The Mulvane Art Museum’s

TWIST and TURN Program Curriculum Guide

Topiary with a Twist, 2009

Patrick Dougherty at the Mulvane Art Museum

Mulvane Art Museum Education Programs

17th and Jewell Streets Topeka, KS 66621

785-670-2420

The Twist & Turn Program is made possible by funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Table of Contents

Section 1 The Twist & Turn Program Program Background Program Description Program Calendar Mulvane Art Museum Educational Mission, Philosophy and Goals Section 2 Fourth Grade Art Outreach Lesson Plans Drawing From Nature: Birds Bird Colors: Painting Bird Pictures Mobiles: Birds in Flight Section 3 Topiary with a Twist and the Art of Patrick Dougherty

Learn about Topiary with a Twist, the artwork that inspired Twist & Turn ! Section 4 More Birds and Art Lesson Plans Awesome Audubon Birds, a Painting Activity Incisive Bird Prints, a Printmaking Activity Wings of Stretched Metal, a Repousse Activity Building a Better Birdhouse, a Sculpture Activitiy Section 5 The Great Backyard Bird Count Information and Instructions about Participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count Section 6 Area Resources Area Resources for Nature, Birds and Outdoor Activities Section 7 Making Art and Bird Connections Colorful Songbirds by Patty Marlett Birding Basics by Pete Janzen Making More Art and Nature Connections! Section 8 Content Area Connections Science, Inquiry, Physics Lessons for Elementary Grades Math Language Arts Section 9 More Classroom Art and Nature Lesson Ideas Section 10 Attachment from Kansas Scenic Byways Fun Facts about Birds and Wildlife of Kansas

SECTION 1

THE TWIST & TURN PROGRAM

Program Background

Thanks to a National Endowment for the Arts Initiative Grant, the Mulvane Art Museum is proud to offer the Twist & Turn Program. Inspired by our sculpture, Topiary with a Twist, by Patrick Dougherty, our Program will use a multi-sensory, broad art-instructional approach that links art making processes with sound and movement, and cross-curricular connections to science and nature.

Program Description

The Twist & Turn Program includes Mulvane Art Museum’s collaboration with Topeka's USD 501, Washburn University’s Art Education Department, and our community partners. Our theme-based Program will reach a variety of audiences including our Museum's Outreach Programs to school classrooms, after-school elementary Programs, and Intergenerational art classes for seniors and youth. Twist & Turn will also offer Programs in our In-House Programs such as our Art and Wellness classes for adult cancer patients and survivors, art classes and workshops for children and adults, docent-led tours, and ArtLab experiences for people of all ages. Twist & Turn will culminate in an exhibition of artwork from Program participants. The Program will use birds as an overarching theme and participants will explore 2-D and 3-D, line, shape, color, texture, space, value, movement, balance and unity in their creations of drawings, paintings, mobiles and more. Twist & Turn Program Guides will be available to classroom teachers and on our website.

Program Calendar

• Year-round, we offer tours at the Museum and supporting ArtLab experiences.

Our Exhibitions, docent-led tours and ArtLab experiences are free. Transportation costs for school classroom Museum visits are paid through our Bus Reimbursement Program.

• For Twist & Turn participants, we will offer Program-focused tours and ArtLab activities. • Fall 2010: Curriculum Guides will be made available.

Artist-educator visits to USD 501 Fourth grades are scheduled. Museum Artist-educator Twist & Turn Program In-service.

• Spring Semester 2011: Mulvane Art Museum’s Artist-educators will visit USD 501 Fourth Grade classrooms three times for 40-minute lessons in drawing, painting, and mobile construction. Lessons support Kansas Visual Arts Standards and tie to a variety of fourth grade science skills.

• Spring and Fall 2011: Twist & Turn Program lessons will be introduced to participants in Art After School.

• Spring and Summer 2011: Twist & Turn workshops and classes will be offered at the Mulvane Art Museum and to Intergenerational Outreach Program participants.

• Fall 2011: Twist & Turn Exhibition development and preparation begins, and our new ArtLab Station is designed.

• Spring 2012: Twist & Turn Exhibition of artwork from each Program participant and gallery learning stations open. • May 2012: Artwork returned to students via their classroom teachers. • Spring 2012: Opening of new ArtLab art-and-nature station.

Additional Curriculum Guides Available from the Mulvane Art Museum’s Teacher Resource Program

featuring works from our Museum’s Permanent Collection The Kansas Quilt Collection: Art, Math and Social Studies.

