Education Program Home Page
Schools visited - Letters and drawings from schools that have participated
Hall of Fame - Some of the outstanding artwork submissions from students
Articles - Newspaper and Journal articles about School Visits
Objectives - CPF's educational goals
Project School Visit - an overview of the program
Comments - testimonials about Project School Visit
Resources - information on our videos and Student's Guides
Photo galleries - pictures and biographies of our educational birds
Birds of Prey Education Centre - CPF's facility at Kortright
FAQ's - answers to commonly asked peregrine questions
Peregrine biology - further information on peregrines
The Canadian Peregrine Foundation believes that informing the public about conservation issues is critical to the continued recovery of the peregrine falcon and other endangered species. Currently, the Foundation is focusing largely on Project School Visit, aimed at students in grades 4 and 6 across Ontario. Our aim is to instill a conservation ethic in children at a young age in the hope that they will grow up to be concerned stewards of the environment. The Foundation also reaches out to adults through visits to community groups, festivals, etc. The Foundation's goal in all cases is to raise awareness of environmental issues in general, and to generate support for the protection of endangered species such as the peregrine falcon in particular.
| Project School Visit is an effort by the Canadian Peregrine Foundation to introduce the peregrine falcon to students in southern Ontario schools. At each school, a biologist from the Canadian Peregrine Foundation provides a 40 to 45 minute presentation for students. The talk is designed to tie in with the new Ontario science curriculum, with an emphasis on habitats, ecosystems, the diversity of living things, and flight. |
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Other topics covered in the presentation include a
description of the peregrine falcon in relation to other raptors, an overview of why the
peregrine is endangered, and suggestions of what can be done to help the peregrine and
other rare species in need of human assistance. Throughout the presentation, students are encouraged to ask questions and provide input. As part of the presentation, a short segment of the Canadian Peregrine Foundation's video "Life on the Ledge" is shown to illustrate peregrine behaviour at an urban nest site. |
| Many students have little prior knowledge
about peregrine falcons or other raptors. As part of the presentation, Canadian
Peregrine Foundation biologists define the features which characterize a
raptor and introduce students to some of the species they are more likely
to see near their school, such as American kestrels and red-tailed hawks. Each school is also provided with up to 30 copies of our "Student's Guide to Ontario's Endangered Wildlife", featuring the peregrine falcon. These books allow students to study the peregrine falcon further, under the guidance of their teacher. |
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For many students, the most memorable part
of Project School Visit is the opportunity to see a live peregrine falcon in their own
classroom. At each school, a trained bird handler is present with a live
peregrine for the students to look at up close. The peregrines which are used for
Project School Visit are all non-releasable birds, and the students are told the nature of
the bird's injuries and why it cannot be released to the wild. Project School Visit is currently being offered to classes in grades 4 through 7 from schools in southern Ontario cities. If you know of a class that would be interested in participating in Project School Visit, please e-mail us for more information. |
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