English and Bengali, we listed up birds'name mentioned in children's feedback. You can add more birds observed inyour area on this list (see pg. 61).

•


'Link the classroom and community'

asking good questions is much

more important than seeking

answers

About lesson plan —

Through activities of the ENRE project, we have realized that creating & developing

own lesson plan is extremely difficult for most of the network teachers because they

don’t have the habit and experience to do so. The

situation must be more or less same for the other

teachers in our country. Though Environmental

Education has been brought into the school curriculum

as a subject, the teaching method is still textbook

centered, memorizing & repetition based and

examination oriented. Unfortunately for children

(fortunately for teachers?) all answers are already given

in the text books. But is it possible to develop their interest

about any issue by memorizing names of trees, birds,

and animals or just by copying the text book’s drawing

of seed germination or insects’ metamorphosis? We

wish the learning process could be more exciting

and open ended process rather than ‘being hammered

by more and more information’.

What is 'creative lesson plan' ?

We think that good lesson plans should provide the opportunity of discovering

and searching out the fact by children themselves. Children can choose their

own learning process and context. The teachers only

need to facilitate it, rather than imposing an uniform

style.

Creative lesson plans should have the following aspects.

• Starting from what children already

know & what children have experienced

/ felt; These help to enhance children’s

interest about the topic.

• Having the overall goal related to

‘Social / Environmental issue’ and

‘Scientific attitude’.

For example on the topic Birds, social/

environmental goal can be <to understand

the role of birds in our environment>

<to grow awareness & action for

conserving birds>, and scientific goal can

be <to observe birds' morphology in relation

to their food habit> <to learn about food chain & food web through birds> etc.

Setting up these goals helps the children to be aware that they can do something to

improve their environment and solve some of the social problems.


• Including group activity as well as individual activity. Through group

discussion, planning and activity, children can find out better ideas and solution =

and also can grow their cooperative attitude and collaborative skills. They can

learn to respect other’s opinion too.

• Children can have fun and relish the moments of discovery in their learning

process.

• Children’s learning activity should link their class room and community. This

is essential for Environmental Education, as we need more initiatives for a better

environment.

• Using active & group based learning methods with children (eg.

brainstorming, making charts & graphs, mapping, ranking, timeline, data collection,

interview, presentation & sharing skill etc.)

• Using local materials and examples for activities, you can make the activity

more low cost and eco-friendly. You can use waste materials.

Curriculum connection

Creative lesson plan has an integrated curriculum approach. This helps you to

weave what you are doing in science or EVS (environmental studies) with math,

language, social studies, geography and art etc. We illustrate below how each

activity in this booklet can be connected to school curriculum.

We are getting positive feedback from network teachers that children had certainly

shown increased interest to learn other

school subjects and developed

their leadership abilities after

practicing activity-based

lesson plans.

Language PhysicalScience

Social ScienceMaths

EnvironmentEducationArt

Birds

'creative lesson plans' approach can help to increase children's

interest to learn and develop a positive attitude.

=


ð

Birdsn Overall goal

About 8,600 species of Birds are found allover the world, of these 1,200 species are found

in our country, India. Birds are said to be good indicators of environmental degradation as

their survival is closely linked with healthy forests, wetlands, farms etc. They depend on the

places both as habitat and as source of food. Children are encouraged to observe birds

closely and scientifically and to collect information from various sources like books, web

sites, and local farmers …Teachers assist children to realise that if we want the beautiful

and useful bird neighbours to survive; we have to protect our environment by reducing air/

water pollution and by reducing pesticides we use in farms & orchards. We can also help

birds by planting more trees and keeping our wetlands clean.

Through these series of activities, children can learn that conserving birds depends on

taking the action against unsustainable usage of natural resourceslike reducing air/water

pollution, reducing to use chemical pesticide, and planting trees etc.

n Activity Steps

ð

to build children's interest and to know what children already

know. Children collect information / data through own observa-

tion and inquiry to family members & local community mem-

bers.

Activity (A) Activity (B)

'Birds in Stories' 'My Experience with

Birds'

collecting & classifying observation, keeping

information records, classifying

literature, reading skill writing skill (Language),

(Language), ranking drawing (Art)

(Maths)

class periods required 2~3 class periods required

periods; 11/2 hrs per peiod - 3~4 periods

To make platform for further activities, have a discussion with children to

summarize & review of preparatory work. Put any missing information and

make sure Children have learnt necessary points for the next step.

Encourage childrens to raise further question and initiative solution.

Step 2 Review & Make Sure

Step 1 Preparatory work

=

= =

=


ð v

form for further activities, have a discussion with children to

summarize & review of preparatory work. Put any missing information and

necessary points for the next step.

Encourage childrens to raise further question and initiative solution.

to create child-oriented activity. Children can apply their

collected information into designing studies which are

meaningful for the community.

Activity (A) Activity (B)

'What is their Relation ? – 'Inviting Birds into

Agriculture, Birds & Schoolyard'

Scarecrows'

field trip, interview, data practical work,

analysis, art work, writing awareness

report campaign, craft

class periods class periods

required 4 ~ 5 periods required 3 ~ 4 periods

(1.5 hours/period) +

regular observation &

taking care of birds

Keywords Step 1 Step 2 Step 3

(A) (B) (Discussion) (A) (B)

Observation skill ü ü ü ü ü

Bird's external morphology ü ü ü

Birds & food chain / web ü ü

Birds' habitat ü ü ü ü ü

Birds & Agriculture ü ü(injurious / beneficial

birds)

Bird watching ü ü

Conservation of birds ü ü

Concepts and techniques which you can develop in activities

n Changes Expected

• More eco-groups are created and they are organising bird

watching trip in their own locality.

• Children can prepare data/booklet on local birds.

• Childrens' effort can help to increase community members'

awareness for nurturing a bird-friendly environment.

Review & Make Sure

Step 3 Investigation/Project Work

= =


We got feedback from different Organisations —

Even if we all do the same activity, our results could be different, depending on where one lives orthe children's abilities. It's quite natural for this to happen. The results that you obtained anddata collected which is specific to your locality will become a valuable case study. In this booklet,we will share the feedback we got from different ENRE network groups. You can compare yourresults with these.We would like to learn more about the urban school situation & about hill areas from the othergroups, since we do not work in these areas yet. So, it would be nice if you would share yourexperiences.

Kajla groupEast Midnapore district

5 teachers & their studentsconducted the activitieswithin their E.E. schoolcurriculum in 6 villages.About half the childrenbelong to Hindu families and

Chandannagore groupHooghly district

One of the staff from ENRE team tried out these activi-ties with her children as home-based activity.Children study in English medium schoolsunlike the other children in network.Chandannagore is a small town andlocated on the bank of Ganga river.Many trees and ponds are observablelike in other towns in this district.Many commuters go to Calcuttaeveryday by train from here.

Ashurali groupSouth 24 Pargana district

2 teachers conducted activity with15 children in two villages,Sundarika, Karaghata.Children study in NGO-run primaryschools.Their area is mainly agriculturalland but industrial estate is alsolocated nearby. Villagers earn theirlivelihoodfrom agricul-ture andworking infactory.

Swanirvar groupNorth 24 Pargana district

the rest are Muslim.The area is located in thecoastal area and regu-larly hit by cyclones. Asa result it does nothave irrigation facilities.Agriculture, Small scale industries(handicraft) and fisheries are the mainsources of livelihood in this area.

4 network teachers in associationwith 13 other teachers conductedactivities with children in 8villages.All the children study in governmentschools & are aged between 10 & 16years.Intensive agriculture is the mainoccupation of this area and thefarmers used to apply large amountsof chemical

fertiliser &pesticide.Arsenic in theground wateris one of themajor environ-mental problem in this district.

IndiaGandhi Vichar Parishad groupBankura district

4 teachers were involved inconducting various activities.This district is located in adry-land area. The Vegetation &soil there is rather differentfrom that of other groups.Fortunately, a beautiful river runs throughtheir villages and provides an important watersource including for drinking water.

West Bengal


Step - 1Step - 1Step - 1Step - 1Step - 1Preparatory WorkPreparatory WorkPreparatory WorkPreparatory WorkPreparatory Work

for growing children's interestfor growing children's interestfor growing children's interestfor growing children's interestfor growing children's interest

Lesson Plans

Feedbacks

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=

=

=

BirdStep 1 — Preparatory Work — Activity (A)

"Birds in the Stories"

Find out what kind of birds appeared in our folk tales and story books. Are there

any popular characters among them ? This is one of the interesting activity

which can increase children's interests & curiosity towards birds.

Objectives

• To create childrens' interest on common birds.

• To try out integrated subject approach to increase children's eagerness to learn

about birds.

• To help children to observe common birds more carefully.

Success Indication for Proceeding to the Next Step

è Children realize that there are many kinds of birds in their own surrounding, though

those birds have not appeared in any stories & folk tales.

è Children

want to

know more

about

birds; their

names,

habitat,

food habits

etc.

[ both for rural & urban schools class 4 to 6 collecting information, categorizing

literature, reading skill (language), ranking (Maths) 2-3 periods (11/2 hours per period]


=

=Activity : Create interest & motivation

Ask children whether they have read any stories & folk tales in which birds appear (not

stories on birds & guide books on birds).

If there are some, those children are requested to tell the outline of the story & how the

bird is described there.

Information Collection

Collect more stories with the children. They can visit a school library and go through the

books or ask other teachers/parents if they know any stories in which birds appear.

There are several good stories in the “Panchatantra”. After the children have searched

for stories by themselves, the teacher can tell the children more stories if necessary

(see the following list).

It would be better to use a separate sheet for summarising each story. (One record

sheet per story)

Discuss with the children what points need to be mentioned for keeping a record of

stories.

Develop a format that the children can use every time they want to make a record of a

story. This practice is very useful for developing language and writing skills and to in

crease their vocabulary, especially the words describing characters & behaviours.

Step 1 – Activity (A)


Some titles of the books on 'Birds'

1. The Stork and The Crab (PANCHATANTRA/CBT)

2. The Crow and The Black Snake (PANCHATANTRA/CBT)

3. The Tortoise and the Gees (PANCHATANTRA/CBT)

4. Himsuka (Treasury of Indian Tales Book I/CBT) Parrot

5. The King and the Parrot (Treasury of Indian Tales Book I/CBT)

6. The Crane and the Fish (Indian Folk Tales/Ministry of Information

& Broadcasting)

7. The Tortoise who talked too much (Indian Folk Tales/Ministry of

Information & Broadcasting)

8. The Vulture, The Cat & The Birds (Hitopadesha/IBH)

9. The Crow, The Deer and Jackal (Hitopadesha/IBH)

10. The Choice of Friends (Hitopadesha/IBH) Crow

11. The Bird who Shed Golden Dropping (Hitopadesha/IBH)

12. The Goose that Laid Golden Egg (Moral Stories/ARORA)

13. The Peacock and Juno (Moral Stories/ARORA)

14. The Cat & the Birds (Moral Stories/ARORA)

15. The Jackdaw and The Pigeons(Moral Stories/ARORA)

16. Rajhans (Mollah Nasiruddiner 100 galpo)

17. Pakhir Eto Dam (Mollah Nasiruddiner 100 galpo)

18. Pancha ar Panchani (Abol Tabol)

19. Phaske Gelo !

20. Bausalikh ar Bang Buro (Jui Phuler Rumal, Kartik Ghosh)

21. Jui Phuler Rumal (Jui Phuler Rumal, Kartik Ghosh)

22. Kaththokrar Pathshala (Niriha Daitya / Saila Chakraborty)

23. Pakhir Upakatha (Naresh Chandra Jana, Sishu Sahitya Samsad)

24. "Many Years Ago" (Naresh Chandra Jana, Shishu Sahitya Samsad)

25. The Thirsty Crow (Famous Stories for Children/Dingra)

26. Stork the Saviour (1) (Famous Stories for Children/Dingra)

27. Crane who knew Everything (Famous Stories for Children/Dingra)

28. Fox and the Crane (Famous Stories for Children/Dingra)

29. Swallow and the Koel (Famous Stories for Children/Dingra)

30. 'Rajar Totapakhi' (Jadur Tuli, BRAC)

31. 'Pakhir Chana' (Dasur Gari, BRAC)

«««««

«««««

««««« See Teacher's Note


[Birds in the Stories : Illustrations from the Books]

1. "The Stork and the Crab"2. "The Crows and the

Black Snake" 3. "The Tortoise and

the Geese"

4. "Himsuka"

6. "The Crane and the Fish"

12. "The Goose that Lays

Golden Eggs"

17. "Pakhir Eto Dam"

18. "Pancha ar Panchani"

22. "Kaththokrar Pathsala"

1. "Rajhans"

20. "Bausalikh ar Bang Buro"

21. "Jui Phuler Rumal"



nnnnn Outline of the storyMr. Owl blames Mrs. Owl that her voice & song

is so terrible that he forgot now all sweetsongs too.

nnnnn Description of BirdLikes moon

nnnnn CommentMrs. Owl can also blame Mr. Owl. My grand

mother told if we hear the owl's voice, bad things

may happen, but I don't think so.

