2019 /2020 Project: An inquiry about Laotian birds.
What's happening to the birds on the Mekong? We plan to use the 5E's planning framework whilst working with the Teachers and Luang Prabang Library staff planning for this inquiry in 2020. This Inquiry will fit beautifully into the Australian Science curriculum with a focus upon Life and living, but will fit into every curriculum around the world if teachers are interested in creating curious students in curious classrooms. We have looked at the Cornell lab: Ornithology PDF in our planning. Rachel has purchased binoculars from Kathmandu and we are all ready to look listen and watch. The BIG BOOK, 'Feathers for Phoebe' by Rod Clement will be a brilliant text to use as a stimulus for the Teachers to create exotic birds.
Sent a message to the author of Feathers for Phoebe today ( October 2019) about our work on the Laotian birds. Here is his wonderful response: Hi Leith, wow, what a fantastic project to be involved in, so jealous. I love the fact that Phoebe is going back to the tropics. She was inspired by the Birds of Paradise in New Guinea, where I lived for a while and my daughter’s obsession with their own appearance. ! I hope the kids have fun creating entirely new species - we need them desperately. Would love to see the results if and when the activities get underway. All the best, Rod Clement
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Planning the Bird project with the Luang Prabang Library staff:
September 2019 What made the holes in the leaves? Was it an insect? A grasshopper? A beetle? A caterpillar? What eats these insects, bugs, or creepy crawlies? I have collected some amazing images from the Citizen Science Natural Laos FB site.
Birds On the Mekong: January 2020.
We are working in partnership with Rachel and the Belmont Rotary club and two students from Curtin University, Bailey Brown and Jessica Wynn to roll out our Inquiry about Birds in Laos out with the Luang Prabang library staff and teachers up and down the Mekong. We have had some wonderful support from a group of Ornithologists from Vientiane and we are almost ready to go.... We have a training workshop coming up so ...hopefully we will have some photos to add here. Our workshops were wonderfully successful and we worked with over 120 teachers over the month of January. We had many teachers asking to join us so we might need to think about how we can do this in the future. The Library staff were outstanding in their commitment to this work and I am expecting that there will be some wonderful art and craft bird activities occurring in the Community centres, Library and schools where the Library staff work.
The Phoebe story...
Drawing birds from a Vietnamese app for Identifying south East Asian birds identifying their species and endangered status.
This was a fantastic exercise to introduce the teachers into what birds they might see in their world. I had laminated some images of birds that the ornithologists had recently seen and the teachers had to match the image to the bird image and sounds the bird makes on the app and draw the bird. ... then they had to name it and identify its endangered ness. They loved doing this task.
Paying attention to what makes a bird a bird... the characteristics . We spent some time talking with the teachers about flight, wings and feathers, how birds digest their food, how they use their beaks and how they use their feet to balance and hold onto branches.
The food cycle... we talked about where birds found their food and what they required to be healthy and thriving... so the conversation revolved around preserving forests and habitats for the insects, worms, reptiles, birds etc., that depended upon each otter in the food cycle. We explored how we as humans could support the preservation of habitats.
Berries, fruits, flowers, seeds, worms, bugs....what are the birds eating? Are they getting enough food and water? If so why and if not what’s happening to cause a problem for the birds that are becoming endangered.. especially the middle sized birds. Where is the problem happening?
Creating birds from the garden
These fantastic birds made from the garden were such a delight. It’s amazing what can be creating with sticks, leaves and seeds And a few bits from the garden. Fabulous!
Creating narratives about what’s happening to the birds... focusing upon preserving habitats, saving birds from being killed and eaten by men with slingshots and guns, protecting the forests from fire and flood, preserving the forests for the wildlife that thrives there, protecting endangered species, thinking about their response to caged birds, paying attention to the illegal wildlife trade. All of these issues were discussed and explored with the teachers.
SingXai telling a bird story about protecting a family of birds from hunters.
Making Phoebe birds ... we had groups of teachers creating collages.. bright and shiny Phoebe birds. They loved the story of Phoebes feathers. They were very taken with it. It resonated so well with them.
and groups of teachers using recycled materials such as scrunched up paper and tape to create their own Phoebe birds. I was in awe of their skills. These people know how to make and create and how to utilise whatever they can lay their hands on to create. As usual we were blown away by their fantastic skills. Truly amazing ! We always learn more from these teachers than they learn from us, is my hunch.
and afterwards.... when all the teachers had returned to their village schools with their precious bird bags and collages, Sengdao began this magnificent backdrop for the Phoebe stories in the Luang Prabang library. Rod Clement would have been overwhelmed at the reception that Phoebe received. She was a winner and we were so glad we found and used his magnificent tale. So she and her story will live on through the year. Yay! A fantastic outcome for us all.
Birds of a feather..
We plan to create some products for sale featuring our bedraggled birds... stay tuned!
Here is the ‘Pheobe comes alive in Laos’ story that we created using the WePublish app.
WePublish bird stories created from felt dioramas made by Laos teachers.