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Dear Teachers,

We are very thankful for your participation in this field test of our new EPA-sponsored curriculum. We need your feedback to make this curriculum as exciting and easy-to-use as possible!

The eleven lessons in this curriculum are listed along the left navigation bar. They are listed in a recommended order, but we think you'll find that these lessons can actually be completed in almost any order. You'll notice that migration, conservation, science process and collaboration, and citizen science are the main themes for these activities. Below is a diagram of the lessons, by theme.



We welcome and encourage your feedback about these lessons. You can send us your feedback -- comments about everything from our recommended order, to classroom usability and content -- in writing or online. Keep in mind, we need your feedback by the end of the school year OR by June 1, 2012... whichever comes first. We hope that you'll try most, if not all, of these lessons with your students. However, if there are lessons you can't complete with your students, please read these over and let us know if you see any potential "red flags." For successful completion of the field test, however, we ask that you use and provide feedback for at least seven of the lessons.

These lessons were developed by a project team, with support from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). We hope you'll routinely be in touch with the educator at your partner site. These educators will help convey your responses to us and hopefully observe a few lessons as you teach them. Educators from around the country are collaborating on this project. These partners include:
 * Margaret Scaglione, Yonkers Public School District (Yonkers, NY);
 * Kim Check, Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art, Salisbury University ﻿(Salisbury, MD) ;
 * Alberto Lopez-Torres, Sciencenter (Ithaca, NY);
 * Lori Nicholson, North Florida National Refuge Complex (Tallahassee area, FL);
 * Sharon Kassing, Saint Louis Zoo (St. Louis, MO);
 * Ben Jones, Trinity River Audubon Center (Dallas, TX);
 * Missy Wipf, PRBO Conservation Science (Petaluma, CA).

We hope to link students in these regions in exciting ways. As pilot test teachers, you can help us discover how these connections can work. YOU and your assistance will truly make this curriculum usable by teachers and students all throughout the country. We thank you!

Sincerely,

Jennifer Fee K-12 Programs Manager Cornell Lab of Ornithology

jms327@cornell.edu (607)254-2403