Kentucky Folk Art from the Burns Collection: Art, Appalachia and Social Studies. Narrative Art: Romare Bearden, Ando Hiroshige, Tom Huck, Elizabeth Layton and Roger Shimomura.

Geography of the Plains: Robert Sudlow, Larry Schwarm, Bea Opelka, Keith Jacobshagen and Birger Sandzen. Multicultural Art: Anonymous Artist, Mexico,Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Elizabeth Terrell, Yu Yu Yang, Martina Vigil and

Florentino Montoya. Stickwork: the Art of Patrick Dougherty

(available online!)

Our Mission and Philosophy

Program Mission The Mulvane Art Museum’s educational mission is to offer opportunities for people to experiment freely with visual art media, learn basic art concepts, think critically about aesthetic issues and learn about the art of different cultures and eras. Our Programs are premised on the position that art can reinforce an integrated world of knowledge. We endeavor to serve the community by making art experiences and learning accessible and available to all. Educational Philosophy We are dedicated to providing art education and art resources. Our educational philosophy is that arts-learning takes place in both “doing” and in “viewing.” Our Programs support an integration of art educational paradigms, teaching strategies and museum educational methods. Our activities include opportunities for exploration, reflection and interpretation.

Our Museum Education Programs Support

National Endowment for the Arts Outcome #1 Children and youth demonstrate increased skills, knowledge, and/or understanding of the arts, consistent with national or state standards.

Kansas State Department of Education Visual Arts Standards Standard 1: Understanding and applying media, techniques, and processes. Standard 2: Using knowledge of the elements of art and principles of design. Standard 3: Creating art works through a choice of subjects, symbols and ideas. Standard 4: Understanding the visual arts in relation to history and culture. Standard 5: Reflecting upon and assessing the characteristics and merits of art. Standard 6: Making connections between the visual arts and other disciplines. Kansas Arts Commission Learning Goals Children think creatively and make connections with other areas of learning. Children use artistic skills and techniques. Children develop aesthetic awareness. Children pursue a deeper understanding of the world. Children engage in their community, civic, and social environment. Children express themselves. Children engage in creative exploration.

SECTION 2

FOURTH GRADE ART OUTREACH

The following lesson plans will be used by Mulvane Art Museum’s Artist-educators

to present theTwist & Turn lessons in Drawing,

Painting, and Mobile Construction.

DRAWING FROM NATURE: BIRDS Organization name: Mulvane Art Museum, Education Twist & Turn Program Teacher: Outreach and In-House Artist-educator Participant age range: Elementary, 4th Grade

Standards: Kansas Visual Arts Standards Standard 1: Understanding and applying media, techniques and processes. Standard 2: Using knowledge of the elements of art and principles of design. Standard 6: Making connections between the visual arts and other disciplines. Kansas Science Standards, Fourth Grade Standard 1: Science as Inquiry. Standard 2: Physical Science. Introduction: Line and Shape are main elements in the art of drawing. Children will learn to draw images of birds using observation of the lines and shapes that are distinct to particular birds. They will also investigate proportion and symmetry in their drawings. Children will compare and contrast the variety of lines and shapes and discuss how those elements relate to certain birds.

To make further connections with art, nature and science,

Classroom Teachers and Artist-educators may read Birding Basics by Pete Janzen in Section 7.

Classroom Teachers and Artist-educators may choose to visit http://www.all-birds.com/Anatomy.htm and

http://www.all-birds.com/bird-shape-ID.htm to introduce children to bird anatomy and bird shapes. Birds’ body shapes, beak shapes and tail shapes contribute to both the drawing and the observation of birds. For instance, Cardinals have short bills that are cone shaped (for cracking nuts); Woodpeckers have long narrow (but strong) bill shapes for drilling wood; Eagles and Hawks have hooked bills with a sharp tip (for tearing prey). What other shapes of bird bills can you describe? Bird watchers often use a bird’s silhouette for identification. Silhouettes highlight an object’s shape. Is it thin or thick? Is it round or oval? Is it wide or narrow? You can also identify tails in silhouette. Some birds have notched tails, some have rounded tails. Some tails stick up—others lay down. The shape of a bird’s head can sometimes give you clues to the type of bird you are seeing. Is it round or oval? Is it pointed on the top—or is it flat? Nests can also be observed and described in line and in shape.

