Audubon Adventures

Getting Started with
Sharing Our Shores

Read the Background for Teachers essay. It contains more in-depth information that will help you answer questions and guide students’ exploration.
Familiarize yourself with the For Kids content for “Sharing Our Shores.”
Review the classroom- and field-based hands-on activities in Teacher-Led Activities and choose the ones suited to your curricular needs and classroom circumstances.
Introduce the topic with a discussion. Here are some suggested discussion starters:

Have you ever been to a shore or coast? What was it like?
What animals did you see there?
What kinds of birds live along the coast or shore? Can you give any examples?
What kinds of food do you think birds living along coasts eat? How do they get their food?
Where do you think birds that live near the shore lay their eggs?
Do you think the beach is a safe place for birds and other wild animals? Why or why not?
What can people do to make the shore safe for birds and other animals?

Review these topic-specific vocabulary words or have students define them as they discover them in context in the “Sharing Our Shores” student magazine (PDF):

Arctic
beach hopper
bill
breeding grounds
camouflage
coast
crustacean
distraction
dune

flyway
habitat
inland
limpet
migrate
marsh
mollusk
mussel
plover

predator
scrape
shore
shorebird
steward
tidepool
tundra
wintering grounds

Definitions for all vocabulary words can be found in the online Naturalist’s Glossary.
With the whole class or in small groups, review the Audubon Adventures student magazine, “Sharing Our Shores,” and other student content that you’ve incorporated into your teaching or that students have explored on their own.
Do the hands-on activities you’ve selected, and follow up with review and discussion.
Download the Assessment questions and answer key as a tool for evaluating students’ learning with “Sharing Our Shores”
Extend learning with print, online, and video resources found in the Naturalist’s Bibliography.

Photo: Peggy Cook.