Two endangered animals entered Stonewall Centennial School on Oct. 28, as the Canadian Peregrine Foundation gave the Grades 5-8 classes an educational speech about birds of prey, specifically the great horned owl and the peregrine falcon. “It’s very important to bring them in because it gives a face to the animal,” said Kyle Holloway, an outreach programs educator with the Canadian Peregrine Foundation. Holloway also explained the aspects he talks about to students, such as habitats, communities, theory of flight, and endangered species, tie into what the students learn in their curriculum.
Before Holloway brought out the two animals – Alexandra, the approximately 10-year-old great horned owl and Oscar, the nine-year-old falcon- he went over some terminology with his audience. He defined what an endangered species was, as well as an extinct and extirpated species. He also had the students list the different actions that cause species to be endangered, such as destroying habitats and pollution, and list the different actions that can now help endangered species, such as protecting the habitat, planting more trees, and creating animal rescues.
Then he brought out Oscar, a fully-grown male falcon. Holloway explained the bird’s lifestyle to the children, his diet, what he eats, about the bird’s hearing and sight. He showed the children the bird’s wingspan as well as the animal’s nictitating membrane.
After Oscar was put away Holloway brought out Alexandra, a fully-grown female great horned owl. The bird was much larger than the falcon in size, which Holloway pointed out. He explained much of the same things to his audience, what the bird liked to eat, about the bird’s sight and hearing. He also went into some detail about the nocturnal tendencies of the bird and showed off the creature’s large wingspan as well.
“They are magnificent animals and they are on the endangered species (list)… I just want kids to appreciate that they are beautiful birds,” said the school’s principal, Ken Hoglund.
When Holloway’s presentation was finished he fielded questions from his audience. However, there wasn’t enough time for him to answer them all, but he did leave the student’s teachers with a workbook from the Canadian Peregrine Foundation to incorporate into their classes.
Hoglund says the school incorporates what the presentation outlined into the classroom in many ways. He said children at the school will go on to write stories about these animals, as well as read other articles about them.
“Hopefully it will open their interest and they’ll think more about all endangered species throughout the world. So giving a global perspective of animals and how we should treat them,” said Hoglund.
The presentation from the Canadian Peregrine Foundation was free of charge to the school as TD Friends of the Environment Foundation sponsored it.