Vocabulary: Line, Shape, Texture, Shape, Form, 2-D, 3-D. Materials: Example pictures of birds and bird nests (magazine pictures work well); newsprint paper; drawing paper; pencils; erasers; colored pencils. Ordered Steps: 1. Artist-educator will hand out paper, pencils and sample images. 2. Children will use newsprint paper to practice drawing shapes that they find in the sample images of birds. For instance, ovals, circles and organic shapes. 3. Artist-educator will encourage the children to draw loosely and freely. Make as many marks as necessary! 4. Children will determine if they choose to draw a standing bird, a flying bird, a waterfowl, or a nesting bird. 5. Children will construct a basic bird outline by blocking in the body shape and positioning the head shape on the drawing. 6. Children will adjust the shapes accordingly. 7. Children will join the head and body together by drawing gentle curves that represent the bird’s neck. 8. Children will identify the spatial relationships in the bird that they are drawing. For instance: Is the beak long or short in relation to the head size? Notice how the bird’s eye is very close to its beak? Is the wing close to the bird’s body, or does it appear outside the body shape? Notice how the feathers on a bird’s wing overlap? 9. When the general draft of the bird is complete, children will add details such as beak, wings, tail feathers, feet and eyes. 10. Children will complete their bird drawings by adding patterns and areas of light and dark. Reflections: What types of lines and shapes do you observe in the photograph of a bird? How are they the same or different from birds that you observe in nature? How are the lines and shapes represented in your drawing? Sharing: Describe your drawing to a friend. Tell your friend about why you chose the lines, shapes, and patterns that you used. Reference & Resource Materials: Backyard Birds, Peterson Field Guides for Young Naturalists by Jonathan Latimer, Karen Stray Nolting. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1999. Drawing Birds by John Busby. Portland, OR: Timber Press, 2005. Draw 50 Birds by Lee J. Ames. NY: Broadway Books, 1996. Faces of the Great Plains: Colorful Songbirds from Great Plains Nature Center, Wichita, KS. <http://www.gpnc.org>

BIRD COLORS: PAINTING BIRD PICTURES

Organization name: Mulvane Art Museum, Education Twist & Turn Program Teacher: Outreach and In-House Artist-educator Participant age range: Elementary, 4th Grade Standards: Kansas Visual Arts Standards Standard 1: Understanding and applying media, techniques and processes. Standard 2: Using knowledge of the elements of art and principles of design. Standard 5: Reflecting upon and assessing the characteristics and merits of art. Standard 6: Making connections between the visual arts and other disciplines. Kansas Science Standards, Fourth Grade Standard 1: Science as Inquiry. Standard 2: Physical Science. Introduction: Color, Pattern, Shape, and Space are four elements in the art of painting. Children will learn to paint images of birds using observation of the colors and patterns that are distinct to particular birds. They will also investigate shape and space in their paintings. Children will compare and contrast the variety of colors and patterns seen in birds and discuss how those elements are important to a bird’s survival.

To make further connections with art, nature and science, Classroom Teachers and Artist-educators may read

Colorful Songbirds by Patty Marlett

in Section 7. Vocabulary: Color, Shape, Form, Space, Contrast, Complementary Color, Arbitrary Color, Natural Color. Materials: Example pictures of birds and bird nests (magazine pictures work well); 80# drawing paper; pencils; erasers; watercolor paint sets (1 set per student); water containers; newspaper; paper towels. Ordered Steps: 1. Artist-educator will hand out paper, pencils and sample images. 2. Children will practice drawing shapes that they find in the sample images of birds. For instance, ovals, circles and organic shapes. 3. Children will determine if they want to represent a standing bird, a flying bird, a waterfowl, or a nesting bird. 4. Using the ideas they learned in the drawing lesson, children will construct a basic bird outline by blocking in the body shape and positioning the head shape on the drawing. 5. Children will loosely sketch the background around the bird shape. Is it sky, or prairie, or water, or your own backyard?

6. Artist-educator will demonstrate and remind children about the appropriate use of watercolor paints. 7. Artist-educator will describe the process of working from the lightest colors to the darkest colors, and how to create transparent hues. 8. Artist-educator will model the activity of color mixing. 9. Children will paint their bird images using arbitrary colors or natural colors.