(student's name, class, date)

Birds in story

Title of the story - The Stork and the CrabSource - PANCHATANTRA Book 1 / CBT / 1965nnnnn Outline of the story

Old stork tricked the fishes and ate them all up. Thecrab realized stork's trick and finally stork was killedby crab. Other fish, frog & crab are all happy afterthat.

nnnnn Description of Bird (in story)• lives in tank• eats fish, frog, crab• character : Wicked, liar

nnnnn Comment of the RecorderI have not seen stork. I wonder if bird becomes oldhow they hunt food?

book/publisher/year

Books or

Persons

Example of Summary Sheet on 'Bird's Story'

(student's name, class, date)

Stork (Crane)

Owl

Story 1

Story 18

v

v

name of the birdv


Summarizing the Information [preparing chart]

Read & listen all stories collected by children.

Gather all information sheets of Birds' stories. Display all sheets & categorize them

according to birds & other criteria. Those collected information sheets can be categorized

according to several subjects which children think important & interesting.

It is interesting to find out which bird appears in stories most and make ranking on

'popular bird in stories' (same stories should be treated one story).

Then put summary information into a chart which shows the result at a glance. (popularity

ranking, described bird's character / attitude, habitat and food etc.) Don't forget to

mention the basic information, for example

=

1) Title : Which information are presented in this chart

2) Background of information : Who collected the information from whom, where & how ?

3) Date : When this chart was prepared

4) Author's name : Who made this chart.

(students' names, class, school, district & teacher's name)

In addition to these information, children can put birds' drawings to these and information

based on their daily observation children can put any saying or proverb related to the

particular bird on the information sheet also. (eg. hearing owl's voice is unlucky sign etc).

Example summary sheet is shown on the next page.



Popular Birds in Stories and Our Observation

We (14 children class IV - V) collected total 36 stories, folk tales,

and poems in which birds appear from books & our neighbours

In the Stories Our observation/othersources

BirdsBirdsBirdsBirdsBirds No. ofNo. ofNo. ofNo. ofNo. of DescribedDescribedDescribedDescribedDescribed Desc r -Desc r -Desc r -Desc r -Desc r - F o o dF o o dF o o dF o o dF o o d DrawingDrawingDrawingDrawingDrawing WhereWhereWhereWhereWhere WhereWhereWhereWhereWhere WhatWhatWhatWhatWhat O l dO l dO l dO l dO l d

S to r i e sS to r i e sS to r i e sS to r i e sS to r i e s CharacterCharacterCharacterCharacterCharacter ibedibedibedibedibed we seewe seewe seewe seewe see theytheytheytheythey theytheytheytheythey sayings /sayings /sayings /sayings /sayings /

of birdsof birdsof birdsof birdsof birds Liv ingLiv ingLiv ingLiv ingLiv ing l i vel i vel i vel i vel i ve eateateateateat remarksremarksremarksremarksremarks

PlacePlacePlacePlacePlace (nest)(nest)(nest)(nest)(nest)

1. Crow 8 Clever ---- ---- Sweeper

(1-8) Stupid bird

Wicked

Respons-

ible

2. Gees 7 Kind pond

(9-14) Clever farmer's

& (3) house

3. Stork/ 5 Wicked tank fish

Crane (15-19) Kind frog

Clever crab

Greedy

4. Birds 'Birds of

(general) a feather

flock

together'

5. Parrot

1 Title

2 (Background information)

...................., 2000

3 Date

Title of Collected Stories

1) ----- 20) ----

2) ---- 21) ----

3) ----- 22) ----

.. ..

.. ..Prepared by

4 Author's name

v

v

v v

example summary sheet

Ra

nki

ng

Ra

nki

ng

Ra

nki

ng

Ra

nki

ng

Ra

nki

ng


Feedback


(Ashurali) (Swanirvar) (Swanirvar) (Swanirvar)

1. Village Sundarika Bajitpur Gokulpur North Media

2. Children class II, III, V class V - X class IV - VIII class V - X

Class/number (26 students) (20 students)

3. Class / Not mentioned 2 periods 8 periods 8 periods

Period 1 period = 2 hrs. 1 period = 90 minutes

4. Date of Not mentioned 02.01.2001 – 26.08.2000 – 01.12.2000 –

Activity 04.02.2001 11.02.2001 14.2.2001

5.Expenses Not mentioned Not mentioned Rs. 34/- Rs. 30/-

Feedback Summary

In this activity children read many story books &

folk tales in which birds appeared. Children must

find out, how the characteristics of the bird are

coming out from the story.

To compare with the content of the stories, children

can start observing birds in surroundings more

watchfully.

Name of

groupGeneral

information

=

=

1 – (A) Feedback


Results

Birds in the Stories

n Students from one of the Swanirvar group (teacher : Amal Sarkar) collected 6 stories

and 3 rhymes on birds. The list is given below :

Collected stories : 'Heron and Wolf', 'Getting friends', 'Heron eats fish', 'Un

known birds', 'Tailor bird & cat'.

N o .N o .N o .N o .N o . BirdBirdBirdBirdBird Character Character Character Character Character Living placeLiving placeLiving placeLiving placeLiving place FoodFoodFoodFoodFood DrawingDrawingDrawingDrawingDrawing Obse r vedObse r vedObse r vedObse r vedObse r ved Nest ingNest ingNest ingNest ingNest ing FoodFoodFoodFoodFood othe ro the ro the ro the ro the r

placeplaceplaceplaceplace placeplaceplaceplaceplace namesnamesnamesnamesnames

1. He r on /He r on /He r on /He r on /He r on / Greedy Top of the Fish, crab Back of Top of trees Various kind fisher-

EgretEgretEgretEgretEgret bamboo canal, pond, of fish & man bird

irland of river crab

2. Spa r r owSpa r r owSpa r r owSpa r r owSpa r r ow Clever Hole of tree Paddy, Veranda & Hole of the Paddy,

trunk wheat, roof tree trunk wheat,

insects insects etc

3. P i geonP i geonP i geonP i geonP i geon Clever, House, Paddy, House roof On the Paddy,

friendly bamboo wheat, & field branches of wheat,

with pulse trees/ pulse

human bamboo

4. PPPPParrot /arrot /arrot /arrot /arrot / Clever Bird cage Grains Old trees, Hole of tree Ripe fruits

PPPPParakeetarakeetarakeetarakeetarakeet ricefield, trunk grain

orchard

5. C r o wC r o wC r o wC r o wC r o w Hunter Branches of Dead Bank of river Bamboo Dead body Sweeper

trees body where forest bird

garbage is

thrown

6. TTTTTa i l o ra i l o ra i l o ra i l o ra i l o r Clever Branch of Insects & House Branch of Grains

birdbirdbirdbirdbird trees grains garden trees

7. MacawMacawMacawMacawMacaw Intelligent Bird cage Chick pea Zoo Hole of Grains Clever

trees bird

8. BayaBayaBayaBayaBaya Clever & Palm tree, Palm tree Palm tree Paddy, Weaver

wise nest looks like wheat, bird

lamp cover small

insects

Birds in the stories and children's observation on each bird

=

( a c c o r d i n g( a c c o r d i n g( a c c o r d i n g( a c c o r d i n g( a c c o r d i n g

to obser-to obser-to obser-to obser-to obser-

v a t i o n )v a t i o n )v a t i o n )v a t i o n )v a t i o n )


n Students of the village Gokulpur under the guidance of teacher Tarun Mondol have

collected 6 stories and 2 poems on birds. This group concluded that most popular

birds in the stories are

1. Koel 2. Crow 3. Tailor bird

The collected stories are : Helon and crow, Crow, deer & fox, Cowherd boy & lame

duck, Clever duck & fox, Tailor bird and cat, Three queens and cuckoo, Old women

and parrot, Lemon girl, Cuckoo & cat, Sparrow and tiger, Crow & vessel.

☺ Extract from Student's Studies

Name of the birdame of the birdame of the birdame of the birdame of the bird ----- Warbler

(mentioned in the story)(mentioned in the story)(mentioned in the story)(mentioned in the story)(mentioned in the story)

Name of the storyName of the storyName of the storyName of the storyName of the story ----- Warbler and the Cat

Sou r ceSou r ceSou r ceSou r ceSou r ce - Bengali book of class III,

Writer - Upendra Kishore RoyChowdhury

Outline of the storyOutline of the storyOutline of the storyOutline of the storyOutline of the story - Once a Warbler has made his nest upon a brinjal plant. There was two

baby birds in the nest. A cat used to come there everyday with an

intention to eat the babies. But the mother Warbler protects her babies

away from the cat by a wise trick. Everday when the cat come, the

Warbler please him with a praising bow. But when the babies learnt to

fly then the Warbler kicked the cat and flew away.

Characteristics of the birdCharacteristics of the birdCharacteristics of the birdCharacteristics of the birdCharacteristics of the bird - The Warbler lived in brinjal plant, fed her babies and have tried to satisfy

(mentioned in the story)(mentioned in the story)(mentioned in the story)(mentioned in the story)(mentioned in the story) the cat.

RemarksRemarksRemarksRemarksRemarks - I think that the Warbler is a very clever bird.

Baby Goldar - class IV

(teacher - Sudip Kr. Mondol)

Name of the birdName of the birdName of the birdName of the birdName of the bird ----- Crow

(mentioned in the story)(mentioned in the story)(mentioned in the story)(mentioned in the story)(mentioned in the story)

Name of the storyName of the storyName of the storyName of the storyName of the story ----- The Crow and the Pitcher

Sou r ceSou r ceSou r ceSou r ceSou r ce - From my grandfather

Outline of the storyOutline of the storyOutline of the storyOutline of the storyOutline of the story - Once a crow was very thirsty. But there was not a trace of even a

little water. At last he found a pitcher, at the bottom of which there was

a little water. But the crow could not reach the water. Then he dropped

some pebbles and by raising the level could reach the water.

Characteristics of the birdCharacteristics of the birdCharacteristics of the birdCharacteristics of the birdCharacteristics of the bird - The crow was very thirsty, he felt distressed for water & apply his tact

(mentioned in the story)(mentioned in the story)(mentioned in the story)(mentioned in the story)(mentioned in the story) for drinking the bottom water.

RemarksRemarksRemarksRemarksRemarks - I think, that crow is very clever and he deserves praise for presence of

mind.

Achintya Mondol, class - X

(teacher - Sudip Kr. Mondol)

1 – (A) Feedback


n Children checked whether they have seen all birds appeared in stories !

Name of the birds which we haveName of the birds which we haveName of the birds which we haveName of the birds which we haveName of the birds which we have

seen in our areaseen in our areaseen in our areaseen in our areaseen in our area

Crow, Parrot, Vulture, Duck, Hen,

Warbler, Dove, Woodpecker, (Gurguri),

Pigeon, Yellow bird, Parrot, Wild parrot,

(Terro), Heron, Crane, (Timtime),

White long tailed bird, Common Myna,

Magpie Robin, Black Drongo, Kingfisher,

Weaver Bird, Macaw, Bulbul, Pied Myna

Seen elsewhereSeen elsewhereSeen elsewhereSeen elsewhereSeen elsewhere

Eagle, Peacock, Penguine, Hawk, Cuckoo,

Moorhen

Imaginary birdImaginary birdImaginary birdImaginary birdImaginary bird

Bangama, Bangami, Jatayu

Teacher : Sourendranath Sen, Swanirvar

Sulekha Maity - class 2

(teacher - Aloke Majhi, Ashurali)

Seen BirdsSeen BirdsSeen BirdsSeen BirdsSeen Birds Unseen BirdsUnseen BirdsUnseen BirdsUnseen BirdsUnseen Birds

1) Crow 1) Migrating birds

2) Heron 2) Cockatoo

3) Kite 3) Parakeet

4) Dove 4) Eagle

5) (Chatari) 5) Ostrich

6) Duck 6) Peacock

7) Cuckoo 7) Sparrow

8) Hen 8) Penguin

9) (Patkua) 9) (Badri)

10) Kingfisher 10) Coloured parrot

11) Magpie robin 11) Hawk

12) Black drongo 12) Macaw

13) Common myna 13) Bulbul

14) Owl 14) (Kalachora)

15) Woodpecker 15) (Munia)

16) Emu

Garuda : Half man, half eagle, Garuda is the vehicle

of Vishnu and is mentioned in several stories con-

nected with him. Garuda was said to have helped

Rama too in the Ramayana.

