Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex: Education

Students from the Jane Goodall Environmental Magnet School gear up to conduct red-legged frog surveys at Nestucca Bay National Wildlife Refuge

The refuges on the Oregon coast serve as fascinating and enriching outdoor classrooms. Staff, AmeriCorps members and volunteers from the Oregon Coast NWR Complex collaborate with local teachers and students from surrounding school districts to provide practical and interactive environmental education both in the classroom and on the refuge. Our programs focus on a wide variety of activities ranging from stewardship to the creation of conservation themed art. The refuge bays, estuaries, offshore rocks, and abundant wildlife populations of the coast afford outstanding opportunities for children and adults to get connected with nature.

Please visit our Wildlife page for information about viewing wildlife on your refuges.

Nature of Learning

The Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex is a proud participant in the Nature of Learning Program. This program educates students about fish and wildlife resources and local conservation issues. It engages students in service learning projects involving habitat monitoring and restoration. Service learning projects can include removal of invasive plants, tree-planting or biological monitoring. The Nature of Learning Program gets students' hands dirty and provides them with a wildlife experience off school grounds.

The Nestucca Bay, Bandon Marsh and Siletz Bay Refuges currently offer Nature of Learning opportunities for students. For more information, or to get your school involved in the Nature of Learning program, please contact Dawn Grafe.

Junior Duck Stamp Competition entry by Andreea Patru, age 9, Tigard, OR

Federal Junior Duck Stamp Conservation and Design Program

Educators and students from kindergarten through high school are encouraged to get involved in the Federal Junior Duck Stamp Conservation and Design Program. This innovative, curriculum-based program uses art to teach about migratory birds and conservation. The program culminates with an annual art competition offered in each state. Draw, paint, or sketch your own design of North American waterfowl. Oregon residents may submit their entries to the Oregon Coast NWR Complex. The entry deadline each year is March 15. The Best of Show from each state competes in the national competition in Washington, D.C. The national winner's artwork becomes the image for the next year's Junior Duck Stamp.

Educators from the Oregon Coast NWR Complex are available to bring the interactive Junior Duck Stamp curriculum into K-12 classrooms on the coast. Educators lead the hands-on activities that focus on waterfowl anatomy, adaptations, and sketching. Lessons are recommended for both science and art classrooms and they meet Oregon state benchmarks for science.

The 2009 Junior Duck Stamp brochure and entry packet is available for download as a PDF file (5.7 MB)
(entry forms are available in Spanish)
Contact Pam Johnson for a free printed copy at 541-867-4550

For information on classroom visits
contact Dawn Grafe.

Mail your Oregon entries to:
Pam Johnson
US Fish and Wildlife Service
2127 SE Marine Science Drive
Newport, OR 97365

Shorebirds: Migratory Superheroes! Program
(Formerly known as Shorebird Sister Schools)

The Shorebird: Migratory Superheroes Program allows students from all over the Western Hemisphere to track arctic-nesting shorebirds along their migration routes and share their class field experiences with other students. This USFWS program integrates an interactive curriculum with field experiences, engaging students in science learning. Students build awareness and understanding of how their own community's wetlands are part of the healthy chain of habitats that are needed by migratory birds to survive.

From January to June of each year, educators from the Oregon Coast enroll 4th and 5th grade classrooms from the coast in the program. The program consists of five classroom sessions involving shorebird-related activities, discussions, and lessons. The students become young experts on shorebird characteristics, adaptations, habitat, migration, research, feeding, identification, and conservation. During April and May the students attend field trips to local wetlands and study the migrating shorebirds in their habitat. With the aid of live birds, a rich habitat, and the assistance of local birdwatchers, the Shorebirds: Migratory Superheroes curriculum comes to life.