Reflections: What types of colors and patterns do you observe in the photograph of a bird? How are they the same or different from birds that you observe in nature? Did you use arbitrary colors or natural colors? Why? Sharing: Describe your drawing to a friend. Tell your friend about why you chose the colors and patterns that you used. Reference & Resource Materials: Backyard Birds, Peterson Field Guides for Young Naturalists by Jonathan Latimer, Karen Stray Nolting. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1999. Birds, Nests and Eggs by Mel Boring. Minnetonka, MN: NorthWord, 1996. Drawing Birds by John Busby. Portland, OR: Timber Press, 2005. Faces of the Great Plains: Colorful Songbirds from Great Plains Nature Center, Wichita, KS. <http://www.gpnc.org>

MOBILES: BIRDS IN FLIGHT

Organization name: Mulvane Art Museum, Education Twist & Turn Program Teacher: Outreach and In-House Artist-educator Participant age range: Elementary, 4th Grade

Standards: Kansas Visual Arts Standards Standard 1: Understanding and applying media, techniques and processes. Standard 2: Using knowledge of the elements of art and principles of design. Standard 6: Making connections between the visual arts and other disciplines. Kansas Science Standards, Fourth Grade Standard 1: Science as Inquiry. Standard 2: Physical Science. Introduction: Balance, Movement, Unity and Space are four principles in the art of making mobiles. Children will create a classroom mobile using drawing and painting skills to make individual birds, and will assemble the birds into a classroom mobile. Children will work individually and as a group to create a unified work of art.

Vocabulary: Balance, Movement, Unity, Space, Contrast, Emphasis, Symmetry, Kinetic Sculpture.

Materials: Example pictures of birds and bird nests (magazine pictures work well); To create birds: 80# drawing paper; pencils; erasers; scissors; collage materials such as feathers, sequins, google eyes, crinkle paper; markers; crayons; white school glue; To create mobile: Materials for support such as wire or cardboard; yarn; fishing line; scissors; tape. Ordered Steps: 1. Artist-educator will provide a variety of materials and sample images. 2. Children will discuss how they want to create their birds. Fantastic or Naturalistic? Dimensional or Silhouette? Patterns or Solid Colors? 3. Artist-educator will review the safe use of materials. 4. Using the ideas they learned in the drawing and painting lessons, children will construct basic bird outlines and cut out their birds. 5. Children will embellish their birds in the style that they have determined. 6. Children will lace yarn or fishing line through their bird. 7. Children will use problem solving to determine how to hang their birds on the mobile. How near should the birds hang? At what height should the birds hang? How do color, pattern, texture, line and shape affect the overall work of art? Reflections: What is Kinetic Art? How would your mobile sculpture look if it did not move? How is Movement important in art and in nature? What is Equilibrium? How did you make your mobile balance? How is Balance important in art and in flight? How do the movements of the individual birds in the mobile interact?

SECTION 3

TOPIARY WITH A TWIST AND THE ART OF

PATRICK DOUGHERTY

Learn more about Topiary with a Twist by visiting the Mulvane Art Museum website

http://www.washburn.edu/mulvane

For Topiary with a Twist Curriculum Guide, time-lapse footage, photographs and articles select http://www.washburn.edu/mulvane/dougherty.html

Visit Artist Patrick Dougherty’s website at

http://www.stickwork.net

Learn more about Patrick Dougherty’s Stickworks by reading Arts and Activities Magazine’s

December 2009 Issue: Take a Walk on the Textural Side.

SECTION 4

MORE BIRDS AND

ART LESSON PLANS

Painting

Awesome Audubon Birds Arts and Activities, April 2010, Volume 147, Number 3.

Reprinted with permission from the April 2010 issue of Arts & Activities magazine. http://www.artsandactivities.com

Printmaking Incisive Bird Prints

Arts and Activities, November 2007, Volume 142, Number 3. Reprinted with permission from the November 2007 issue of Arts & Activities magazine.

http://www.artsandactivities.com

Repousse Wings of Stretched Metal

School Arts, March 2010, Volume 109, Number 7. Reprinted with permission from ©School Arts 2010.

http://www.schoolartsonline.com

Art in 3D Building a Better Birdhouse

School Arts, January 2010, Volume 109, Number 5. Reprinted with permission from ©School Arts 2010.

http://www.schoolartsonline.com

SECTION 5

THE GREAT BACKYARD BIRD

COUNT February 18-21, 2011.

The Great Backyard Bird Count started in 1997. Today, this annual event includes more than 100,000 checklists submitted and more than 11 million birds reported from the United States and Canada. You can visit the Great Backyard Bird Count to submit your count, see annual results and compare patterns from years past. The Great Backyard Bird Count is a joint project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society. The Great Backyard Bird Count http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc Audubon http://www.audubon.org Cornell Lab of Ornithology http://www.birds.cornell.edu/netcommunity

HOW TO PARTICIPATE The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual four-day event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent. Anyone can

participate, from beginning bird watchers to experts. It takes as little as 15 minutes on one day, or you can count for as long as you like each day of the event. It’s free, fun, and easy—and it helps the birds.

http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/whycount.html

Notes to the Classroom Teacher: The goal of the Great Backyard Bird Count is to observe bird activity in backyards. Encourage your students to make their observations at home or in their neighborhoods. Instruct children to make accurate counts. Please do not make participation in the GBBC a graded assignment. Please do not submit data for your students.

