Check out our Purple Martin homes at Smith Elementary

martinteach · Fri May 30, 2014 9:07 pm

Matt F. · Fri May 30, 2014 10:53 pm

Great video Daryle!
You can tell the kiddos are loving it!
Future Martin landlords in the making!

martinteach · Sat May 31, 2014 6:03 am

Thanks Matt! This was a completely different end to our year than last year (if you remember what happened to our big house).

I wish that I can provide more experiences like this for my students. All I need are outstanding hands-on science experiences like this for my students every day. No problems with encouraging reluctant learners. I don't have any!!

Daryle

John Miller · Sat May 31, 2014 10:14 am

Great. I have had doubts about whether housing at elementary schools is of value. Now I don't. Will share this with a guy who is pursuing a setup at an elementary school in St. Louis County.

John

martinteach · Sun Jun 01, 2014 3:00 pm

We do everything that all of you do but on a smaller scale. I have a team of student managers to document and record our findings. We make strategies on how to handle the infrequent sparrow nests. The students fill out the spreadsheet for the PMCA study before they leave for their summer break. Fire drills and mariachi bands sometimes excite birds, but no one has moved out! Just make sure that his school puts a lock on the pulley system, and an added removeable bolt helps as an additional break. Most importantly, inspect all of your hardware every year. I had our maintenance staff double check for me. Never let students walk under the houses, but I am starting to like the gourds best.

martinteach · Mon Jun 02, 2014 5:46 am

John,

I have an idea. Would your teacher and students like to Skype with us next year and our students can mentor your students? We could try this in January or February as the scouts start arriving. In any case, anyone interested in participating on Skype or even on our class Twitter account which is #smithfourth could be mentored. I know that PMCA used to have a mentoring page, but I haven't seen if for a while.

We are also studying owls next year and I have an owl expert Skyping with us and he might have owls with him when he Skypes. Skype is a really useful tool in education. Any school that would like to talk with us is welcome! I think this is around our 6th year (or close to it) with success.

Daryle

DornCounty · Mon Jun 02, 2014 8:15 am

John Miller wrote:Great. I have had doubts about whether housing at elementary schools is of value. Now I don't. Will share this with a guy who is pursuing a setup at an elementary school in St. Louis County.

John

If it wasn't for seeing martins as a kid I most likely never would have started my colony.

John Miller · Mon Jun 02, 2014 10:03 am

Dorn County

Yes, me too. But I'm weird and was fascinated.

Most kids and most people are oblivious unless there's some way to engage them. Giving the kids binoculars seems like a great way.

John

martinteach · Tue Jun 03, 2014 5:22 pm

I wrote a grant for the binoculars several years ago with a lot of help from Mrs. Chambers (PMCA).

taxidermy lady · Tue Jun 03, 2014 6:16 pm

This whole story is wonderful! My boys would have loved that at school. They are very nature oriented!

John Barrow · Tue Jun 03, 2014 9:52 pm

Great video, Daryle. i remember you and your son coming down to Port O'Connor to help band martins for his eagle scout training. You have built a really remarkable school curriculum around the school's martin colony. Thanks for sharing it with us.

martinteach · Wed Jun 04, 2014 5:44 am

Thanks everyone. Yes, our science curriculum has grown around this project. I have a great contact in North Carolina at an educational site called Field Trip Earth. He has connected me to experts on bats and bees. Next year we are studying owls with an expert and will see live animals. By the time we get to Purple Martins my students are so excited!