(from 'Gods & Godesses of India', Anjula Bedi)

Jatayu : An incarnation of Garuda.

Bihangama & Bihangami : The divine bird

Bihangama and his mate Bihangami are appeared in

several bengali folk stories like 'The Story of Prince

Sobur'. In the story their dung have power for curing

illness and the king of bird Bihangama carries the

young lady on his back to help her.

('Folk Tales of Bengal', Rev. Lal Behari Dey, p76-85)

(by ENRE)

Imaginary birds

Garuda


Poem

Oh peacock dear,

My little one is very angry

Please come here.

When you lift up your plumes

When you lift it up high

It seems like a rainbow

Painted in the sky.

Sk. Riazul Islam, class V

I did not see peacock. I have seen it only in the picture

books. Peacock is India's national bird. It looks very pretty

and beautiful. It dances with the sound of cloud. It eats

insects & worms, small snakes etc. It helps us by eating

insects & worms. Beautiful punkhas and other things can

be prepared from its tail.

Oh crow come here

Where were you all morning

Roaming here & there ?

The bowl of puffed rice

Of my little honey, dear,

How shall I give

If you don't come near.

I have seen

crow

Md. Sarika Khatun, class V

Oh cuckatoo come here

Do not have fear

The pussy will not say a thing

It won't come near

Sitting on your perch,

You look lovely, you do!

Is it why my little one

Often comes to you ?

n Poems Composed and Collected by Children

Sahid Ali Khan, class V

1 – (A) Feedback


☺ CrowCrowCrowCrowCrow - Crows are supposed to inform about the death, which mean they convey bad

news. Crows sit comfortably on the dead bodies of the various animals, which

floats along the river and have it. Crows mainly eat rice, dead-decaying animal

bodies and insects, dal, fruits of the banyan tree, ripen papaya & other fruits. Their

nests are made of 'Kano' leaves. It's meat is not eatable. Cannot speak and so are

not domesticated. It's also known as the sweeper bird. It cries caw caw.

Magpie Robin Magpie Robin Magpie Robin Magpie Robin Magpie Robin - Usually these feed on earthworm, termites etc.

Egret -Egret -Egret -Egret -Egret - These are found mainly around ditches. Fond of fishes. During the afternoon and

evening they sit on the lower branches of the trees surrounding marshy areas and

keep on looking into the water. As soon as any fish swims in the upper layer of the

water, they catch them to have it. Before it grows dark they back to their nests.

Can't speak and are not domesticated. They make their nests in bushes and on

bamboo trees with grasses.

Owl -Owl -Owl -Owl -Owl - In an assembly of animals and birds, the king of the jungle instructed that the worst

or ugly looking birds are to be thrown out of the forests. Being very clever the owl

volunteered, "My Lord, I want to take the resposibility". The king understood the

shrewdness and ordered, "it is allright, no one will have to leave the forest. All of

them will live together in this forest." An owl hoots.

n Several childrens groups listed up & studied interesting nicknames for

the birds

☺ TTTTTailor Birdai lor Birdai lor Birdai lor Birdai lor Bird ----- TTTTTuntuniuntuniuntuniuntuniuntuni is known as tailor bird. By his sharp beak a TTTTTuntuniuntuniuntuniuntuniuntuni have used tree

fibres, silk worm and weles as threads, and prepare fine nests.

F ishermanFishermanFishermanFishermanFisherman - KingfisherKingfisherKingfisherKingfisherKingfisher is known as Fisherman Bird. They are very colourful. We observed

BirdBirdBirdBirdBird they sat on bent branches of the trees, upon the sides of ponds and river and was

waiting for fish. When a fish appeared over the water, they quickly caught the fish

and came again at the same position.

WWWWWeaver Birdeaver Birdeaver Birdeaver Birdeaver Bird - BabuiBabuiBabuiBabuiBabui is known as Weaver Bird. By bits of dry grass and leaves they can make

beautiful nests. It looks like a water vessel in reverse position.Pranati Saw – class V

(teacher - Aloke Majhi)

☺ The Birds known asThe Birds known asThe Birds known asThe Birds known asThe Birds known as

1. Baya à weaver bird, 2. Tuntuni à tailor bird, 3. Crow and vulture à

scarenger bird, 4. Kingfisher à fisherman bird, 5. Black Drongo à watchman

6. Woodpecker à woodman, 7. Cuckoo à lazy bird, 8. Pigeon à messenger of peace,

9. Cuckoo à messenger of spring, 10. Peacock à national bird,

11. Wild duck, waterhen, snipe are known as migrating birds,

12. Magpie Robin is known as singer bird, 13. Eagle, Kite etc are known as hunter bird. (teacher - Sourendranath Sen, Swanirvar)

Birds' Nickname

(illustrations put by ENRE)


Teacher's Comment

Children enjoyed this activity very much. (Sudip Kr. Mondol)

Children got interest on birds through this activity. They learn about birds in Nature

Science and Life Science classes. So there are scopes to use these lesson plans

effectively in school curriculum also. (Sourendra Nath Sen)

Sharing Ideas

To know about Birds' nicknames is interesting starting point to learn about birds

and their habit. Encourage children to find out the fact behind the nickname given to

a certain bird. For example, when children search the reason why 'koel is called

lazy bird', they can learn about species of parasitic birds and foster birds. (ENRE)

=

1 – (A) Feedback

=

Extract from "Nature Scope India : Birds, Birds, Birds" (CEE, 1999, pg 29 & 34)

Fact Sheet

.... why 'Tailor Bird'

Makes nest by folding over leaves in

the form of funnel by stitching along the

edges.

Uses soft fibres, cotton wool and other

plant matter, line the nest.

Nesting season is April to September.

Lays 3-4 eggs, reddish/bluish white

spotted with brownish red.

Female alone incu-

bates and both

parents share the

domestic duties.

Fact Sheet

.... why 'Koel is called Lazy Bird'

When a bird species puts the

responsibilites of nestbuilding, incubation

and rearing of its chicks on to another

species it is known as a parasitic bird.

The species that performs the above

duties, is known as a foster bird or a

foster parent. The koel is a classic

example of a parasitic bird, while the

House Crow is an example of a foster

parent. The koel is not the only parasitic

bird. The cuckoo family has this peculiar-

ity all over the world.

Varied species of birds are selected as

foster parents. It is

rather strange that

majority of the

foster birds are

smaller in size

than the parasitic

birds.


BirdStep 1 — Preparatory Work — Activity (B)

'My Experience with Birds'

Children must have a lot of encounter with birds in their daily life ... on the way to

school, through window, and at the top of the big tree beside the nearby pond

etc. Some children may keep birds as their pet. Children can write down those

experiences and become more familier with birds.

Objectives

• To create children's interest on common birds.

• To know what children already know about birds.

• To grow children's skills of observation & keeping record.

Success Indicators

èChildren want to know

more about birds — their

name, habitat & what

they eat.

èChildren realize that they

can categorize birds

according to observed

places, seasons &

food habit etc.

=

=

=

[ both for rural & urban schools class 4 to 6 observing, keeping records,

categorizing writing skill (language), drawing (art) 2 - 3 periods (11/2 hours per peiod]


=

=

Experi-ence - 4

Activity

Create Interest & Motivation

Ask children what kind of experience do they have with birds. Teacher explains even

small & tiny experiences are welcome and tell own experience as an example. Then

ask some children to share their experience in group/class. Other children can ask

questions to him/her too.

Information Collection

Collect more stories of experiences with birds. Ask children to write down own experi-

ences. Better use a format for writing. It helps, because children will not miss all

necessary points and it makes easier to arrange those information later. Use one

sheet for one experience.

Tell children that writing clearly is very important. They need to mention several points

like when it happened, where it happened, what happened and they can add how they

felt? This practice provides good opportunity for developing language skills especially

for expressing & logical writing.

Children can write any small experience which they remebered. If children are eager to

do more, ask them to keep record of their new experiences for one week. Try to put

encouraged drawing also. It helps to make their writing clearer & attractive.

Some example sheets are shown here (experience 2-4 are in the next page) :

Step 1 – Activity (B)

which

month

Experi-ence - 3

Dove

bird's name

Experi-ence - 2

My experience with

Title : I saw how a kingfisher eats a fish

When : Middle of February 2000

Where : In my garden

What happened : My house is located beside the big

pond. One day I saw a kingfisher sat on the branch

keeping a fish in her beak. She shook her head very hard

& beat the fish's head on the branch. She repeated till the

fish's head was taken off. Then she changed the position

of fish vertically & swallowed it quickly.

How I felt : I was surprised, how clever kingfisher is, and I

thought she doesn't like fish's head just like me.

Recorder

(Name, class, date)Experience 1

KingfisherRobin


One evening a Magpie robin eneterd the room by mistake & hit the fan & died.

(March, 00)

One couple of Dove made their nest in the bush of paper flower under the window of

my house. I saw one egg in the nest. But a few days later the egg had disappeared

& the doves were gone too. I wondered whether some other bird ate up their egg.

(middle of April, 2000)

Beside my house one house is under the construction, water was kept on the roof for

settlement. Water depth was about 7-10cm. Many kind of birds used to come there

for taking bath. I could

observe crow, magpie robin,

dove, kingfisher, mynah and

bulbul's baby too.

(May-June'00)

Sheet

2/4

Sheet

3/4

Sheet

4/4


Summarizing the Information [preparing chart]

Read & listen to all experiences gathered. Put all sheets on the wall according to

the birds. How many kinds of birds gathered in childrens' record? Make ranking of bird

according to the number of occurance. It shows us which one is the most common bird

for children.

Children are requested to summarize information for each bird by group work. Later put

those summaries in one sheet.

Children can put drawings / photos for identification of bird. It can be interesting to even

put feathers if they could find them.

=

Our Experiences with Birds

We, 15 children of class V-VI, collected our experiences with birds.

We collected total 64 experiences about 18 kinds of birds.

Bird Drawing/feather Experience Where When Food Nest Uses

1. Magpie 34

Robin

2. Bulbul 28

3. Dove ----

Example Summary Sheet

Prepared by (students names / class / school / teacher's name / village / district)



Feedback


Swanirvar Swanirvar

1. Village Bajitpur Gokulpur

2. Children class IV - X class IV - VIII

Class/number (22 students)

3. Class / 4 periods 8 periods

Period 1 period = 11/2 hrs 1 period = 2 hrs

4. Date of Started from 10.11.2000 Not mentioned

Activity

5.Expenses No expenses Not mentioned

Feedback Summary

In this activity children are encouraged to keep

this observation records or their experience

records related with birds. These records will be

valuable data for further study of birds.

Through this activity they can identify common

birds in their locality and grow their attitude to

observe birds more carefully and scientifically.

Name of

groupGeneral

information

=

=


Results

1) Childrens' Experiences with the Birds

Common MynaCommon MynaCommon MynaCommon MynaCommon Myna

My experiences on Birds

Heading : I have seen how a crow stored his

excess collected food for later days.

When : November, 2000

Where : On the bank of the river

What happened : Somebody left a dead cow on the

riverside. To eat flesh of the dead

cow many crows, vultures and dogs

had come there. There I saw a

crow repeatedly stored flesh in

a hole over the roof of our house.

What I felt : I have realised that crows have

a fore-sight of storing food for the

future.

C r o wC r o wC r o wC r o wC r o w

Teacher : Sudip Kr. Mondol

=

Achintya Mondol , Class - X

22.11.2003


Heading : How the birds have made agroup and driven away their enemy.

When : 14.01.2001

Where : In the mango grove beside my houseWhat happened : There was a nest of a Common Myna in a mango

tree and two baby birds in it. One day I saw a snakewent upto nest. All adult birds except the motherbird were out that time for hunting food. Themother bird raised an uproar, then other birds alsocame to the spot. They altogether started peckingthe snake. As a result the snake at ran away.