Many bird watching websites have bird identification resources, such as the bird guide found at Cornell Lab of Ornithology:

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/search

START HERE http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/howto.html

Get the full instructions for participation, guidelines about how to enter your results and links to the data forms!

Participation Certificates can be downloaded.

The Great Backyard Bird Count Website Includes Links To: Ways To Involve Kids

General Questions Bird Checklists

FAQs Stories and Highlights

And A Special Section For Educators!

SECTION 6

AREA RESOURCES

Great Plains Nature Center, Wichita, KS Visit the Great Plains Nature Center website to learn about nature in Kansas

http://www.gpnc.org

Kansas Scenic Byways Information about Kansas Scenic Byways, history, activities and information.

http://www.ksbyways.org

Fun Facts about Birds and Wildlife of Kansas http://www.ksbyways.org/FunFacts/BW.pdf

See the Insert at the end of this Curriculum Guide! Used with permission from Kansas Scenic Byways, (Nov. 1, 2010).

Topeka Audubon Society, Topeka, KS http://www.topekaaudubonsociety.org

W. Clement Stone Nature Center, Topeka, KS http://www.thevillagesinc.org/snc

SECTION 7 MAKING ART AND BIRD CONNECTIONS

Colorful Songbirds by Patty Marlett

The brilliant colors of birds provide enjoyment and brighten our world. But for the birds, color is a serious matter of survival. For some, their colors are bright for attracting a mate and communication. Color also provides camouflage for hiding from predators. Bright colors and attractive visual displays are an important part of courtship for many bird species. To the females, a beautiful male means he is healthy and vigorous, a good father for their chicks. Experiments with several species have shown the brightest males are the most successful at mating. Color can stimulate mates to be … receptive and synchronize the male and female reproductive schedules. The brightest males are also best at defending territory. Their color serves as a warning or threat to competitors that intimidates without the need for actual combat. Conspicuous color patterns serve as a recognition mark for distinguishing friend from foe, or for keeping a flock together. A bright color pattern may help scare off predators. A flash of color that is shown when the bird takes flight may surprise or startle a predator and give the bird a few extra seconds to escape. Many colorful species, like warblers, are bright only during the breeding season, and have much drabber plumage when displays are not needed. Whenever a bird is brightly colored, the color must be important enough to outweigh the disadvantage of being more conspicuous. Birds also use color as camouflage. “Cryptic” coloration describes colors and patterns that make a bird inconspicuous. Owls, nightjars and other ground-dwelling birds blend into their surroundings with mottled brown and gray feathers. “Disruptive” coloration is a striking pattern that breaks up the outline of the bird and makes it hard to recognize. The banding on a Killdeer is an example. Many birds have “countershading,” meaning their bottom side is lighter than their topside. This eliminates a sharply defined shadow, since the dark back absorbs light from above while the light belly reflects light from below. Nearly all shorebirds are countershaded. Camouflage is almost exclusively related to protection against predators. Color is produced by pigments in the feathers and by the structure of the feather itself. Feathers contain three kinds of pigments: melanin, carotenoids and porphyrins. Melanin, the most common, produces black, grays and brown. Melanin is the same pigment that produces color in human skin. Feathers with a high melanin concentration are physically stronger than light-colored feathers. Because of this, some white birds have dark wingtips to reduce wear on important flight feathers. Dark feathers also protect the delicate skin from the ultraviolet rays in sunlight so many birds have dark down feathers. Carotenoids produce reds and yellow, such as the red of the male Cardinal. Birds cannot produce carotenoids, but obtain them exclusively through diet. Yellow carotenes come from grains and seeds. The pink in flamingo feathers comes from the crustaceans that are their main food. The red pigments in House Finches are from carotenoids. Porphyrins produce a range of reds, browns and greens. Mixed with melanins, they increase the color palette available. The browns in owl feathers are largely produced by porphyrins. Most blue and green birds have no blue or green pigments in their feathers. These colors are produced by the structure of the cells, which create complex patterns of reflection and refraction. These structural colors may be iridescent or non-iridescent. Iridescence is the result of the interaction of structure and embedded melanin granules. Non-iridescent structural colors look the same regardless of the angle of the light. Thus a Blue Jay looks blue from any angle. Iridescent structural colors change with the angle of the light. The bright georgette of a hummingbird looks black or purple or red depending on the angle of the light. Reprinted with permission from Great Plains Nature Center, Wichita, KS, (Oct. 27, 2010). From Faces of the Great Plains 2010 Poster, Colorful Songbirds. http://www.gpnc.org

