Science Fair Project Ideas: Wildlife Watch

In springtime, countless parents, teachers and home school instructors look for fun, educational science projects to perform with their kids. Whether it is a one-time only exercise or a large-scale seasonal project, why not use National Wildlife Federation’s Wildlife Watch to help?

Wildlife Watch is a perfect launching point for science projects, because the program is built around teaching basic observation and inquiry skills. Wildlife Watch simply wants to know what wildlife can be found in your community. Volunteers look for plant, animal and natural phenomena in their neighborhood and then report back on their findings. The same data that students submit to Wildlife Watch can be used to study wildlife population density, seasonal change and animal tracking.

Wildlife Watch Website

Here are some potential Wildlife Watch inspired science projects:

1. Compare the number of trees, wildflowers, birds and/or mammals found in a cement schoolyard versus a park. Why do they think there is more wildlife in one area over the other?

2. Choose a pond where frogs have been known to call in the spring. Compare the number of frogs heard on warm days versus cold days.

3. During one of the spring meteor showers, compare the number of meteors seen in an area with light pollution against one without ambient light.

The opportunities are endless.

Take a look at the Wildlife Watch website, www.nwf.org/wildlifewatch, for more science project inspiration. The website has resources for different types of learners, including a webpage for uploading photos taken by students and a Tell My Story page. Tell My Story is perfect for students who prefer to write a short story or journal entry about their experiences in nature.