What I felt : I felt from this incident that, birds have an instinct tohelp each other to overcome a danger.

Teacher : Sudip Kr. MondolBasudev Mondol , Class - VIIIBajitpur

1 – (B) Feedback


H e r o nH e r o nH e r o nH e r o nH e r o nMy experiences on Birds

Heading : Heron and Fish

When : March 2001

Where : Riverside

What happened : A heron has caught a fish and killed the fishby thrashing clinging it on the ground, thenhe ate up the fish.

What I felt : I have realised from this that, a heron eatsfish to satisfy his hunger.

Teacher : Sourendranath Sen

Laltu Biswas, Class - VIGorakhpur


Experience IIBappa Sardar, class V

Gokulpur


Heading : Kingfisher and Fish

When : On the way to school

Where : Beside a pond

What happened : One day when I was going to school

I saw a kingfisher sat on the tree beside a pond. Later the

kingfisher flew into the pond and caught a fish

and ate it up. Soon later another kingfisher flew in and sat

beside the other. Now two kingfishers were trying to

catch a fish. But both of them missed the chance. The

birds started to fight and wing of one kingfisher was

damaged. Then I brought the injured one & gave him a

treatment. Later released it again.

What I felt : When two kingfishers started

fighting, if I had chased them away, this accident could not

have happened. But that time I was busy... From this

experience I realized those birds had jealousy & envy for

each other.

King f i sherK ing f i sherK ing f i sherK ing f i sherK ing f i sher


Md. Farida Khatun, class V

Parkeet

Shek Rakesh, class V

Tailor birdBlack DrongoBlack DrongoBlack DrongoBlack DrongoBlack Drongo


Maulbox Garui, class VII

Gokulpur Project

Children of Ashurali group collected

several feathers during their fieldtrip

for collecting information. They made

a nice 'Feather booklet' alongwith

birds name.

Md. Sarika Khatun, class V

Chil

Sheet : My experiences on BirdsSheet : My experiences on BirdsSheet : My experiences on BirdsSheet : My experiences on BirdsSheet : My experiences on Birds

My experience

Heading : Black Drongo was catching a

caterpillar

When : June-July

Where : In a Jeol tree of the market

What happened : One Black Drongo was on the

branch of the tree. He was there for a long time, then

suddenly he picked up a caterpillar from under the

leaves. After eating he was still on the same spot.

What I felt : After seeing this I was surprised that

the bird eats up a caterpillar so easily & seems to find

them so tasty, though we feel so much itching & pain if

catterpillar touches our body and many trees get

damaged by catterpillar. I really wonder why the birds

don't get any pain itching when catterpillar is in their

mouth.

1 – (B) Feedback


S l .No .S l .No .S l .No .S l .No .S l .No . Name ofName ofName ofName ofName of BodyBodyBodyBodyBody F o o dF o o dF o o dF o o dF o o d Cal lCal lCal lCal lCal l RelationRelationRelationRelationRelation Living PlaceLiving PlaceLiving PlaceLiving PlaceLiving Place

the birdthe birdthe birdthe birdthe bird co l ou rco l ou rco l ou rco l ou rco l ou r HabitHabitHabitHabitHabit with gods/goddesseswith gods/goddesseswith gods/goddesseswith gods/goddesseswith gods/goddesses

01. DuckDuckDuckDuckDuck White & black Snail, Panck Godess Saraswati Tamed in

rice-dust panck (A bengali goddess home

of wisdom and fine arts)

02. C r o wC r o wC r o wC r o wC r o w Black Mango, Kaw- Not existed On palm tree

riped papaya, kaw

& garbage

03. HenHenHenHenHen Black & white Rice, Kawk- Not existed Tamed in

puffed rice, kawk home

bread etc

04. Spa r r owSpa r r owSpa r r owSpa r r owSpa r r ow Grey and ash Rice & fruits Chi-chi Not existed In deserved

coloured building &

upon trees

05. O w lO w lO w lO w lO w l Having a Fruits Chon-chon Goddess Laxmi In the forest

contrast of (A bengali goddess of especially upon

white & ash prosperity) Banyan tree

colour

06. Koe lKoe lKoe lKoe lKoe l Having a Ripe fruits Kuhu- Not existed On the branch

contrast of kuhu of trees

black & white

07. PPPPParakeetarakeetarakeetarakeetarakeet Green Gram, rice, Ti-ti, Not existed In the holes

chilli, banyan, kitch-kitch of coconut

fruits trees

08. C o m m o nC o m m o nC o m m o nC o m m o nC o m m o n Having a Earth-worm, Kichir- Not existed Upon jackfruit

MynahMynahMynahMynahMynah contrast of banyan, michir trees

black upon fruits

brown

09. Kingf i sherKingf i sherKingf i sherKingf i sherKingf i sher Green Fish Keo-keo Not existed Upon

Mango trees

10. Koe lKoe lKoe lKoe lKoe l Ash coloured Grass seeds Kuhu- Not existed On branches

kuhu of trees

11. EgretEgretEgretEgretEgret White Fish Kawk- Not existed In bamboo

kawk trees

2) Summary chart on Birds which children already know / have

experience with.

22 students (teacher: Sudip Kumar Mondol, Swanirvar)n Birds children already know


S l .No .S l .No .S l .No .S l .No .S l .No . Name ofName ofName ofName ofName of Comp l e x i o nComp l e x i o nComp l e x i o nComp l e x i o nComp l e x i o n F o o dF o o dF o o dF o o dF o o d Chirp ingChirp ingChirp ingChirp ingChirp ing RelationRelationRelationRelationRelation Living PlaceLiving PlaceLiving PlaceLiving PlaceLiving Place

the birdthe birdthe birdthe birdthe bird HabitHabitHabitHabitHabit featurefeaturefeaturefeaturefeature with gods/goddesseswith gods/goddesseswith gods/goddesseswith gods/goddesseswith gods/goddesses

12. P i geonP i geonP i geonP i geonP i geon White -ash Food Backam Not existed In home

grains backam

13. D o v eD o v eD o v eD o v eD o v e Green Banyan fruits Pooch- Not existed On silk

pooch cotton plant

14. (T imt ime)(T imt ime)(T imt ime)(T imt ime)(T imt ime) Having a Rice & Timime Not exitsted In bush

contrast of worms

yellow &

black

15. MagpieMagpieMagpieMagpieMagpie Having a Worms Tui-tui Not existed In the hole

rob inrob inrob inrob inrob in contrast of & of trees

black & insects

white

n Types of beaks and feet

Student Pralay Jana (Ashurali, teacher: Alok Majhi) has prepared a chart on birds' beaks

and feet.

TTTTTypes of beaksypes of beaksypes of beaksypes of beaksypes of beaks Food HabitFood HabitFood HabitFood HabitFood Habit TTTTTypes of feetypes of feetypes of feetypes of feetypes of feet TTTTTypes of instepsypes of instepsypes of instepsypes of instepsypes of insteps

CrowCrowCrowCrowCrow eats meat DucksDucksDucksDucksDucks use their feet for

swimming

PigeonPigeonPigeonPigeonPigeon eats rice Crows Crows Crows Crows Crows use their feet for

and grain easy sitting

HeronHeronHeronHeronHeron eats fish PPPPParrotsarrotsarrotsarrotsarrots use their feet for

easy sitting

PPPPPeacockeacockeacockeacockeacock eats fruits HeronHeronHeronHeronHeron use their feet

for catching fish

DuckDuckDuckDuckDuck eats rice SparrowsSparrowsSparrowsSparrowsSparrows use their feets

& rice dust to collect components

to build their nest

1 – (B) Feedback


n Relation between man and birds

Domestic birdsDomestic birdsDomestic birdsDomestic birdsDomestic birds Birds as pet /Birds as pet /Birds as pet /Birds as pet /Birds as pet / Wild birdWild birdWild birdWild birdWild bird Non-pet birdsNon-pet birdsNon-pet birdsNon-pet birdsNon-pet birds

for meatfor meatfor meatfor meatfor meat ornamentalornamentalornamentalornamentalornamental for meatfor meatfor meatfor meatfor meat

Hen, Cock, Duck, Cockatoo, Parrot, Dove, Heron, Crow, Woodpecker, Tailor bird,

Pigeon Myna, Peacock Kingfisher, Wild duck, Owl, Kite, Eagle, Land hawk,

(Bhar salik) Snipe, Baya (Weaver Bulbul, Koel, Magpie robin,

bird), Spotted crane, Black Drongo, (Gue salik), Yellow

Crow phesant bird, Hawk, (Machal), (Sakun),

(Kalamocha), (Tero),

n Birds and Nest

Inside the dwelling placesInside the dwelling placesInside the dwelling placesInside the dwelling placesInside the dwelling places On trees / branchesOn trees / branchesOn trees / branchesOn trees / branchesOn trees / branches In tree - holesIn tree - holesIn tree - holesIn tree - holesIn tree - holes

Sparrow, tailor bird, pigeon Crane, Dove, Crow, Black drongo Woodpecker, parrot, kingfisher

Tailor bird, Bulbul, Yellow bird (they also make their nest on earth)

(Kuko) Owl, (Bhar salik), Tailor bird, Pied

myna

From Teacher's Report

n 1) Students collected information of some birds from aged people in their

villages.

2) Regarding birds, only data is given in our school text book.

3) Students enjoyed the activity very much, but usually they can not get

time for activity because of taking private tuitions in leisure time.

4) We can observe different birds in different seasons. Therefore the students

are eager to continue this activity throughout the year.

5) It would be much easier if we could have some guide book on birds.

(teacher : Sudip Kumar Mondol, Swanirvar)

n Our students were quite happy to do these activities. Class 4-6 students learn

about birds' behaviour, nature & identification feature in the Nature & Science or

Biology curriculum in second term.

Therefore alongwith class work I think students can also get activity based

learning opportunity through this Basbhumi lesson plans.

(teacher : Sourendranath Sen, Swanirvar)

=


Step - 2Step - 2Step - 2Step - 2Step - 2

Review & Make SureReview & Make SureReview & Make SureReview & Make SureReview & Make Sure

for platform towards the next stepfor platform towards the next stepfor platform towards the next stepfor platform towards the next stepfor platform towards the next step

Lesson Plans

Feedbacks

==


Review & Make Sure

Review & Discussion

o After conducting the preparatory work (with A or B), you have now an idea of the children's

experiences and what they already know about Birds.

In this Review session, let's have a look at the summary charts prepared by the children

and have discussion in the class what they have understood from preparatory work.

List up all initial conclusions and also further questions that what children are interested

to know more & investigate.

Some indications are mentioned here.

=

Initial Conclusion (We understand from our work ...)

ð Most of the birds appeared in stories are very common in our daily life too. (A)

ð There are many kind of birds we see in our surroundings but they do not

appear in any of the stories. (A)

ð Different kind of birds exist in different kind of eco-systems. (A & B)

(in pond, ricefield, garden, forest)

ð Birds make different types of nests in different places & prefer a particular tree (A & B)

ð Some kind of bird eats insect, some eats fish & some other bird eats honey (A & B)

ð In April & May we can see many small birds (A & B)

ð In winter we can see many Heron or Egret around the pond (B)

ð Most of the birds like 'bathing' (B)

Further Question (we want to know more about ....)

ð Birds & their food

(insect eater, fruit eater, grain eater, fish eater .......)

ð Which birds damage crops & what farmers do for protection

ð Birds & their habitat

(birds in rice field, birds around ponds/grasslands/garden)

ð How we can invite many birds in our school yard & home garden

ð Relation of Birds & season (migrant bird, life cycle)

ð How to keep duck / hen at house

ð Identify bird's singing & calls

ð

Some ideas for next stage

(investigative work)

Introduce Story

"Bau salikh & Bangburo" (see Teacher's note)

child - centred activities (towards step 3 activity)


Source Books on 'Birds'

• The following books are recommended for identification of birds' name and as good

references for bird drawings.

1. 'Paschim Banglar Pakhi' (Pranabesh Sanyal, Biswajit Roy Chowdhury / Ananda

Publishers Pvt. Ltd / 1994)

2. The Book of INDIAN BIRDS (Salim Ali, Bombay Natural History Society, 1996)

3. Pakhir Upakatha (Naresh Chandra jana / Sishu Sahitya Samsad)

4. Our Feathered Friends (U.C. Chopra / CBT / 1984)

Teacher's Note

• "Nature Scope INDIA; BIRDS, BIRDS, BIRDS" (CEE, 1999) is

one of the good information source on birds. It provides useful

background information and activities with good illustrations.