Excerpts from:

The Guide to Kansas Birds and Birding Hot Spots Text by Pete Janzen Birding Basics BIRDING TECHNIQUES A few tips are in order when you are birding in the field. Bird activity is greatest during the first few hours of daylight, and to a lesser degree in the late afternoon. Most birders are in the field at those times of the day. Avoid wearing brightly colored or white clothing, as birds perceive more of the light spectrum than humans and generally react negatively to humans wearing bright colors. When birding on foot, walk slowly and quietly. Pause frequently to look and listen. The longer you are motionless, the more birds become used to your presence. When you see a bird, restrain the impulse to hurry toward it. Instead, approach it slowly and avoid sudden movements. When you spot a distant bird, keep your eyes on it as you raise your binoculars. This is hard to do at first but soon becomes second nature. Weather conditions are also an important consideration, especially during migration. When low-pressure systems dominate, birds sense them and are often more active. Particularly strong low-pressure fronts during the spring and fall migrations sometimes cause large numbers of migrating birds to interrupt their flight until the weather has moderated. Birders refer to these hoped-for events as “fallouts.” When high pressure dominates, stronger winds and clear skies are the norm, and fewer migrants can be expected. In Kansas, the ideal weather conditions for birding are a combination of low wind speed, overcast skies, and low pressure. While awareness of these factors is useful, “perfect” days are few, so do not let less-than-ideal conditions keep you at home. When you are first learning to bird, identifying the birds you encounter can seem bewildering. Do not grab your field guide and try to use it while observing a bird. Instead, observe the bird carefully and try to remember everything you can about it before it flies away. Then consult your field guide. After you learn to identify the common birds, it will be easier to identify species that are new to you. Enjoy the learning process, and remember: The best birders in the field today learned to identify birds one species at a time. Most identification involves using a process of logical elimination. Several criteria should be taken into consideration as you study an individual bird. Size and Shape: Compare the size of the bird to those you are already familiar with, such as the Canada Goose, American Crow, Blue Jay, or House Sparrow. The shape of a bird is another significant clue. Look for how slender or plump the bird is and how long its wings and tail are. Bill and Legs: Observing the leg and bill structure of a bird will allow you to swiftly narrow your identification to a few families of birds. Herons have long legs for wading in water and a large spiked bill for catching fish. Sparrows have short legs and conical bills for cracking seeds. Sandpipers have long, thin bills that allow them to probe in mud for invertebrates, and longer legs for wading in shallow water. Hawks have prominent talons and hooked beaks for catching and consuming prey. Color and Pattern: Look for the presence or absence of plumage patterns such as spotting or streaking. The presence or absence of wing bars is often a good clue on songbirds. Head markings are often important. Look for eye rings, eye stripes, and any distinctive markings on the crown or nape (back of the neck). Tail patterns often provide clues to identification. Posture: Note the bird’s posture. Herons and shorebirds stand upright on long legs. Woodpeckers cling to tree trunks. Hawks perch on fence posts or utility poles.

