Schoolyard Habitats

By Jerilyn Watson

Broadcast: November 20, 2003

This is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Education Report.
Educational gardens called "Schoolyard Habitats" are growing at schools in almost every American state. To make a habitat, schoolchildren create a space for plants in their schoolyards. They put in plants that are inviting¹ to birds and to insects called butterflies. Then they watch the birds, plants and insects as they grow and 1)multiply.
Teachers praise the habitats as valuable learning² tools. To students in habitat programs, for example, 2)photosynthesis³ is not just something to learn from a book. Children can study their own plants as the plants complete this process of combining water and 3)carbon dioxide. They learn that plants can use light to make the energy that keeps the plant alive.
Students in habitat programs can watch for and identify birds. They can learn about trees and flowers. They can build and operate weather stations and make mathematical⁴ records of weather activities. They can estimate⁵ the number of baby frogs in a water pond. They can write environment reports about the habitats in science class and write stories about them in English class.
The National Wildlife Federation⁶ in Reston, Virginia, developed the Schoolyard Habitats program. It started in nineteen-ninety-six. At first, three-hundred-fifty-five schools developed habitats. Today, there are two-thousand Schoolyard Habitats in forty-nine of America's fifty states.
The Gowana Middle School in Clifton Park, New York, operates one of these habitats. It has beautiful flowers and 4)bushes. A waterfall flows over rocks in a large pond. Bird-feeding stations are placed just outside classroom windows. Students can observe, identify and record sightings of birds from their classroom.
From October through April, they share their records with scientists at the Cornell University Lab's Classroom FeederWatch program. The scientists document the movements of winter bird populations.
Gowana students also study 5)monarch⁷ butterflies. They take part in the Monarch Watch program of the University of Kansas. The young people catch and mark the butterflies, then free them. This way, scientists can study where and when the insects fly.
Life sciences teacher Deborah Smith says students will always need books. But she also says working with habitats leads to deeper understanding.
This VOA Special English Education Report was written by Jerilyn Watson. This is Steve Ember.
注释:
1) multiply [5mQltipli] v.繁殖
2) photosynthesis [7fEutEu5sinWEsis] n.光合作用
3) carbon dioxide  n.（化）二氧化碳
4) bush [buF] n.矮树丛
5) monarch [5mCnEk] n. 大花蝶

1 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。

2 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

3 photosynthesis   

n.光合作用

参考例句：

• In apple trees photosynthesis occurs almost exclusively in the leaves.苹果树的光合作用几乎只发生在叶内。
• Chloroplasts are the structures in which photosynthesis happens.叶绿体就是光合作用发生的地方。

4 mathematical   

adj.数学的，数学上的

参考例句：

• The solution can be expressed by a mathematical equation.答案可用一个数学方程式来表示。
• Einstein was a mathematical genius.爱因斯坦是数学天才。

5 estimate   

n.估计，估量；评价，看法；vt.估计，估量

参考例句：

• We estimate the cost to be five thousand dollars.我们估计费用为5000美元。
• The lowest estimate would put the worth of the jewel at ＄200.按最低的评估这块宝石也值200美元。

6 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

7 monarch   

n.帝王，君主，最高统治者

参考例句：

• The monarch's role is purely ceremonial.君主纯粹是个礼仪职位。
• I think myself happier now than the greatest monarch upon earth.我觉得这个时候比世界上什么帝王都快乐。