• To think about Birds & ecology there is a good story book. "Bausalikh ar Bangburo"

("Jui Phuler Rumal" / Kartik Ghosh / Sishu Sahitya Samsad / 1996)

Teacher can introduce this story in Review session. From this

story, children can get the idea & further question how one bird is

connected with other living things through food chain and how

environment & human behaviour affect the bird's life. This story

gives good hint for the next step 'Investigative Work' on birds.

(Please refer Resources Section for more books and useful

websites, pp 73-76)

1

2

3

4

Review & Make Sure


Put it Together and Gap Filling Work

o Before conducting investigation / project work, teachers are recommended to make

sure whether children can observe / describe birds with scientific manner.

You can introduce reference books or supportive learning aid like Data Cards (see

Teacher's Note p.49) for children to fill up missing observation points.

Through this activity children can aware of each Bird's character and why different

bird has different shape of beak & feet etc.

[example of children's work using Data Cards produced by ENRE, Swanirvar /

Bajitpur Group]

=

What it eats ?

insects, worms & termites.

Where it lives / we can see it ?

It builds its nests in the large trees of

home garden.

When & where does it lay eggs ?

in spring and summer seasons.

Bird's call

Katch ... katch and caa ... caIndian Treepie

Eyes' colourblack

Beak's type & coloursmall beak slightlycurved in shape

How it helps

Colour of neckreddish brick coloured

Feather's colourgrey-white and someare often black

Tail's type10-12 inches in length

narrow type withShape & colour of egg

pointed end, light green

How it disturbsIt hamperes vegetableyield by eating snake gourd

Bird's size

What it eats ?

Red chillies, gram & sunflower


In the holes of trees like coconut,

palm and areca.


It lays its eggs in summer seasons.

Bird's call

Vocally it can make whistle.If it takes

training it can speak like a man.

Parakeet

slate greycoloured,back footslightly large

Feet's type & colour

it helps farmers by eatinginsects of their corn fields

Eyes' colourreddish yellow

Beak's type & colourreddish, hard, pointed

How it helps

Colour of neckreddish spots in throat,

Feather's colourg r een

Tail's typetoo long in length

round shaped, blueShape & colour of egg

How it disturbsit trampled sunflowers,

Bird's size

claws are sharpedged and ash


a pet to enjoy

co lou red

green coloured neck

co lou red

caused several los byeating fruits and chillies

What it eats ?

It eats snail, rice-dust and cooked rice


Domestic pets, commonly exist in

water.


Round the year it lays eggs, it lays at

night.

Bird's call

Pakk...pakk

Duck

Eyes' colourblack small eyes,

Beak's type & colourflat

How it helps

Colour of neckNecks have variety of

Feather's colourhave colours like white,

Tail's typenot so long & wide

white coloured, ovalShape & colour of egg

How it disturbsit makes a little dirty

Bird's size

claws are sharpedged and ash


a pet to enjoy

co lou red

round in shapecolours like ash, white,blackish etc.

reddish, black etc

shape

our living places


What it eats ?Insects & worms, grasshopper and anteggs.

Where it lives / we can see it ?On the top of mango trees & often wecan notice, that it is climbed down fromMargosa trees by trembling.

When & where dies it lay eggs ?It lays eggs in the mid of two branchesof a tree, in summer and in rainyseason.

Bird's call

Wie-ee-e-phatik jal

Iora

black

pointed & the upper

Yellow & two white lines

a harmony of yellow &

not so long & wide

white striped grey

Bird's size

greenish brick

it helps farmers by eating

part is black

coloured & blue

insects of their vegetablegarden

streched its way from beakto tail by both side.

g r een

coloured, oval in shape

What it eats ?Mouse, grasshopper, caterpillar, insects& worms.

Where it lives / we can see it ?On bushy trees, nests are made out ofbits of straws. Wecan see it in ourgarden wondering through here &there.

When & where dies it lay eggs ?It lays its eggs in their nest, lays 3-4eggs at a time in summer season.

Bird's call

Ku-u-ku-ku in a loud pitch

Crow

pheasant

bright red

ash coloured, very

blackish red

bright brown

too long in length,

Bird's size

slightly long with

it has no utility

coarse & thick likec r o w s

pointed clawsblack coloured

Review & Make Sure

Make sure that children know the parts of the bird's body which they need to observe

carefully.

partially have asimilarity withpigeon tail

Eyes' colour

Beak's type & colour

How it helps

Colour of neck

Feather's colour

Tail's type

Shape & colour of egg


Eyes' colour

Beak's type & colour

How it helps

Colour of neck

Feather's colour

Tail's type

Shape & colour of egg


Crown

Nape

Back

Rump

Tail

Beak

Chin

Breast

Belly

Wings

Feet


o After filling up the necessary data, children are asked to group the birds

according to the shapes of beaks or feet. Each shape is related with food habit &

habitat of the bird.

Types of Beaks

Insect eater

(swift)

Types of Feet

Insect eater

(woodpecker)

Insect/fruit eater

(myna)

Insect / nectar eater

(sunbird)

Seed eater

(sparrow )

Seed/fruit eater

(parakeet)

Meat/fish

(raptor)

Swimming

(duck)

Climbing

(parakeet)

Perching

(crow)

Climbing on tree trunk

(woodpecker)

Catching prey

(kite)

Source : "Lifescape : A Prospectus" (Indian Academy of Science, p.p. 83-84)

Collect information and learn about birds' nest and seasons of laying eggs. Children

must realize that there are various types / shapes of nest made of different nesting

materials. These studies will help children's further activities for birds conservation.

Type (Example birds)

• Ground nests (Jungle fowls)

• Nest on trees / buildings (a large number of birds)

• Tree hole nest (owls, woodpeckers, resident ducks)

• Tunnel nests (Kingfishers, hoopoes, bee eaters)

• Mud nests (Swallows)

Shapes (Example birds)

• Cup-shaped nests with using cobweb (iora, orioles, reed warblers)

• Domed or ball-shaped nests made of twigs, (Munias and some Babblers)

grass, rootlets

• Pendent nests which are suspended from branch or twig

• Woven oblong purse which are attached to (Baya weaver bird)

stems of tall grass or low bushes

• Stiched nests (Tailor birds,Wren-warblers)


— Supportive Materials for learning Birds —

As you see examples on page 40-41, supportive materials for birds are prepared by ENRE

to activate the observation skill of the children about birds as natural resources in their

surroundings.

This material contains Bird's 'worksheet' and 'data-cards'. Line drawing of 12 birds which

are commonly observed and taking important role in local eco-system in West Bengal are

introduced in the worksheet. Children will fill-up its content according to their observations

and concepts. Same way, children can collect data for other birds also. Through this

materials children can learn how to describe the each bird's character.

Teacher's Note

[One set contains 2 worksheets and

15 blank data cards, with instruction

note. Sets of Insects and Fish also

available.]

Birds on the Chart

• Red Whiskered Bulbul

• Common Myna

• Black Drongo

• Little Egret

• House Crow

• Indian Ring Dove

• Blue Rock Pigeon

• Baya Weaver Bird

• Spotted Owlet

• Blackcaped Kingfisher

• Common Pariah Kite

• Koel

Review & Make Sure


Data cards filled up by children can be categorized into various ways according to the

learning purposes. They can be useful information source for local birds. Children can

also prepare the resource maps of the local birds based on the collected data.

One of ENRE network member Sagardwip Childrens' Group presented their

'Resource Map' around the school. They collected data of Birds, Fish, In-

sects using these data cards.

(ENRE ECO-Work Exhibition, Kolkata, January 2003)


Step - 3Step - 3Step - 3Step - 3Step - 3Investigation / Project WorkInvestigation / Project WorkInvestigation / Project WorkInvestigation / Project WorkInvestigation / Project Work

for creating child oriented activityfor creating child oriented activityfor creating child oriented activityfor creating child oriented activityfor creating child oriented activity

Lesson Plans

Feedbacks

==


BirdStep 3 — Preparatory Work — Activity (A)

'What is their Relation ? — Agriculture, Birds and Scarecrows'

Children make field trip for observing birds in Rice field/Vegetable field and

collect information from farmers. They will find out which birds damage crops &

which birds are good for crops. Let's make own scarecrow for help to protect

crops from birds' attack.

Objectives

• To learn about the role & function

of birds in agricultural field.

• To apply the knowledge which

children have learnt along with

traditional skill to protect crops

from the damage by birds.

=

=

=

[ mainly for rural schools class 6 to 8 field trip, interview, data analysis, art work,

writing report class period required = 4-5 periods (1.5 hours/period) ]

Agriculture, Birds &

Scarecrow

Science,

Environment Study

Language Social Study

ArtCreate scarecrow,

birds' drawing

Food chain and

food web

Bird type according

to foodHow to interview farmers'

knowledge on crop protec-

tion, effect of pesticide

use, organic farming

Writing report

Pesticide & human health

Organic agricultural Productivity

Health

Subjects you can Integrate in this Activity


Activity Process

ê

ê

ê

(Enter the Actual Work)

Teacher conducts the review of the preparatory work (see 'Put it

together' step 2). Make sure that children can group the birds

according to their food habit & habitat.

Review

Discussion Let us have a discussion with children, which birds might damage

rice crops/vegetables among the birds listed up.

Ask how did they find it?

List Up Solutions Children give their ideas

Making Decisions

Children and teacher make a plan together. Decide what information

you need to collect from where and from whom. Children are divided

into groups and each group is requested to develop enquiry points.

Planning

=

Children and teacher make decision together that which idea /

activity to be tried out for investigating the question. Teacher should

motivate children to take initiative for trying out the chosen activity.

ê

Collecting

Information -

Field Visit

êChildren visit agricultural field (rice field / vegetable field / orchard) &

observe the bird's in each field. Children also ask farmers in order

to collect necessary information according to their enquiry sheets.

For example :

• Which birds damage crops & why ?

• Which birds are helpful for crops ?

• What do you do for protecting crops from birds ?

• Does the protection work well ?

• Compared before what kind of birds are increasing / decreasing ?

• Are you using pesticides ?

Summarizing

Information

Children are encour-

aged to process

collected information

into chart/poster.

ê

Good birds forrice field

Birds damagerice field

how we can protect

how we can increase them



Take Action

êa) 'Making a Scarecrow' can be an interesting work. Children can

set up two types of scarecrow and compare the result. One is

a traditional type which farmers use usually and the other is

designed by children themselves.

Let's observe

the scarecrow's work'.

b) Children can try out several ideas for attracting the beneficial

birds to the rice field /

vegetable field. Keep

records to see whether

these ideas work well or

not. (eg. putting high

sticks where birds can

sit/perch stand). Also

make posters to grow

awareness for protecting

beneficial birds.

Evaluation

êEach group are requested to make report how their practice worked

out. Teachers guide children to summarize what they learn about the

relation between birds - insects - crops - pesticide.

Teacher summarize the important points to cover the overall goal of

whole series of activity. It is also important to set up ocassion that

children can share their survey results with farmers & community

members.

Protect birdssuch as egret, cuckoo, wood pecker, stork,

Warbler & babbler which feed on insects.

Owls, bats and peacocks help to control

rat and mice populations.


Feedback


(Swanirvar) (Swanirvar)

1. Village Bajitpur Gokulpur

2. Children class IV - X class IV - VIII

Class/number (22 students)

3. Class / 4 periods 8 periods

Period 1 period = 11/2 hrs 1 period = 2 hrs

4. Date of Started from 10.11.2000 Not mentioned

Activity

5.Expenses No expenses Not mentioned

Feedback Summary

This field survey activity involves various kinds of

learning process.

Children take more initiative to collect information

from farmers and community members. Refering

traditional knowledge and skill, children can put own

ideas for field trial. It is important for the teachers to

encourage children to share their survey results with

farmers and community members.

Name of

groupGeneral

information

=

=

3 – (A) Feedback


Results

The information that children collected from local farmers and trials.

(Swanirvar group)

• Opinion on scarecrow from 5 farmers.

è Scarecrow is used to protect crops from birds

(2 farmers)

è I don't know why scarecrow is used (1 farmer)

è Scarecrow is used to protect good crops from evil eye

/ people's envy. (2 farmers)

• Whether 'scarecrow' is effective or not ...

- To observe scarecrow children went to the field and

found out that birds were not scared of 'scarecrow' at

all.

Even they saw a bird sat on the head of scarecrow !

