Youth Education

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Tell Me a Story!

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Tell Me a Story!

Swapping nature stories with kids is one of my favorite parts of each education program lesson. It’s a fun, loose, easy part of class that can be silly or serious. But the real reason I love it so much is because it gives me a little window into each kid’s relationship with nature. I can learn about what they’re noticing, what’s important enough to them to remember, and what they think is interesting enough to tell me. We learn how they feel about a sighting based on how they tell it: was the snake they saw scary or cool? Did they feel bad for the mouse, or happy that the hawk got to eat? Maybe both.

This article is part of Madison Audubon’s Spring/Summer 2022 Newsletter. Read the full newsletter here!

Photo by Carolyn Byers / Madison Audubon

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Teacher, Teacher, Teach Me Love

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Teacher, Teacher, Teach Me Love

One of the underestimated joys of human existence is watching great teachers at work and today I saw two of the best: Josie Guiney, a 4th grade teacher at Madison's Lincoln School and MAS's very own Carolyn Byers. The occasion was "the-worst-of-COVID-might-be-beyond-us" renewal of the annual field trip for those 4th graders to Dane County's Basco Unit of the Sugar River Wildlife Area. The kids spend a couple of hours learning about prairies and rivers and then accomplished some good conservation deeds.

Photo by Carolyn Byers / Madison Audubon

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Binocular Drive!

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Binocular Drive!

Donate new or gently used binoculars, or donate funds to help buy new binoculars.

This year for #BlackBirdersWeek2021, we are supporting and celebrating budding birders in Madison. We partner with Bayview Foundation and Vera Court Neighborhood Center for our after-school and summer programming. These are outstanding community centers that support a diverse population of kids.

Our goal is to collect 20 - 30 pairs of new or gently used binoculars to donate to these community centers. If you have binoculars that need a new home, send them our way!

Madison Audubon photo

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Finding New Life

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Dead things are some of my favorite teaching tools. Whether you call them study skins, specimens, or mounts, kids find them fascinating. Usually when I bring specimens into a classroom I'm met with questions. First: "is that REAL?" Then, "what IS that?!" Followed quickly by "did it used to be alive?" and "how did it die?" As I've mentioned before, I love questions like this. It’s one way I know that kids are actively engaged and learning.

Madison Audubon photo

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Help tag monarchs at Goose Pond Sanctuary

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Releasing a freshly-tagged monarch butterfly. Photo by Arlene Koziol.

Releasing a freshly-tagged monarch butterfly. Photo by Arlene Koziol.

Bring your whole family and join us at Goose Pond Sanctuary to help with conservation efforts to track declining populations of monarch butterflies. 

Photo by Arlene Koziol

Photo by Arlene Koziol

Madison Audubon works with monarchwatch.org to capture and tag butterflies at our Goose Pond Sanctuary for monitoring efforts throughout their migration route. You can help with this important citizen science effort!

According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the recognizable orange-and-black butterfly species is in trouble. "Threats, including loss of milkweed habitat needed to lay their eggs and for their caterpillars to eat, are having a devastating impact on their populations and the migration phenomenon. Unless we act now to help the Monarch, this amazing animal could disappear in our lifetime. The state of Monarchs reflects the health of the American landscape and its pollinators. Monarch declines are symptomatic of environmental problems that also pose risks to food production, the spectacular natural places that help define our national identity, and our own health. Conserving and connecting habitat for monarchs will benefit many other plants and animals, including critical insect and avian pollinators, and future generations of Americans."

Attend a tagging event at Goose Pond on September 3rd or 10th to help with this important effort. Please register! We will be unable to support additional trip attendees due to limited materials and impact on the land.