Research Classroom Connection

VINS Staff will teach your students about American kestrels and work together to install and monitor a nesting box on your school's property.

Habitat Required:

• Meadow 

Do you have a meadow habitat with milkweed near your school? VINS Staff will come to your school with equipment to demonstrate proper captures, handling, and tagging techniques of monarchs.

Come to VINS for a Field Trip to explore our pollinator-friendly meadow and learn monarch monitoring techniques. 

Habitat Required:

• Meadow 

Monitor the crayfish in the river or stream near your school. Crayfish are good indicators of river and estuarine condition as they are often top predators and keystone species within the trophic structure, which means that they are closely linked with the overall health of the system.

Habitat Required:

• Stream or River

Come to VINS for a Field Trip where your students will conduct real scientific research and investigate how our forests are changing over time. Students will identify and gather data on the tree conditions and contribute their data to our first long-term monitoring project, so we may better understand the forest trends and the best management practices that will sustain our forest.

With the help of VINS Staff, set up a weather station at your school and gather real-time data to share community-wide. 

Habitat Required:

• Any natural area

Monitor the dragonfly population at your school or at VINS with support from VINS Staff. Students and teachers will learn capture and handling techniques plus identification tips & tricks. 

Dragonflies are highly successful predators. Encouraging their presence will help control the pest population around your school!

Habitat Required:

• Meadow 

Do you have minimal natural areas around your school? No problem! Natures Notebook is a project that monitors the cyclic and seasonal natural phenomena of whatever natural features you have on your property (trees, shrubs, grasses, etc.)

Habitat Required:

• Access to the outdoors

Project FeederWatch turns your love of feeding birds into scientific discoveries. FeederWatch is a November-April survey of birds that visit backyards, nature centers, community areas, and other locales in North America. You don’t even need a feeder! All you need is an area with plantings, habitat, water or food that attracts birds. 

VINS Staff will help you set up feeders or identify places for observation and assist with bird identification tips and tricks. 

Habitat Required:

• Any natural area

NestWatch is a nationwide monitoring program designed to track status and trends in the reproductive biology of birds, including when nesting occurs, number of eggs laid, how many eggs hatch, and how many hatchlings survive. 

VINS Staff will assist in setting up nest boxes around your school property and will teach students and teachers proper monitoring techniques and bird identification. 

Habitat Required:

• Any natural area