- Children prepared scarecrow by themselves using

straw & coloured earthen pot and put it some old

clothes.

(* there is no mention about the result, whether their

scarecrow worked well or not, ENRE)

• List of domestic birds in village

1. Broiler chicken, 2. Country duck and hen, 3. Pigeon, 4. Parrot, 5. Mayna,

7. Kokodal.

Survey result indicates that about 15% family keep domestic birds in village.

=

'Scare crow' made of

earthen pot ( ) stands in

rice field around

harvesting season.

(Bihar, ENRE)

In villages, we can often

see earthen pots or metal

tins are hanging from the

roof. In this way villages

keep pigeon for meat.

(Birbhum district, ENRE)

è

è

Satoko

Satoko

Satoko Satoko


=

Name of Bird Crop Damaged What farmers do for protection

1. Bulbuli Brinjal • Making noise (drumming tins, fire

crackers)

• Using herbal poison from ivy gourd to kill

birds

• Placing scarecrow looks like human being

2. Crow Riped papaya & Mango • Harvesting fruits earlier than birds.

3. (Bats) Guava, Mango, Lichi • Making noise by cracking fireworks

• Covering fruit trees with net

4. House sparrow Unriped snake gourd • Nothing can be done except driving away

by clapping hands

5. Parakeet Riped chilli, paddy spikers • Nothing can be done

6. Pigeon Wheat •

7. Common Myna Wheat & paddy • Driving away by clapping

9. Little Egret Paddy of 'Boro' crop season • Driving away by clapping & just chasing away

10. Sparrow Paddy & rice • Chasing away

11. Hen Paddy & destroy • Chasing away or keep hen in cage

vegetable garden

Opinion from Teachers

• There is a chapter on birds in the school textbook of life science. But we could

not cover this chapter in class period. A series of activities of Basbhumi gave

children a good chance to learn about birds.

• It is helpful if children can get pictorial booklet on birds.

=

Summary Information Collected by Children

Children have colected information about injurious birds for agriculture.


BirdStep 3 — Preparatory Work — Activity (B)

'Inviting Birds into Schoolyard'

There are several things what children can do for the birds. Let's create the

environment in which birds like to come. Planting trees, instaling food stands,

nest boxes or bathing places for birds. This activity will create other childrens'

interest on birds in your school too.

Objectives

• To understand birds' role & function

in our environment.

• To apply the knowledge & skills

that children have learnt to

increase the diversity of

birds in the schoolyard.

• To increase childrens' interests on

birds in school.

=

=

=

[ for both rural & urban schools class 5 to 8 practical work, awareness campaign,

craft class period required = 3-4 periods (1.5 hours/period) + regular observation & taking

care of birds]

Inviting Birds

Language

Science

Environment study

Art

making awareness poster

hand work & wood work

for making food stands &

nests for birds

Favourite condi-

tion of bird

Writing message on

poster / chart

How to increaase

people's awareness

on the issue

Social Study

Subjects you can Integrate in this Activity


Activity Process

ê

ê

ê

Please conduct the review session (step 2) based on the prepara-

tory work.

Review

Discussion Teacher asks children to observe what kind of birds can be seen in

the schoolyard now. List them up. Discuss with children why those

birds are in the schoolyard (eg. may be there some garbage pile

therefore some crows are there etc.)

Then teacher asks objective questions for creating discussion

more -

• How we can increase birds more in our schoolyard ?

• Why we want to increase birds more ? (If more birds come to our

schoolyard, what changes will take place ? .....)

Summarizing &

Making Decision

Summarize childrens' ideas & opinion and explain birds role in the

environment again.

eg. • birds eat some insects which damage some plants in garden

• birds can help to spread fruit seeds just as we plant trees

• birds can help to pollinate for vegetables & flower crops

• birds provide us peaceful singing

• birds habitat like trees are decreasing so we need to provide

their house etc.

[We want to invite birds]

Planning

=

Ask children to list up the required condition for the birds. [birds

need ....]

eg. • Fruits trees (Zizyphus, Guava, Jamun etc)

• Flower trees (Hibiscus, silk cotton, flame of the forest)

• Water place for bathing & drinking (birds don't need the water

to be too deep)

• Standing places (top of the stick, wire etc)

• Nesting place (nesting box)

• Food (grain, fruit etc)

Children are divided into groups & take responsibility, which facility

they will create for the birds. Children can get information &

designed from several bird watching books.

Useful Information Sources

ò

Work Out

" Watching Birds "

(Jamal Ara / 1970 /

NBT, 61p)

" Bird Watching :

for Beginners "

(Bombay Natural

History Society /

40p)



Some ideas are introduced here :Making Items &

Setting Up

ê

Producing Posters /

Charts for other

Children

êWhen your student are doing this activity other children in your

school must also show their interest, they will want to know what

your children are doing & why.

It is good chance to share information & to grow many childrens'

interests in your whole school.

Suggest your children to make posters & charts for creating other's

interest on birds.

eg. Chart on birds which can be observed in your school yard.

Hope the variety will increase after your children conduct the

'Invitation Birds' activity.

a) Chart

Bird Feeders

hang the string from

branches

sweet

lime peel

coconut

water bath

(earthen pot)

nesting

box

protect from

animals

grains

Birds Visiting our School Yard

insect eater

seed / insect eater

fruits / insect eater

meat etc eaternectar / insect eater

Add new

bird

observed

name, date

of observa-

tion


b) Poster

We are also planting trees

What

about

you ?

We help pest control

ê

Evaluation For this activity children need to take care for & give attention to

the birds regularly. They need to change bird feeder & water time to

time and need to clean up nesting box after nesting season is over.

Observe whether birds are visiting your schoolyard more & more

and any environmental change has taken place or not. Still a lot of

crow are coming for eating school garbage.

If your school garbage are not scattered any more (they are put in

dust bin with covers or put in holes covered with soil etc) and

various trees are growing this activity is successful, for your

children, school yard and for the birds also.

Variation

• This activity has possibility to be linked with school gardening activity like growing

vegetable, herbs and fruit trees.

• "Producing our Bird Books"

Children can design & make a colouring book of birds with all information which

children learnt for information sharing.

eg. interesting children's work introduced in "Skipping Stone", (vol.15 no.2).

Jamie Michell Hansen, 9, Phoenix, Arizona, USA produced :The Bird Health Book"

according to her experience with her pet cockatiel, Peanut.

=



Text & Illustration by Jamie Michel & Hansan

If you want a bird for a pet there are

some pets that aren't really safe to

have. Only pets that are circled and

crossed out are ones you can't have

when you own a bird.

Cats and birds just aren't friends. It's

dangerous to leave a bird alone with a

cat.

Answer: Cats have an instinct

to eat birds because hey are carnivores.

Why is the cat

about to

eat the

bird?

This is how birds get to know a person,

by chewing their hair. If the bird doesn't

remember you, it will have to chew on

your hair.

Why is it important for

the bird to

remember you ?

Answer: It is

important for the bird to remember you so it

isn't afraid.

It is

importatnt for

you to rub

your bird's

neck and

head.

The

mas-

sage

makes

the bird

feel happy

and loved.

Answer: To

massage the

bird's skin.

Why it is impor-

tant to pet

the bird

on the

neck and

head ?

If you put two kinds of birds in the same

cage they might bite each other. If they

are the same kind of bird, they'll probably

play with each other.

Bird's claws are one of the most

important parts of their bodies.

You have to have them clipped

by a veterinarian.

Why does a

bird need

short claws?

Answer: So the claws won't

break off.

Make sure you feed your bird 20 percent

seed and 80 percent fruit and vegeta-

bles. Feed it well so it can be healthy

and live a long, happy life.

Birds depend

on people for a happy life.

Be sure to care for your bird

responsibly.

Extract from

"Skipping Stone

vol. 15 no.2"


Feedback


(Chandannagore) (Swanirvar)

as home based activity

Green Sprout

1. Location Garer Dhar, West (there is a big

pond beside their house).

2. Children Class III - VI

Class/number

3. Duration of August 2002 - Jan 2003

work

4. What products Booklet & cloth hanging on birds

were made observed.

5.Children's They became interested in

Interest watching birds.

6.Parents' opinion Children remembered interesting

facts about the birds which they

have observed & drawn. They

became caring about home

garden & community pond as

well as birds.

Feedback Summary

This activity can be a good starting point for

children to become birds lover & watcher.

If children realize that to care about birds is to

care about birds is to care about own environment,

you can say this activity becomes very success-

ful.

Name of

groupGeneral

information

=

=

3 – (B) Feedback


Children's Work

☺ Manosi Chatterjee (class III) made a booklet 'My Nature Garden Book of Birds'. She

described 12 birds which she often observed in her home garden.

She checked the reference book for each bird's name, description, food habit and

call.

=

5. Night heron - red

eyes, black pupil.

Colour - black, white and

grey.

6. White breasted water

hen - little red ring ground

the eye.

Colour - white, black & red.

Birds in this book

1. Koel

2. Roseringed Parakeet

3. Spotted dove

4. Pond Heron

5. Night Heron

6. White breasted water hen

7. Brain fever bird

8. Blue eated kingfisher

9. Brown headed stork billed kingfisher.

10.White breasted kingfisher

11. Black capped kingfisher

12.Hoopoe

I eat frogs, fish,

crabs and insects.

Waku !

I eat, fish, frogs,

crabs and insects.

Waku !

I eat, insects, worms,

molluses, grain &

shoots of paddy &

mard plants.

Krr Kwak Kwak !

4. Pond pleron – yellow

eyes and black pupil & also

black and yellow bill.

Colour - light brown, deep

brown and white.


☺ Shantonu (class VI) & Manosi Chatterjee (class III) made cloth hanger of birds they

have observed. They painted 14 birds with fabric (Acrylic) colours.

Birds on the cloth

• Hoopoe

• Pond Heron

• Night Heron

• Blue eared kingfisher

• Black capped kingfisher

• Koel

• Brown headed stork billed

kingfisher

• White breasted water hen

• Indian Mynah

• Magpie robin

• Red whiskered bulbul

• Golden oriole

• Jungle mynah

• Heart spotted woodpecker

size - 90 cm x 136 cm

This cloth hanger can be used as

wall decoration or door curtain

etc. Visitors surely notice this

wonderful art work and start ask-

ing questions about birds. This

cloth work is very useful & inter-

esting as class activity in school

also. This remains longer than a

paper chart. (ENRE)

☺ Children of Swanirvar did some trials to invite birds

• To invite birds, children put sticks / poles and stretched ropes between them in

their home garden. When birds perched on the roap, it looked like a 'swing'.

• Children also kept food for birds; like puffed rice, beans, cooked rice and

water. They observed after sometime several birds (mainly Mynah & Crow)

came to have the food.

3 – (B) Feedback


MEMO PAGEMEMO PAGEMEMO PAGEMEMO PAGEMEMO PAGE

Manosi


Checklist of Birds thatChecklist of Birds thatChecklist of Birds thatChecklist of Birds thatChecklist of Birds thatAppeared in Children's FeedbackAppeared in Children's FeedbackAppeared in Children's FeedbackAppeared in Children's FeedbackAppeared in Children's Feedback

English à Bengali


Check List of Birds Appeared in Children's Feedback

No. English Name Scientific Name Bengali Name Remarks

01. Babbler, jungle Turdoides straitus Chatare

02. Babbler, straiated Turdoides earlei Dora chhatare

03. Baya (Weaver bird) Ploceus benghalensis Babui

black breasted

04. Brain fever bird Cuculus various Chok gallo

(Common hawk cuckoo)

05. Bulbul, redwhiskered Pycnocotus jocosus Bulbul / Bulbuli

06. Cormorant, little Phalacrocorax niger Pankouri

07. Crane Sarash

08. Crane, spotted Porzana marnette Gurguri

09. Crow, house Corvus splenders Kak

10. Crow, pheasant Centropus sinensis Ku Ku (Ku Ka)

11. Cuckoo, piedcrested Clamator coromandus Chatak

12. Dove, spotted Streptopelia chinensis Chhite Ghughu

13. Drongo, black Dicrurus adsimilis Finge

14. Duck Hans

15. Duck, brahmini Casarca rutila Chokachoki

16. Egret, cattle Bulbuleus ibis Choto Bok

17. Egret, little Egretta garzetta Bok

18. Egret, pariah

19. Harrier, marsh Circus aeruginousus Pan cheel, Tilla

bauri

20. Hawk Baji pakhi

01.

