For me, it was a great teachable moment. For one of the kids however, it was a frightening few seconds.
The alarm signals our 2nd mandated fire drill of the month. The students and I exit the building promptly and quietly. Once outside, my heads immediately drifts back with my eyes on the skies.
Nothing is found with the first scan. The second sweep yields a 2 Turkey Vultures coming into view from behind a tree line. I casually point out the birds to my students.
Just as the all clear is given to re-enter the building, two more birds enter the small kettle. This time they were black vultures. Time for a quick lesson on vulture ID!
With the lawn slowly clearing, I again get my students on the bird and ask if they notice anything different about the four birds. Most kids say something to the effect of, "nah - they're all black".
But a few students chime in with things like:
- "some have white spots at the end [of their wings]"
- "two of them wobble a lot"
- "some are shorter than others"
I quickly confirm these differences and list the ID points of each species.
Another young girl from another class asks, "what are you guys looking at?"
A new vulture expert calmly proclaims, "there are vultures circling right above us."
With that revelation, she starts screaming "it's not a drill! We're going to die! THe vultures are getting ready to eat us!!"
We were able to put that fire out easily. She walked away being a little more aware of our local birds and a lot more aware that movies and cartoons are not always true.