Habitat: Habitat is often a major clue to identification. Herons and shorebirds wade in streams and marshes. Nesting Dickcissels sing from perches in the prairies and fields. Most warblers and vireos forage in the canopy of mature woodlands. Vocalizations: In many cases you will hear birds before you see them. Seasoned birders identify as many birds by song as they do by sight. Learning the songs and calls of birds is an acquired skill. There are a variety of commercially available recordings of bird vocalizations that will assist you in becoming familiar with these songs. However, there is really no substitute for spending time in the field and learning these calls from your own experiences. Sometimes making a sound that birders call “spishing” will draw birds into the open, as it mimics alarm or the scolding calls of other birds. Try saying the word “spish” using only your mouth (no vocal chords). Exaggerate the “s” sounds, eliminate the vowel sound, and extend the “sh”‘ sound at the end of the word. You end up with a sound like “ssssssspssssssssssshhhhhh.” Repeating this several times in a row, varying the speed and tempo, will often coax birds into the open. Some birders make wet, squeaking sounds instead of spishing. Mixed flocks of songbirds will gather to noisily mob predators such as cats, snakes, and owls when they become aware of them. Playing the calls of Screech Owls sometimes triggers this response and draws birds into view as they attempt to locate the “predator.” This technique is effective but should not be overdone. Another method for attracting birds into view is by playing a recording of their own songs or calls. This can also be an effective technique but should not be overdone, as it can potentially cause birds to leave the area or even abandon their nests in response to what they perceive as competition from a more aggressive member of their species Birding Ethics: As benign as birding may seem, there are ethical standards that you should adhere to. Birding ethics mostly involve using common sense. Avoid disturbance of natural habitats, nesting birds, and rare or threatened species. Respect property rights. Birds should not be disturbed as a result of the actions of birders. If you discover an exceptionally rare bird, try to not disturb it so that others may have an opportunity to see it. WHERE TO FIND BIRDS If you are just becoming interested in birding, start in your own yard. You can attract many birds to your yard by providing their basic requirements. This usually involves a combination of landscaping, plantings that offer food and shelter, bird baths, bird feeders, and bird houses. Once you have familiarized yourself with the birds around your home, you may decide to venture elsewhere in your local area to search for new species. When you are considering where to go looking for birds, remember that birders are not wired to observe the outdoors in the same way as most people. Birders do not really see landscapes—they see habitats. As they do so, they consider what species might be present within those habitats. Make an effort to sample a variety of habitats, and do so at different seasons of the year. Check woodlands along rivers and streams, especially in areas where trees are otherwise scarce. State or county parks usually have areas of native habitat. Native grasslands offer a different set of birds from those found in woodlands or urban situations. Lakes and wetlands should also be investigated. Is there a low-lying area that always floods after significant rains? It probably attracts migrating shorebirds in the spring and fall, herons in the summer, and waterfowl in the winter. The brushy fringes of both woodlands and grasslands (often referred to as “transitional” or “edge” habitats) typically provide the most productive birding in a given area. Weedy patches of sunflowers attract many birds in the fall and winter months. In many small towns, the local wastewater treatment ponds attract birds, especially in western Kansas, where other bodies of water are absent. These are not glamorous locations to visit, but they are great places to see birds you otherwise would not find. Cemeteries with numerous pines and cedars are another good place to look for birds, especially in the winter and during migration. These are some examples of the kinds of places that birders frequent, but there are many others. Each local area is different and has its own habitat dynamics. Reprinted with permission from Great Plains Nature Center, Wichita, KS, (Oct. 27, 2010). From Faces of the Great Plains 2010 Poster, Colorful Songbirds. http://www.gpnc.org Birding Basics, by Pete Jenzen, Excerpts from: The Guide to Kansas Birds and Birding Hot Spots by Bob Gress and Pete Janzen with a foreword by Kenn Kaufman; © 2008 by the University Press of Kansas.

MAKING MORE ART AND NATURE CONNECTIONS VISIT THESE SITES!

Visit the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Education Section and Online Bird Guide

as a resource for bird identification, bird sounds, maps and natural history! http://www.allaboutbirds.org

Birdwatching-bliss.com is an online guide to attracting, identifying and enjoying birds!

Learn about bird skeletal structures, bird characteristics and bird flight. http://www.birdwatching-bliss.com/bird-characteristics.html

WhatBird.com is an online Field Guide to Birds of North America.

Search birds by location, shape, color, size, habitat, bill shape or length, wing shape, song and more! http://www.whatbird.com

Birding.com has a page for bird identification and bird parts.

http://www.birding.com/bird_identification.asp

You can study bird anatomy at All-birds.com http://www.all-birds.com

SECTION 8

CONTENT AREA CONNECTIONS

SCIENCE Standard 1: Science as Inquiry. Standard 2: Physical Science.

Standard 3: Life Science. Standard 7: History and Nature of Science.

Read the story of John James Audubon.

“John James Audubon 1785-1851, American Woodsman: Our Namesake and Inspiration” Audubon was a scientist and wildlife artist.

http://web4.audubon.org/nas/jja.html

Check out the Science Stories about last year’s Backyard Bird Count! http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/science-stories/2010-results

Connect with the outdoors!

K-12 Resources for science and education from Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology http://www.birds.cornell.edu/netcommunity

Inquiry

Observe, investigate, and seek answers in Cornell’s Bird Sleuth Program! http://www.BirdSleuth.net/inquiry

BirdSleuth: Investigating Evidence link: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdsleuth/inquiry-resources/investigating-evidence-1/investigating-evidence

Physical Science

Download a set of nine lessons using bird behavior to teach elementary physical setting and living environment concepts, use multimedia examples that go with the lessons, and find contact information.

