Getting Started with
The Curious Case of the Florida Scrub-Jay

1. Read the Background for Teachers essay. It contains more in-depth information that will help you answer questions and guide students’ exploration.
2. Familiarize yourself with the For Kids content for “The Curious Case of the Florida Scrub-Jay.”
3. Introduce the topic with a discussion. Here are some suggested discussion starters:
• There is a kind of bird that lives only in certain place in Florida. Why do you think it doesn’t live anywhere else? What could make a certain kind of place so special for that bird?
• What do birds need from a habitat in order to survive there?
• How do trees, bushes, and other plants help birds survive?
4. Review these topic-specific vocabulary words or have students define them as they discover them in context in the “The Curious Case of the Florida Scrub-Jay” student magazine (PDF):
abundance
acorn
amphibian
beetle
burrow
cache
caching
caterpillar
cooperative breeder
cycle
decline
development

dominate
drought
ecosystem
endemic
generation
habitat
insect
jay
mammal
nestling
population
predator

protein
reliable
reptile
scrub
sentinel
shrub
skink
species
sprout
threatened
umbrella species
wildfire


Definitions of all vocabulary words can be found in the online Naturalist’s Glossary.

5. With the whole class or in small groups, review the Audubon Adventures student magazine, “The Curious Case of the Florida Scrub-Jay,” and other student content that you’ve incorporated into your teaching or that students have explored on their own.
6. Extend learning with print, online, and video resources found in the Naturalist’s Bibliography.

Photo: Carlton Ward Jr.