Here you will find some great eco friendly ideas that can be tried
at home or at school. Children attempting these ideas should always have
an adult present.
If you have great ideas you would like to share please send them, preferably with
photos, to seeyouseeme@bbc.co.uk and we'll put them on this page.
You can also mail them to:
Web Assistant
See You See Me
大象传媒 Scotland Education
Room 230
Glasgow
G12 8DG
Classroom Activity 1
Bottle Bird Feeder
Here's a great idea for a bird feeder that's a great way of reusing plastic
bottles.
Materials
A 2-litre plastic drinks bottle
A metal coat hanger
A sharp craft knife
A bradawl or centre-punch
Wire cutters
String
A plastic tub
Nuts of birdseed (if using peanuts, please use unsalted)
Guide
Make small incisions in the bottle on either side near the
base.
Use the wire cutters to cut the coat hanger. You should
be left with the hook and two six inch arms.
Bend the arms of the coat hanger to form hooks and insert
them into the 2 holes in the bottle. The hanger is used to hang the feeder
from a tree branch.
Pierce the tub using the centre-punch to make 4 equally
spaced holes.
Tie string around the neck of the bottle.
Thread 2 pieces of string through the holes in the tub.
The 2 pieces of string should cross each other at the base of the tub to form
a basket.
Tie the string from the tub to the string around the neck
of the bottle to suspend the tub a short distance from the neck of the bottle.
Invert the bottle and fill with nuts or birdseed.
Hang the bottle outside on a tree branch using the coat
hanger.
Classroom Activity 2
Yoghurt Pot Bird Feeder
Here's an easier exercise appropriate for younger children. Filling a tub with
peanut butter and nuts provides a good, quick classroom activity that's fun to
do and good for the birds!
Materials
A yoghurt pot (other plastic tubs will work as well)
Peanut butter
Mixed nuts and/or birdseed (if using peanuts please use
unsalted)
A spoon
A mixing bowl
Guide
Spoon the peanut butter out into the mixing bowl and mix in the nuts and/or birdseed.
Finally spoon the mixture into the yoghurt pot. Place the pot outside and high
enough to be out of the way of other forms of wildlife.
Observation Exercise
Once the bird feeders have been made and placed outdoors a good class exercise
is to keep a note of how many birds (and how many different kinds of bird) have
been spotted using the feeders.
If sent to us at the address given previously we will do our best to feature these
charts, graphs or notes.
