Seriously, I was having blog issues with my background and didn't want to do anything until I fixed them. It has been an issue since the holidays and I finally figured out the problem, so thank you for staying with me!
Last year I did a similar post, but I wanted to remind everyone that it is the season of awesome live webcams! Also, I have extra links to even MORE cams. There are such a variety out there now that I wanted to post again to share with you the awesome live cams that I found. In science, it isn't often that our students get to study and observe real live animals, and some animals are just not feasible to observe in real life.
One example are birds because getting a bird box and installing a web cam on it isn't cheap, and sometimes just isn't feasible depending on where you live. This is a great time of year to watch birds via live web cams and use those for your students to make observations. Once we used one of the eagle web cams for this, and holy moly...you would have thought we were watching the winning touch down of the Super Bowl as one of the eggs began to hatch right in front of the kids. Everyday they came in asking if we could watch a little more. "What about during snack time?" they would ask. "Could we watch while we pack up?"
Kids love watching animals, and they start to feel an all-too-important connection with nature at this age. Want them to care about not throwing litter on the ground? Show them a turtle who has stuck his head through one of those plastic soda holders. I saw that as a kid and everytime we threw one in the trash, I got the scissors out and cut those bad boys in pieces.
These animal observations are easy, and you can choose how many you would like the students to do, or over what time period you want them to complete them in. Also, if you do have a class that all have access at home, they could even do some extra observations at home.
There are many, many webcams to choose from, and some aquariums and zoos have them all year long. Here are some of my favorite web cams that I have viewed. (***Disclaimer, you never know what ads will be on the site, so I always preview the sites, and even make the video full screen when possible to be sure nothing unsavory pops up, just like with YouTube videos!)
Hanover, PA Eagle Nest Cam - Eagle web cam, even includes an IR (infrared) camera with a second viewpoint. There are is one chick hatched as I type this, and another egg that should hatch soon! (3/29/16)
Cornell Labs Live Bird Cams - Cornell Labs has a TON of bird cams for you to view. My favorites are the Barred Owls (she's on three eggs right now!) and the Great Horned Owls, but there are a ton to choose from, even a live cam on a bird feeder!
Explore Live Cams - This site has everything from orcas to polar bears to eagles! There is even an underwater cam that students can watch. The hummingbird cam is also very cool, and students will love seeing what their nest looks like! I also really like that it tells students the local time, location, and temperature of each cam. This is also a great way for students to study biomes/habitats. (the link automatically goes to their eagle cam, but click "Live Cams" and see the selection)
Mangolink Cams - This site has a huge variety! You can even choose if you want the cam to be in the wild or in captivity. They have them grouped by type of animals (mammals, birds, etc...) and whether it is in the wild or not, then you choose the specific animal you want from the list. Very cool, and again, GREAT for habitats/biome study as well!
Well, I sure hope this list got you started on ideas for using web cams in your science lessons. I wanted to be sure to remind you that I have a free product in my store with observation sheets for using animal cams in your classroom here.
I hope you and your students enjoy the web cams as much as my classes and I have!
Cheers!
