Students at Calvin Donaldson Environmental Science Academy, 927 W. 37th St., will celebrate the completion of their Eagle Nest Project in ceremonies at 12:30 p.m. today.
Led by storyteller Jim Pfitzer, the three-month project engaged students in constructing a life-size eagle’s nest and writing personal stories about bald eagles.
Fifth-graders began the project on Oct. 28 in the Tennessee River Gorge by gathering privet, an invasive species that eagles use to build their nests. The students gathered field notes about the eagle’s native habitat and spent significant time building the nest. Each grade level contributed sticks to help build the nest and listened to an eagle story performed by Pfitzer. Intensive writing workshops challenged them to develop their own stories about eagles.
Students also studied bald eagles, native habitats, invasive vs. native species, local ecosystems, endangered species and the effects of pollution on animals and plants.
“Not only did students learn more about Chattanooga’s ecosystems and native species, they also applied the lessons they learned in a challenging, integrated environmental curriculum,” Pfitzer said.
For more information, contact Heidi Chapin at 825-7328 or chapin_heidi@hcde.org.