Next Generation

Environmental Education Programming

BirdNote Next Generation awards grants to environmental education programs to incorporate BirdNote media into their curricula. BirdNote also contracts with media producers to create new media about, by, and for young listeners.

The 2019 environmental education grantees are:

The Bird School Project / Santa Cruz, CA
Environment for the Americas (for World Migratory Bird Day) / Boulder, CO
Heritage Farm Museum & Village / Huntington, WV
Spring Creek Prairie AudubonCenter/ Lincoln, NE

Each grantee proposed creative ways to incorporate BirdNote into their programs, and all prioritize diversity and inclusion in their work. BirdNote will share the new curricula they develop as “open source” material freely available to educators across the country.

The Bird School Projectwill use BirdNote resources to develop lessons for middle-schoolers that address two broad-scale human impacts: climate change and habitat loss. BirdNote stories will play a pivotal role in the place-based learning and schoolyard observation that are at the core of the Bird School Project’s instruction.

Environment for the Americas plans to integrate BirdNote into World Migratory Bird Day education programs nationwide, with a focus on public libraries. A “Birds in My Culture” education kit will guide participants' learning about migratory birds and the threats they face, culminating in the creation of their own BirdNote stories.

Heritage Farm Museum & Village will incorporate BirdNote resources into its programs (“Wild Walks,” “Natural Knowledge” and “Kids Day Wild Heritage”) to connect children and families to nature in rural Appalachia.

Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center will use BirdNote resources to help create a “Bird Brains” summer camp program and curriculum in 2019, serving underrepresented youth and their families. Campers participate in project-based learning and hands-on investigations into one of the fastest declining ecosystems in the world.

You'll find a summary of environmental education programs and media funded by Next Generation in 2018, including links to open source lesson plans, here.

Special thanks to the Falconer Family of Seattle, the Bobolink Foundation, the Treeline Foundation, and the Peg and Rick Young Foundation for their targeted support of BirdNote: Next Generation.