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April 1, 2001
Migrating Birds Know No Boundaries
By Pini Peled
The "Migrating Birds Know No Boundaries" project is multi-disciplinary, interactive, and computerized. It combines concepts from geography, physics, biology, and technology sciences, through the study of the unique, twice-annual phenomenon of 500 million birds migrating over Israel.
Dr. Yossi Leshem started the project five years ago in the Israeli Educational system (80 schools are participating with the project this year). Leshem did his doctoral research on the migration routes of soaring birds over Israel, in cooperation with the Israel Air Force. Based on Leshem's research, and with the assistance of the Ministry of Education, the SPNI (the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel), and the University of Tel-Aviv, the educational project was designed for high school students and promotes research through studying and teaching creatively. This project works as an alternative instructional method, offering students a unique way to learn scientific methods and concepts.
The objectives of the project are to:
- Promote studying by teaching with different and more exciting methods.
- Help students gain self-studying abilities.
- Encourage students to use computers by surfing the Internet, processing data analysis, and presenting new knowledge.
- Promote communication via the Internet among children living along the migratory routes, children living within the breeding grounds in Europe, Asia, and Africa, as well as local children.
- Emphasize environmental protection by exposing students to information gathered during field tours.
- Emphasize joint educational endeavors for students in Palestinian, Jordanian, and Israeli schools.
- Continue research with both military and civilian aviation in order to keep the collisions between birds and airplanes to a minimum.
The project objectives are achieved by taking the students on a variety of field trips, including going to nature reserves, the Air Force army base, the airport, as well as other areas to widen students' knowledge related to the project. Students also attend seminars and festivals, and communicate via the projects' Internet site, in addition to completing their lessons in classes and laboratories. Online information about bird migration arrives by satellite telemetry or by ringing birds--that is, birds with small transmitters attached to their backs. The project addresses ways to enrich student knowledge in different subjects related to the migration process. For example, the weather section of the project's Internet site offers satellite photographs to help students identify and observe the development and movement of clouds, fronts, jet-streams, and areas of low pressure--all elements that influence migration. The project is unique because it fulfills the special needs of each student. By studying the problems related to migrating birds, students can learn concepts in physics (Thermals, Vortex, etc.), biology (the special structure of bird wings, lungs, etc.), and geography (topography, climate zones, the atmosphere). Moreover, working with the project provides teachers and students with the opportunity to get out of the classroom and into nature.
The results of the project as per today are evident in different ways. My students have evolved into being more open-minded, more conscious about their natural surroundings, better English speakers, and more savvy computers users. Teachers report enjoying and benefiting from alternative teaching methods. Another positive outcome is the continues cooperation among the various "participants" in the project, such as fishermen who grow fish in artificial ponds (damaged by flocks of White Pelicans during the migration seasons), the Israeli Electric Company (high voltage cables damaged by the Griffon Vulture), and farmers in the Hula valley (conflicts with the Eurasian Crane).
The project uses new technologies and innovations such as:
- Telemetry--satellite transmitters attached to the back of storks, vultures, and cranes follow their migration. The data can be downloaded and imported into a spreadsheet to calculate different statistics, such as migration distances and speed.
- Video cameras--these are placed in bird nests, and thus enable students to study online nesting behavior.
- The radar at Ben-Gurion Airport and in Latrun--these enable the tracking of bird flocks during the migration seasons.
- Tracking equipment--these newer, sophisticated devices track birds migrating during nighttime.
- Bird observatories--these provide areas for bird watching and for learning about eco-tourism and bird ringing. In Jerusalem is the Jerusalem Birds Observatory, a first of its kind project in the garden of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament. Another "paradise" for birds and birds watching is the International Bird Watching Center in Kfar Ruppin located in the Jordan Valley.
In Ort-Kramim High School in Karmiel, a unique curriculum was developed for students in the 7th, 8th and 9th grades. The flow chart and table (both links require Adobe Acrobat Reader) outline the three year curriculum.
Last year we started a new technology method called "The Design Process." The Ort Schools organization developed this method with the purpose of teaching students how to find and solve technical problems in an open-minded way. Students work in teams to develop the "design" concepts of forming, storming, norming, and performing. For more information, visit the Ort Web site. We are using this method to work with subjects such as: "Tracking Methods" and "Birds-Strike problems." The students, working in teams, investigate these subjects through the Design Process and come up with workable solutions.
However, it's too early to measure the method's long-term results. By year's end, my whole class hopes to have completed a special map entitled: Bird Plagued Zone (BPZ) map. It is the class's hope to aid military and civilian aviation in Israel. The bird migration project itself recently was chosen as a finalist in the Global Junior Challenge competition. Only more time will tell what other excitement will result from this innovative program involving bird migration.
Use this WebQuest to start the project in your classroom.
Email: Pini Peled, Ort-Kramim High-school, Karmiel, Israel. Migrating Birds Know No Boundaries Site
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