Audubon New York’s For the Birds! Environmental Education Program

In 2018, through a competitive process, Audubon New York, a state program of the National Audubon Society, was awarded $100,089 in GCEF funding (and provided $35,586 in matching funds) to deliver environmental education programs, workshops, and hands-on stewardship activities for Greenpoint children, adults, and families. This For the Birds! Environmental Education Program grant – devoted to local wildlife and ecosystems – was an extension of two previously funded GCEF projects: For the Birds! at P.S. 110 The Monitor and For the Birds! at St. Stanislaus Kostka Catholic Academy.

In the project, students from P.S. 110 and St. Stanislaus Kostka were once again engaged in the For the Birds! Curriculum, and Greenpoint residents were able to learn about local birds and their habitats through a series of community bird walks. The project also planted native plants in the P.S. 110 Garden and Lentol Garden.

In 2020, Audubon New York’s For the Birds! Environmental Education Program was awarded $1,555 in additional GCEF funding to deliver an eight-session, remote-learning bird education program to approximately 100 third-grade students at P.S. 31. Lesson topics included basic bird identification, how and why birds migrate, bird habitats, and how to take a neighborhood bird walk. The project also hosted two virtual neighborhood bird walks as part of a Fall 2020 webinar series attended by more than 60 Greenpoint residents. Viewers learned how to identify birds both by sight and by ear, and what birds can be seen in Greenpoint during fall migration.

• Reached a total of 516 students, teachers, volunteers, and community members in Greenpoint through its educational programming, habitat projects, and community bird walks
• Delivered For the Birds! Curriculum to 302 students in 14 classrooms including 3^rd graders at P.S. 110 The Monitor; and 2^nd, 3^rd, and 5^th graders at St. Stanislaus Kostka Catholic Academy
• Organized a school-wide assembly at St. Stanislaus Kostka for 140 students and faculty on birds of prey in conjunction with Volunteers for Wildlife (a Long Island-based animal hospital and education center)
• Engaged 50 Greenpoint residents through 5 community bird walks, observing a total of 50 bird species
• Installed 776 native plants in the gardens at P.S. 110 and Lentol Garden
• Created an 8-session, remote-learning, bird education program for approximately 100 3^rd graders at P.S. 31 Samuel F. Dupont in 2020
• Engaged more than 60 Greenpoint residents through 2 virtual community bird walk webinars in 2020

• Audubon New York’s For the Birds! Environmental Education Program: Virtual Lesson Plans, Video Links and Follow-Up Activities
  • Audubon Adventures: Get to Know Birds
  • Pigeon Morphs Coloring Sheets
  • Pigeon Morphs Coloring Sheets: Key
  • Pigeon Watchlist
  • Audubon Adventures: Migratory Birds
  • Audubon New York Field Guide
  • Paper Airplane Instructions
• Audubon New York’s For the Birds! Environmental Education Program: Webinars
  • Greenpoint – Fall Migration:
    
  • Greenpoint – Birding by Ear:
    
  • DIY Window Decals Tutorial:
    
  • Gantry Plaza State Park:
    
  • Coney Island Walk:
    
  • Greenpoint – Bird Walk:
    
  • DOE Field trip 3-5:
    

Audubon in Action: When David Sibley is Your Art Teacher (Audubon, April 26, 2019)