Introduction John James Audubon was a daring and colorful character renowned for his adventurous nature, his artistic genius, and his obsessive interest in birds. He explored the natural history of much of the central and eastern United States, painted almost 500 species, worked tirelessly to promote his project, and set a new standard for artistry and printing. Perhaps above all else, Audubon was a lover and observer of birds and nature. He knew that they needed and deserved conservation. The Center at Mill Grove was established in large part because of John J. Audubon and it continues to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife, and their habitats for the benefit of humanity and the earth’s biological diversity in Pennsylvania.

PROJECT OVERVIEW  We will discuss Conservation in our Environmental Unit and talk about John J. Audubon, his work and efforts on conservation of the environment. We will also dialogue about the J.J. Audubon Center at Mill Grove and our local environment.  Students will be using several Primary Sources to complete assigned projects.  Take a virtual field trip to discover more about J.J. Audubon and the Center at Mill Grove. Use provided sources and ones that you discover.  What Do You See? Each student will analyze a painting by Audubon and write a reflection about what you observed.  Each student will write an editorial to the local newspaper about why it is important to conserve our local history and include information about the conservation efforts of the Audubon Society.

Vocabulary EnvironmentNaturalist FolioOctavo HabitatOrnithology LithographyReplica MigratoryConservation

LOCAL DOCUMENTS AND DATA Pictures of John J. Audubon’s house at Mill Grove: Book (in our Library) - The National Audubon Society: Speaking for nature: bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBRecID= &v1=1&SEQ= &PID=A_7LKY3bIb32n6 6gE0qZIF0K6kp Audubon Society Information: Maps and Information about the John J. Audubon Center at Mill Grove: Florida Museum of Natural History - Information on John J. Audubon bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBRecID= &v1=1&SEQ= &PID=A_7LKY3bIb32n6 6gE0qZIF0K6kphttp://pa.audubon.org/AboutUs_History.html provides a picture of John J. Audubon and a brief history about his life.

LOCAL AUDIO AND MUSIC - use parts of some of the chapters of this audio to tell about his lifehttp:// – podcast that chronicles the history of JJ Audubon’s life and his work use to give examples of bird calls – these are birds that JJ Audubon painted The “Owl Serenade” sheet music – related to birds and was recorded in – bird-related sheet music.

Assignment # 1 – Virtual Field Trip Review the sources on the previous slides to learn more about John J. Audubon and to view the digital collections of his paintings. Complete the Field Journal: Introduction to Audubon

LOCAL PHOTOS AND POSTERS - gallery of paintings/prints created by Audubon. National Audubon Society, the John J. Audubon Center at Mill Grove, the Library of Congress, and Literature from the Center – biographical information and several links to his paintings. - a gallery of paintings/prints created by J.J. Audubon. - slideshow of pictures about J.J. Audubon. urce=univ&sa=X&ei=pwo0T5u9NsfE0QGouLHPAg&ved=0CI4BELAE&biw=1280&bih=673 – a Google search of images of J.J. Audubon, maps of the local area, and pictures of the area at Mill Grove and of his paintings. - Map of Audubon centers, offices, and sanctuaries throughout the U.S. urce=univ&sa=X&ei=pwo0T5u9NsfE0QGouLHPAg&ved=0CI4BELAE&biw=1280&bih=673

Assignment # 2 – Review the sources on the previous slide to learn more about John J. Audubon and to view the digital collections of his paintings. What Do You See? Choose one of Audubon’s paintings and analyze it using the NARA Worksheet.  worksheet.pdf worksheet.pdf Write a one-paragraph reflection about what you observed.

LOCAL VIDEO audubon/introduction/106/ audubon/introduction/106/ - Drawn to Nature and covers the life and work of John J. Audubon. Talks about John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove, Audubon, PA it is documentary about the life of John J. Audubon. Students would be able to gain knowledge about Audubon’s life and information about the Audubon Society. –This is a program that commemorates the two hundredth anniversary of the naturalist and artist, John James Audubon. It is done by the National Archives – US Information Agency. They also offer a transcript of the video ( media/transcripts/transcript-john-james-audubon pdf). This is a video of a sampling of Audubon’s paintings. There is music to the slideshow/video media/transcripts/transcript-john-james-audubon pdfhttp://

Assignment # 3 – Review the sources on the previous slide(s) to learn more about John J. Audubon, to view the digital collections of his paintings and about the local Audubon Society. Each student will write an editorial to the local newspaper about why it is important to conserve our local area/history and include information about the conservation efforts of the Audubon Society.  Use the Newspaper Editorial template in MS Publisher.

General Resources for Projects - Map of Audubon centers, offices, and sanctuaries throughout the U.S. This site could also be used to learn more about John J. Audubon Audubon%20in%20Louisianahttp://louisdl.louislibraries.org/index.php?name=John%20James%2 0Audubon%20in%20Louisiana – Audubon collection from Louisiana Digital Library. Documents: NARA Worksheet, Field Journal, and Newspaper Editorial template in MS Publisher.

Conclusion  Since we learned about conservation in our Environmental Unit, we focused our attention to our local history and local conservation efforts. These efforts were started by John J. Audubon and continue through the Audubon Society at Mill Grove. Through these activities your observation, analytical, and critical thinking skills will be challenged and hopefully sharpened. You will have the opportunity to make observations, reflect on your thoughts, and share your ideas and opinions about Audubon, the Audubon Society and conservation in general.

Works Cited  - picture on Slide 1  - picture on Slide 6  - picture on Slide 8  - picture on Slide 10  sound-effects/free-bird-sound-effects - audio on Slide 8 sound-effects/free-bird-sound-effects