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Audubon Alaska's main educational project, the Bird Academy, is a 16-activity curriculum that promotes awareness and appreciation of birds, their ecological role in the natural world and how each of us can foster their conservation.

Because people care more deeply and have a better understanding about that which they experience, Bird Academy is designed to get kids outside with hands-on activities, experiential bird study, reflection and observation in natural settings. The programs may utilize city parks, suburban nature centers, or other bird habitats near towns and villages. The program also features a combination of in and out of door activities to observe and study bird behavior, some of the many adaptations that birds possess, and to learn about current scientific research on birds.

The program is highly suitable to be conducted as a core program spanning a quarter’s study in school, an intensive, or as a "Bird Camp". Camps work particularly well in rural settings so that community members may add traditional and cultural components, such as Native drumming and dancing, story telling, arts and crafts, and traditional foods to the program.

Curriculum
The curriculum, aligned to Alaska State Education Standards in science, math, language arts, history, geography, and culture, is appropriate for upper elementary students to middle school (it is closely aligned with the Anchorage School District’s 4th and 5th grade framework).

Although the program helps strengthen success in academics, the activities are also well suited to after-school programs and camp settings.

Click here for an overview of the Bird Academy Curriculum (256 kb PDF).

Session Fees
Most Audubon Alaska-led Bird Academy sessions are two or three days in length, approximately 5 hours of instruction time per day. The instruction times usually run from 9-3 with cultural activities added on in the afternoon and evening by community members and appropriate school staff. Sessions cost $5/child/day (usually for a minimum of 22 students) plus travel costs from Anchorage and accommodations at the program site for one to two Audubon staff.

To Request a Session
Request a Bird Academy Session for your students

Curriculum Training Workshops
Training workshops (8 hours or 16 hours in length) are held 2-4 times per year in various locations in Alaska, depending on demand. Contact Bucky Dennerlein to request a workshop in your area or to request the complete schedule of trainings. University of Alaska Continuing Education credits may be earned by attending a 16-hour workshop. Workshops may be customized to fit your district, school, or group’s needs and schedules.

Teaching Bird Academy
In order to keep the curriculum from sitting on a shelf, it is distributed only to training workshop participants and is not available for purchase without the training. It is, however, given to group leaders or classroom teachers who sign their class or group up for a Bird Academy session led by Audubon Alaska (the leader or teacher is expected be familiar with the activities in order to better assist Audubon Alaska with their group’s session). Click here to learn more about how to prepare for teaching Bird Academy (297 kb .doc). Click here for more information about Workshops.