16.

04.

19.

03.



21. Heron, pond Ardeola grayii Konchbok

22. Heron, night Nycticorax nyctiorax Bajika

23. Hoopoe Upupa rpops Mohonchurirha

24. Iora Aegithina tiphia Photik jol

25. Kingfisher, black capped Halcyon pileata Machhranga

26. Kingfisher, blue eared Alcedo meninting Machhranga

27. Kingfisher, brownheaded Pelargopsis capensis Marchhranga

storkbilled

28. Kingfisher, white breasted Halcyon smyrnesis Sadabuk

machranga

29. Kite Chil

30. Koel (Cuckoo) Eudynamys scolopacea Kokil

31. Macaw Tota

32. Magpie Robin Copsyshus saularis Doel

33. Munia, spotted Lonchura punctulata Tile muniya

34. Myna, bank Acridotheres ginginianus Gang Shalik

35. Myna, common Acridotheres tristis Shalik

36. Myna, jungle Acridotheres fuscus Jhut salik

37. Myna, pied Sturnopaster corna Guye Shalik

38. Oriole, blackheaded Oriolus xanthornus Bou kathakao

39. Oriole, golden Oriolus oriolus Sona bau

40. Owl Pencha

21.

23.

24.

38. 33.



41. Owl, barn Tyto alba Lakshmi pancha

42. Owl, brown fish Bubo zeylonensis Hutum pancha

43. Parakeet, rose ringed Psittacula krameri Tiya

44. Pigeon, bengal green Treron phoenicoptera Horiyal

45. Pigeon, rock Columba livia Payra

46. Snipe, common Gllinago gallinago Kada khocha

47. Sparrow, house Passer domesticus Chorai

48. Strok, adjutant Leptoptilos dubius Hargile

49. Tailor Bird Osthotomus sutorius Tuntuni

50. Tree pie, indian Dendrocitta vagabunda Harhi chancha

51. Vulture, Indian white Gpys bengalensis Shakun

backed

52. Warbler, blyth’s reed Acrocephalus dumetrorum Tikra

53. Water hen( Moorhen), Maurornis fphopnicurus Dak pakhi

common

54. Water hen, white breasted Amaurornis phoenicurus Panpaira

55. Woodpecker Kaath thokra

56. Woodpecker, heart spotted Hemicircus canente Kaath thokra

57.

58.

59.

60.

49.

54.

42.

41.

48.

46.


ResourcesResourcesResourcesResourcesResources

to strenghten your guiding role


Birds and Our Environment

The Diversity of Birds

Every year their arrival signals the change in weather, the end of the wet monsoon and the

onset of autumn with a cold nip in the air. With its energetic movements and constantly

wagging tail, the White Wagtail is the messenger bird that brings the news of the arrival of

the migratory birds to a birdwatcher like me. White Wagtails breed in summer in the

high altitudes of the Himalayas.and in September, when the higher altitudes gets too cold

they migrate to our plains, to our rooftops or the lawn in our garden. They, and the hordes

of other bird species that arrive in the environment around us to spend the winter, always

fascinated me. They along with the resident birds around us add colour and marvel to our

surroundings.

Bird watching is a fascinating hobby and there are millions of birdwatchers throughout the

world who cultivates this healthy habit. Having kept some pet birds when I was young, I

soon found that there is a vast world of wild birds lying out there in nature to observe. The

diversity of birds in almost every habitat is enough to keep a birdwatcher active. Even

inside the city, there is a number of bird species for an interested birdwatcher to observe.

Going out into nature, into the wild forests and wetlands one is bound to be overwhelmed

by the diversity of birds.

Birds are one of the most conspicuous and beautiful companions that we have in our

environment. The nine thousand odd bird species that share our planet are unique in that

they possess feathers. These feathers have given the bird the power of flight and with it

the mobility to live in almost every environment of the world. They are found in the icy

polar regions, like the Penguins of Antarctica, and in the hot deserts like the Ostriches.

by Kushal Mukherjee

White Wagtail

(Motacilla alba)


birds. In West Bengal we have the sea in the south and the lofty

Himalayas in the north and each of the different habitats in between

has its own complement of bird species.

One of the most exciting part of birdwatching is the identification of

birds. One is fortunate nowadays because there are some good bird

books that help in the identification of birds. However, identification is

the first step of birdwatching. While observing the behavior of birds,

an entirely new and enchanting world opens up before us. While

looking at birds and noting down their behavior, I have often wondered

They thrive in the high altitudes of the Himalayas where the Golden Eagle soars in the sky

or in the dense tropical rain forests where numerous colourful birds thrive. Many of them

are adapted to life in the oceans like the Albatross or in the wetlands like the ducks. Many

birds like the House Crow and the House Sparrow have adapted themselves to live

An ostrich is about 2.5m tall

and weight 150kg, nearly as

much as two adults. It is too

heavy to fly, but runs very fast.

An albatross hardly flaps its

wings at all. It can fly like this

for days just using the wind.

Golden Eagle

(Aquila chrysaetos)

Penguins cannot fly because

their wings have become

more like flippers. They use

them to swim.

in villages and even in the crowded cities. The migratory birds like the

White Wagtail shuttles between two very different environments during

the course of their migration. Wherever they live, the vast number of

birds performs a very useful function in maintaining the balance of

nature.

In the Indian subcontinent (which includes India,

Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan Sri Lanka and

the Maldives) we are lucky to have around 1300

different species of birds. Different species of

birds prefer different habitat types and in India

we have a very broad selection of

habitats. We have different types of

forests, scrubs, wetlands,

grasslands, desert and sea. A

birdwatcher in India is lucky,

because he or she has so

many different

habitats to choose

from for watching


how they look at the world around them. Studies on their

physiology and behavior have conclusively proved that birds

have colour vision that may be more complex than ours. Individual

species may also have features of their eyes adapted to specific

visual tasks or conditions The eye of birds are also sensitive to

some amount of UV lights. Therefore, their perception of the

world may be very different from ours.

Birds in Crop Fields

While identifying and observing birds in the different habitats all

around India, it became clear to me how important birds are to

our environment. Looking at some of the common birds around

us like the Common Myna, I realise how such insectivorous

birds help in the control of insects around us. When you watch

this Common Myna strutting about like a watchman in the field,

and calculate the amount of grasshopper or some other insect

that it is devouring every now and then, you appreciate the

immense help that they are providing by controlling insects

which would have otherwise turned to be pests and destroyed

agricultural crops. The importance of such insectivorous birds

around our crop fields like the Black Drongo, Blue Jay or the

smaller owls, which devour the crop pests, is difficult to

calculate. Without insectivorous birds, our planet would have

been overrun with plant eating insects that would have destroyed

the terrestrial living world. Owls and other birds of prey like the

hawks, eagles and falcons are also important controller of

rats and mice that play havoc among our agricultural fields.

Their contribution towards protecting our crop is invaluable.

On the other hand, there are grain-eating birds that do a lot of

damage to our agriculture. Birds like the Rose-ringed Parakeet

often cause considerable damage to our crop. We have done a

lot of research since ancient times to keep away the harmful

birds from our crop field. We scare birds away with noise or by

erecting various models of ‘scarecrow’. However, we have done

little to help the friendly birds. In fact, our indiscriminate use of

pesticide has poisoned the environment and killed off most of

the birds that used to visit our crop fields. Just a few decades

ago while traveling through our countryside we used to observe

hordes of birds like the Black Drongo or the Blue Jay on the

Common Myna

(Acridotheres tristis)

Black Drongo

(Dicrurus adsmillis)

Blue Jay / Indian Roller

(Coracius beghalensis)

Feather toed / Hawk Eagle

(Spizaetus nipalenis)

Crested Serpent Eagle

(Spilornis cheela)

Peregrine Falcon

(Falco peregrinus)

Spotted owl

(Athne brama)


telegraph wire above the fields or the Cattle Egrets

following the grazing cattle. Now it is a rare sight. Birds

have been cited as an important indicator of the health of

our environment. The absence of these once common

birds do point out that something is wrong with our

environment. The poisons in the field have killed the

birds and their food and eventually the poison will cause

damage to humankind through our own food chain.

Rose-ringed parakeet

(Psittacula krameri)

Cattle Egrets

(Bubulcus ibis)

Just a few decades ago while traveling through our countryside we used to observe

hordes of birds like the Black Drongo or the Blue Jay on the telegraph wire above the

fields or the Cattle Egrets following the grazing cattle. Now it is a rare sight.

Birds as indicators

As a birdwatcher, one can always see the change that is taking place in the environment

around us. The sudden appearance or the disappearance of certain birds points out the

changes for us. In that way as a birdwatcher, one serves the useful function as a watchdog

for our environment. Birdwatchers throughout the world have noticed the sudden fall in

population of the once very common House Sparrow. This once ubiquitous bird was noticed

to have declined in number in countries like England where they regularly keep a count of

their birds. Unfortunately for us in India, birdwatching is only a new hobby still not popular


White backed or

bengal vulture

(Gyps indicus)

at all. So there are only very few birdwatchers and we do not have

any regular system of counting our birds like the developed countries

have. Even then, the birdwatchers around India are also noticing a fall

in the population of House Sparrow. The reason is not very clear. The

loss of nesting places in cities with their new buildings, the loss of

insect food species due to pollution and heavy use of insecticides are

some of the probable causes. In Europe one of the probable cause is

the pollution caused by motor vehicles On the other hand in cities

like Kolkata some birds are probably increasing in number due to our

dirty habits. The House Crow and the Pariah Kite thrives in the cities

and towns with open garbage dumps. Here again the birds are

functioning as remover of garbage, though we could have done without

them had out habits been cleaner.

An interesting case, which shows how our environment is reacting

with birds, is the recent drastic decline in the vulture population in

India. Less than a decade ago, the White-backed Vulture and the

Long-billed Vulture were very common throughout India. They played

a very useful function by eating up dead animals lying in the

countryside. Then suddenly it was noticed that the vultures started

dying in large numbers. Dead cattle lay rotting in the field creating an

unhealthy environment. Worried experts were unsure about the exact

cause of these large-scale deaths. These vultures were declared as

endangered birds. According to some, it may be a virus that is causing

these deaths. Recent research is pointing to a chemical commonly

used as medicine on diseased cattle that might be ingested by the

vulture after the cattle dies, as the kil ler. This shows how

indiscriminately we are using chemicals without knowing the ultimate

effect on our environment.

Importance of Birds

There are other birds that play a very important role in our environment

and among them, the Red Jungle Fowl is perhaps the most important.

This bird, which is found wild in the forests of northern India, is the

ancestor of all domestic chicken and they harbour the wild genes,

which may turn out to be very important to the multi billion-dollar

poultry industry of the world. The wild Red Jungle Fowl may have

characters in their gene that could be useful for our domesticated

breed. For example, it might have some immunity to some kind of

diseases, which may affect the domesticated fowl. These genes can

be infused back into the domestic breed by crossing the Red Jungle

Fowl with the domesticated breed and thus prevent the occurrence of

the disease.

Long-billed Vulture

(Gyps indicus)

Red Jungle Fowl

(Gallus gallus)


Birds continue to fascinate me by their diversity. When I look at the colourful birds, I often

wonder what we are doing to their environment. Already, nearly 1200 bird species are in the

danger of becoming extinct in this world, mostly due to our mindless exploitation of the

resources of our planet. We have destroyed their home like the rain forests or the grasslands,

and we are polluting our environment to a point where they cannot exist any more. Birds

are one of the most conspicuous indicators of the health of our environment. The extinction

of a species will only lead us a little nearer to the days when we will ourselves face the

problem of existing on this planet.

How to encourage children to be a Birdwatcher

Birdwatching is a hobby that the children should be encouraged to take up. It is a simple

hobby, which does not initially require much investment. The naked eye is good enough to

observe most of the birds observed around our home. A pair of binoculars certainly adds a

new dimension by bringing the subject close. There are good bird books available in the

market, which deals with our local birds. The main aim of a birdwatcher should be observation

in the field. Though birds can be observed from your own home, a field outing to places with

different habitats for birds makes one familiar with a diversity of bird species. The compound

of your school, a wetland nearby or a dense fruit orchard could be exciting places to find

interesting species of birds. A well planned longer trip to a forest or to wildlife sanctuary will

be wonderful to a birdwatcher.

