Turning Summer Walks Into Learning Experiences

371: Turning Summer Walks Into Learning Experiences In this episode, Meryl shares how educational summer walks can become meaningful learning experiences for homeschoolers using simple apps and technology tools. 1. Identify Birds with Merlin Bird ID Meryl discusses using Merlin Bird ID from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to identify birds while walking. The app can identify birds both by appearance and by sound. Topics discussed: Identifying birds from photos Recording and identifying bird calls in real time How AI improves bird sound recognition Contributing recordings to help improve identification accuracy 2. Identify Nature and Participate in Citizen Science Quick Identification Google Lens for identifying plants, insects, bushes, and objects directly from a phone camera Citizen Science for Younger Children Seek by iNaturalist Kid-friendly quests and badges Easy identification of plants, fungi, insects, and animals Citizen Science for Older Students iNaturalist Community-focused biodiversity tracking Recording observations in different environments Learning ecology, habitats, and biomes through real-world exploration 3. Stargazing with Stellarium Mobile Stellarium Mobile is a tool for identifying objects in the night sky during evening walks. Features include: Identifying stars and planets Viewing constellations Tracking satellites and the International Space Station Point-and-identify functionality using your phone 4. C