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Nebraska
Wildlife Federation Presents
Wildlife Week Nebraska 2008:
Pollinators!
April 20-26, 2008
Is An
Outdoor Classroom in Your Future?
Teachers, if you have
ever wished for an outdoor lab where your students could
learn about nature in a hands-on way, NOW might be the time
to plan one. In 1996, the Nebraska Wildlife
Federation published our Guide to Nebraska Schoolyard
Habitat Areas. Unfortunately, the demand was so high
that our limited printing was quickly sold or given away,
but we hope to put an updated edition of that publication on
our web site in the future.
Through the links
below you can access information on how to plant a Monarch
Waystation and a pollinator garden in your schoolyard. With
such a resource at your classroom door, your students could
observe pollinators first hand as well as provide
host plants and sources of nectar for monarch butterflies
during their spring and fall migration. Your garden would
also provide much-needed habitat for other pollinators.
To get started, visit the links listed below.
Once you create your Outdoor Classroom, visit the National
Wildlife Federation's web site to have your area certified
as a Schoolyard Habitat Area. The NWF site,
www.nwf.org/schoolyard, also has tips on planning,
planting, and managing your Outdoor Classroom.
1. Why should I plant
a Monarch Waystation and pollinator garden?
A. (http://www.monarchwatch.org/waystations/index.html)
B. Introduction to Butterfly
Gardening
(http://www.monarchwatch.org/garden/index.htm)
2. How should I plan
my garden?
A. Creating
Pollinator-Friendly Habitat
(http://www.nappc.org/curriculum/session5a.php)
B. Monarch Watch
Seed Kit
(http://www.monarchwatch.org/waystations/seed_kit.html)
3. What pollinators
might come to my garden?
(http://www.nappc.org/curriculum/session3a.php)
4. What plants should
I have for butterflies to lay eggs on?
A. Plants
Needed for Each Type of Butterfly
(http://www.monarchwatch.org/garden/bfly.htm)
B. Butterflies Attracted by
Specific Plants
(http://www.monarchwatch.org/garden/plant.htm)
5. Which flowers will
supply nectar to butterflies and bees?
(http://www.monarchwatch.org/garden/nectar.htm)
6. Where could I
secure money for planting materials?
The following are all potential sources of funding
for an outdoor classroom project, but not every organization
or agency shown provides grants of this type.
a. Your School
Parent-Teacher Association or Organization
b. Your School
District Foundation, if it has one
c. Your Natural
Resource District (follow the link to find your NRD, and
when you contact them, ask for the person who handles
environmental education): (http://www.nrdnet.org/nrd_guide/find_nrd.html)
d. Nebraska Environmental Trust (www.environmentaltrust.org/)
e. Your local Community Foundation (to find a community
foundation and other potential funders in your area, follow
the link to the Grantsmanship Center, click on Funding
Sources and then Nebraska: (http://www.tgci.com/index)
7. Where can I find seeds and native plants?
a. Monarch Watch
(http://www.monarchwatch.org/waystations/seed_kit.html)
b. Stock Seed Farms in Nebraska
(www.stockseed.com)
c. Many local nurseries and garden
centers
8. Bibliography
Attracting Birds,
Butterflies & Other Wildlife to Your Backyard, National
Wildlife Federation, 2004 (www.nwf.org/wildlifebook)
Golden Field Guide of Eastern Birds, James Coe;
St. Martin’s Press, New York
Golden Guide of Butterflies
and Moths, Robert Mitchell, Herbert Zim, St. Martin’s
Press, New York, 2002
Monarch Butterfly of Aster Way, Elizabeth
Ring, Smithsonians Backyard
The Audubon Society Field guide to North American
Butterflies, Robert Michael Pyle
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