Carefully noting down whatever she or he notices about the birds in a notebook is a very

important exercise to a birdwatcher. Our memory may always fail and hence the notes in

your notebook will remain as a ready reference that can be consulted later on. Being easier

than studying most other forms of life like insects, fishes, etc., birdwatching is a natural path

that leads to the closer understanding of nature among children. They learn about the different

functions performed in nature, gain knowledge about the ways nature react with our changing

environment and prepares them for a lifestyle that would sustain our environment in the best

possible way. No wonder that many of our present day eminent natural scientists and

crusaders for nature were birdwatchers in the beginning who realised the need to conserve

nature from practicing this humble hobby.


Kushal Mukherjee is a nature lover, a wildlife consultant and photographer. Birds

are his special interest for the last 30 years. Travelled all over India to observe and

photograph nature and work on different environmental assesesment programme

He is involved with the nature awareness programme among students in Kolkata,

conducting various camps in different locations. He is presently the Secretary of

Prakriti Samsad, an association of nature lovers working in Kolkata for the last

twenty-five years.

A good way to begin birdwatching is to join a birdwatching group, society or club. The

would be birdwatchers will get all the help that she or he needs to propel into the wonderful

world of studying nature. One such society is Prakriti Samsad (Address – 65 Golf Club

Road, Kolkata – 700 033. Phone – 2412 7612) which is an association of nature lovers

based in and around Kolkata.

=


References

To develop lesson plans on BIRDS we have looked through the following resources. If you are

interested in to see these materials, all resources listed here are available through ENRE

resource centre EEL (Environment Education Library). EEL also stores topic related articles

from several magazines/news clippings and lesson plans downloaded from web site. Please

inquirer us.

Books and Booklets on BIRDS :For your convenience we have put some categories.

Category (A) useful for producing materials, (B) useful for teachers & (C)

materials for children.

_ recommended materials for Environmental Education

P recommended for school library

• Watching Birds / Jamal Ara, NBT, 1970, 61p. / (A) (B) (C) _ P

• The Book of Indian Birds / Salim Ali, Bombay Natural History Society,

1996, 354p / (A) (B) (C) _ P

• Littele Friend-Save Us, We are your friends/ S.Gupta & G.Das / (A) (B)

(C)

• Nature Watch / Kushwant Singh, UBSPD, 1997, 132p. / (A) (B) (C) _ P

• Joy of Learning : Standard 3-5 (Activity;4,6,33) / CEE, 1995, 87p. / (A)(B)

• Joy of Learning : Standard 6-8 (Activity;6,26) / CEE, 1996, 67p.

/ (A)(B)

• Bird Watching for Beginners / BNHS & CEC, 20p. / (A) (B) (C)

_ P

• ABC of BIRDS : A book for little Bird Watchers / Roger Tory

Petersons, Universe Publishing, 30p./ (A) (B) (C) _ P

• Many Years Ago / Naresh Chandra Jana, Shishu Sahitya

Samsad, 1994, 33p. / (A) (B) (C) _ P

• Our Featherd Friend / U.C. Chopra, CBT, 1984/ (A) (B) (C) _ P

• My Own Book of Birds / Yash Muthanna, TATA Donneley

Ltd.,1999, 48p. /(C) _ P

• 50 Simple Things Kids can do to Save the Earth / The Earth

Works Group,USA, 1990, 156p./(A) (B) (C) _ P

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Nature note through

a year shows a lot of

observations of birds

along with pretty

illustrations

Good reading material to become a

friend of birds


• Common Birds / Salim Ali & Laeeq Futeally, NBT , 1967, 126p./ (A) (B) (C) _ P

• Life Scope : A Prospectus / Madhau Gadgil, Indian Academy of Sciencs, 150p./(A) (B)

_

• Nature Scope India: Birds, Birds, Birds / Lalsinh Raol,

CEE, 1999, 90p./ (A) (B) (C) _ P

• Pakhir Kotha (Story of Birds) / Parthasarathi Chakrobarty,

Ananda Publisher, 1992, 40p./ (A) (B) (C) _ P

• What’s That Bird ? / Kalpavriksh, 1991, 93p./ (A) (B) (C)

_ P

• Sadhran Pakhi (Common Birds) / Salim Alli, NBT, 1975,

122p./(A) (B) (C) _ P

• Birds of Pune / Kalpavriksh & CEE, 2001, 136p. /

(A) (B) (C) _ P

• A Field Guide to the Birds of India / Krys Kazmierczak,

OM,2000,352p./ (A) (B)

• Birds from my window / Ranjit Lal,Tulika, 2002, 72p / (A)

(B) (C) _ P

• Salim Ali - India’s Birdman/ Reeta Dutta Gupta, Rupa &

Co., 2003, 59p. /(A) (B) (C) _ P

• People's Biodiversity Register of Teligram, Krishi

Paramorsho Kendro, 2003, 104p (A)

Salim Ali was the first In-

dian to systematically

studt ecology and the

birds of the Indian sub-

continent.

Bengali Books

• Paschim Banglar Pakhi / Pranabesh Sanyal / 1994 / Ananda / 101p. (A) (B) (C) _ P

• Pakhir Upakatha / Naresh Chandra Jana / 1994 / Sishu Sahitya Samsad (C) P

• Jib Jantuder

• Jui Phuler Rumal / Kartik Ghosh (A) (B) (C) P

• Jadavpurer Pakhi / Basundhara / 7p. (A) (B) (C)

• Pakhir Basa Pakhir Din / Ananda (A) (B) (C)


Interesting Websites on BIRDS

You can find a lot of Web sites on Environmental Education and related activities.

The following are the examples of some useful websites on Birds. You can directly access

to each web site or contact us for the detail.

Birds in General

• Northern Indian Bird Network www.delhibird.org

• To know about birds in Kolkata www.kolkatabirds.com

• Naturalist’s Notes from Western North

Carolina Nature Centre

(They have topical Index on birds-

Feeding & Observing Our Fethered Friends) http://wildwnc.org

• All about birds is a well illustrated website located at www.enchantedlearning.com

here you can find many interesting basic facts about all kinds of birds. Children who

can read English will enjoy a visit to the site.

The same site also has information about butterflies, mammals, plants, sharks,

whales etc.

• If you want to watch the birds that visit your backyard, you must visit the website

www.backyardnature.net

Here children & teachers both can find a lot about beaks, eyes, feathers, ears, bird

feet, bird song, bird eggs etc. and learn the skills of birdwatching.

Birds Calls

• Bird Audio is a website hosted by www.enature.com where songs & calls of more

than 550 North American birds can be listend to. This site also has photos &

information about various fish, insects, spiders, trees etc and interested students/

teachers can get a free e-mail bird newsletter.

Bird Beaks

• At www.uen.org teachers can find some very interesting lesson plans, one of them is

for 5th grade children, where they can learn about various kinds of beaks birds have

and how it helps their survival in a particular environment.

Bird Nests

• A lesson plan for elementary school children can be found at www.warrennet.org

Bird-Vision

• Do birds see colour as we do? If you are curious about this question do visit the site

www.bbsrc.ac.uk

From this site instructors/teachers can find a lot of interesting information. Another

scientific site with similar information is www.users.mis.net


Bird-Food Habits

• At the website www.nsis.org you can find all about which groups of birds likes to

eat fruits and who prefer insects, nuts or seeds and who like to sip nectars.

Image Bank

• The Academy of Natural Sciences in the USA maintains a photo gallery on birds

called VIREO gallery, which stands for Visual Resources of Ornithology. There are

small but beautiful colour photos of hundreds of birds grouped by their size, habitats or

looks etc. to know more you can visit the website at www.acnatsci.org

Birds of Prey

Eagle, Falcon, Owl etc.

• At www.buteo.com you can find a lot about North American birds of prey. Birds of

prey such as falcon, owl etc. help us by keeping populations of rats etc. under control

but today many of these birds are endangered due to excessive use of pesticides in

farms and destruction of natural forests.

The same site has links to eNature.com and other interesting sites about birds.


Books and References on Environmental Education & creative lesson plans

(Concept, Ideas & Theory) :

Chapter / Book 'What is Environmental Education' ("Environemtal Education in Schools") /

Judy A. Braus / 1993, Peace Corps / p.p.5-14 (A) (B)

Booklet “The Green Reader – An introduction to Environmental concern and

Issues” / Meena Raghunathan / 1999, CEE / 204p/ (A) (B) _

Booklet “Environmental Orientation to school Education : A Programe of Ministry of

Human Resource Development – Some experience and learning“/Meena

Raghunathan / 1999, CEE / 92p/ (A)

Handbook “Green Minds : A Reference Handbook for Environment Educators in

Kalimpong” / Yusuf Simick / Ashok Trust or Research in Ecology and the

Environment (ATREE) (A) (B) _

Book “Environmental Education An Approach to Sustainable Development “ OECD/

1992 (A)

Guidebook “Idea’s Environment Action Program , Issues, Approach, and Initiatives

towards Sustainability “ CEE 1995 (A) (B)

Guidebook “The Green Club : A Guide to Setting Up and Running Clubs for the

Environment” / CEE 1999 / 78p (A) (B) _

Guidebook “The Green Action guide : A Manual for Planning and Managing

Environmental Improvement Projects “ CEE, 1997 / 92p. (A) (B) _

Report “Environment & Development : Traditions, Concerns and Efforts in India“

(National Report to UNCED, June 1992 / Ministry of Environment and

Forest – govt of India / 63p. (A)

Handbook “Ecology : Principles and Applications “ J.L. chapman et al, 2000, Cambrodge

University / 330p. (A)

Handbook “Earth Education : a New Beginning “ Steve Van Math, 1999 / 334p. (A)

Curriculum guide “Connections, Cycles and Cities (“Living Lightly on the Planet – volume 1,

Grades 7-9 – Unit 4 “ Haura O’cinnor, 1985, Schilits Audubon

Center / p 76-98 (A) (B)

Book 'Curriculum Planning‘ (“A Children’s Food Forest“ Carolyn Nuttall, 1996,

FeFl Books / p 53-72 (A) (B) _

Booklet “Toward a Green Future : A Trainer’s Manual on Education for Sustainable

Development “ CEE, 1999 / 111p. (A) (B) _

Book "The FoxFire Book" / Eliot Wigginton & his students / Anchor Books / 1969

/ 384p. (A) (B) (C) _ P

Internet paper "Classroom as Learning Laboratories" & "Core Practices" / foxfire.org / 3p.

Book “Science is ...” / Susan V. Bosak / Scholastic, 1991 / 515p. (A) (B) _

Magazine "Green Teacher - Education for Planet Earth" (Tim, Grant & Gailcittlejohn,

(ed), Green Teacher, Canada, www.greenteacher.com)


ENRE Partner Organisations' Contact Address

• Phulbari Grameen Bikash Kendra

(contact person : Mr. Torun Kanti Bera)

Phulbari, Sagarphulbari,

Rudranagar, Sagardeep,

South 24 Parganas

West Bengal

• Vikramshila Education Resource

Centre(contact person : Mr. Atanu Sain)

77 Maharaja Tagore Road

Dhakuria, Kolkata - 700031

West Bengal

• Sundarika Bartika

(contact person : Mr. Arunava Biswas)

P.O. Sarisha (Bosepukur Parh)

Dist. South 24 Parganas

Pin - 743368, West Bengal

• Swanirvar

(contact person : Mr. Samir Biswas)

Andharmanik, Baduria,

North 24 Parganas - 743401

West Bengal

• Ashurali Gram Unnayan Parishad

(contact person : Ms. Modhumita Ata)

Asurali, Sadhur hat,

South 24 Parganas - 743504

West Bengal

• Kajla Janakalyan Samity

(contact person : Mr. Vivekananda Sahu)

Sarada, Contai

Midnapur - 721427

West Bengal

• Gandhi Vichar Parishad

(contact person : Mr. Kalyan Roy)

Sahay NC-18, Schooldanga

Bankura - 722101

West Bengal

From ENRE

o Forthcoming issues of ‘Creative lesson plan - Basbhumi series’ are

6) Rice, 7) Fish, 8)Energy (Fuel), 9) Waste, 10) Vegetables, 11) Local market,

12) Community development work / NGO work

Please send us the 'feedback slip' (p. 79) alongwith your comment

and suggestion on this booklet to us. We will put your name on our

mailing list and send you a free copy of the next booklet on ‘Energy’ for

your reference!

o You can see more information on ENRE project and the summary content of

each published Basbhumi booklet (ENRE Topic Page) through our organisation

website www.drcsc.org

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Feedback Slip

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Birds

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creative lesson plan on birds - teachers of india

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