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/education/educators/physics/elementary

Nature Bring nature into your classroom from the Audubon Society. http://education.audubon.org/tips-bringing-nature-classroom

Design and create a classroom nature discovery center.

http://education.audubon.org/sites/default/files/documents/class_nat_dis_cen.pdf

Recycle a milk carton! Build a bird feeder.

http://web4.audubon.org/educate/educators/Stonyfield_howto.html

MATH

Participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count! Analyze the counts through the years!

See how data has changed. Visit this website to learn about the significance of counting birds!

http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/whycount.html

Share conclusions visually through graphs in Cornell’s Bird Sleuth Program! http://www.BirdSleuth.net/inquiry

LANGUAGE ARTS

Art and Language Bird Visual Puns – Try this art lesson that supports learning about word play and visual puns.

http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/elem/Kenna-birdpuns.htm

Art and Description Mother Nature, the Designer.

http://www.lessonplanspage.com/ArtScienceObservationalNaturePencilDrawings6.htm

Share! Ways to spread the word about the Great Backyard Bird Count in your community! http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/get-involved/spread-the-word

Read a glossary of bird terms!

http://www.whatbird.com/FAQ_Glossary/Glossary.aspx

SECTION 9

MORE CLASSROOM ART AND NATURE LESSON IDEAS

Books Art Connections: Integrating Art Throughout the Curriculum by Kimberly Boehler Thompson and Diana Standing Loftus. Glenview, IL: GoodYearBooks, 1995. Arty Facts: Linking Art to the World Around Us. (Series). NY: Crabtree. Activities for Creating Pictures and Poetry by Janis Bunchman and Stephanie Bissell Briggs. Worchester, MA: Davis, 1994. Bridging the Curriculum Through Art: Interdisciplinary Connections by Pamela Stephens and Nancy Walkup. Glenview, IL: Crystal Productions, 2000. Children and Painting by Cathy Weisman Topal. Worchester, MA: Davis, 1992. Global Art by MaryAnn Kohl. Beltsville, MD: Gryphon House, 1998. Good Earth Art: Environmental Art for Kids by MaryAnn Kohl and Cindi Gainer. Bellingham, WA: Bright Ring, 1991. Organic Crafts: 75 Earth-Friendly Art Activities by Kimberly Monaghan. Chicago: Chicago Review P, 2007. World Cultures Through Art Activities by Dindy Robinson. Engelwood, CO: Teacher Idea, 1996.

Periodicals and Lesson Plans Online Arts and Activities Magazine. (Periodical). Publishers Development Corp. <http://www.artsandactivities.com>. Scholastic Art Magazine. (Periodical). Scholastic Publishing. <http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/classmags/art.htm>. School Arts Magazine. (Periodical). Davis Publishing. <http://www.davisart.com>.

Web Sites and Lesson Plans HotChalk, Inc. 2010. < http://www.lessonplanspage.com/index.html> Incredible @rt Department. Elementary Art Lessons, Princeton Online Lesson Plans. 2010. <http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/elem/elemlessons.html>. Kennedy Center, ArtsEdge. 2010. <http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/educators/lessons.aspx>

Art Education and Arts Advocacy

Kansas Arts Commission <http://arts.ks.gov> Kansas Citizens for the Arts <http://www.kansasarts.org>

National Art Education Association < http://www.arteducators.org> National Endowment for the Arts <http://www.nea.gov>

15

White-tailed?Deer...Bucks are solitary while doe and young deer travel together. Bucks mark their mating territory by rubbing their antlers against small saplings.

When frightened, a white-tailed deer will make a loud, snorting sound and then raise its tail upward like a flag, exposing the white underneath, to alert other deer.

The deers' thin legs help them run up to 35 miles per hour, jump 9-foot fences, and swim!

Cottontails...Cottontails breed constantly from February to September and only take off an hour or two after giving birth before mating!

If all the young of each litter survived, the descendants of one female could give birth to 350,000 rabbits in five years! It's a good thing rabbits can reproduce so rapidly because they are food for hawks, owls, eagles, skunks, foxes, coyotes, snakes, opossums, and raccoons. The lifespan is only one to two years.

These two-to-four pound herbivores protect themselves with their speed, and their ability to leap and change direction abruptly while running.