Citizen Science: Anyone who watches birds, from backyards to city streets to remote forests, can help researchers better understand birds and their habits.

I hadn’t paid much attention to the term "citizen science".  Our family has been involved in many science based activities using that phrase, that have to do with the great outdoors.  Learning opportunities abound when you walk outside. But you have to be able to walk outside.

 I’ve found the "No Child Left Inside" Act and the sponsors fascinating, even while my pocketbook sputters. Federal representatives (all Democrats, except Independent Bernie Sanders) feel the need to push an outdoor agenda, while the vast majority of kids stay locked up inside classrooms.  How’s that working anyway? 

I’m just sayin’……

We homeschool.  We’re exempt from the No Child Left Behind Act that emphasizes testing, testing and testing.  The downfalls of that policy are lamented by No Child Left Inside supporters.  (It is a head spinner which No Child Left is defined.)

Teachers are actively or passively discouraged from providing valuable field based experiences for their students based on a fear of “loss of instructional time” for tested subjects.

These folks must be on the side of freely produced education, à la home education. They’d have to be.  Wouldn’t sponsors including Durbin and Burris or Jesse Jackson Jr. turn up their nose at compulsory attendance laws that demand classroom management and teacher union pacification?  (I did not say teachers’ pacification, which should be of importance.)

We didn’t use science curriculum.  We do hands-on science. Our kids want to go into a science based career and have prepared for that with 4-H activities, homeschool group activities, zoo programs and various ventures outside.  Now they’re cracking open a MIT AP Biology open courseware set that is satisfactory to this particular animal science major.  So much so that we are happy to donate to this brilliant educational opportunity.   No one and no government is making me donate.  It’s a natural obligation most grateful humans feel towards a generous quality mission. If they can afford it, and aren’t throwing up their hands after paying education taxes.

Besides an email reminder about the Great Backyard Bird Count coming up next month, I was reminded about our anarchist educational ways by a recent comment on this post:  What does the “open source” education mean? 

I’ve been exploring the website - OpenSource.com - that Greg DeKoenigsberg cited.  There’s some common ground there.

Below are some endeavors that make you look around and head outside to explore and learn more about our wondrous natural world.

Project Feeder Watch- Ongoing project until April 9th

Great Backyard Bird Count- February 12-15th

Journey North is coming right up. 

Related- Carnival of Homeschooling: No Child Left Inside