As a participant in the Target Science L.A. River Connection workshop I had the experience of exploring the Los Angeles River and its environs. I was part of a group that observed and counted both the varieties and numbers of birds in the Los Feliz section of the river.

The L.A. river has an impact on the community in which I teach because of its close proximity. Many of the children in my K/1 class were unaware of how close the river was, because it is channeled and surrounded by industry.

Birding has been an interest of mine, and this year I taught a unit on birds, focusing on the birds of our local area. I could not take the children to the river in our area, so instead I took the class on a walking trip to South Gate Park to look for birds and nests and also to collect leaves and make bark rubbings of the multitude of trees at the park. South Gate Park has approximately 100 different species of trees. We hung bird feeders in the kindergarten yard and made observations of the numbers and kinds of birds that fed at the feeders. The children wrote in their journals and drew pictures.

I extended the unit by including studies of urban wildlife using pictures and sharing my own experience with possums and raccoons in my backyard. We explored reasons why these animals are able to continue to exist and others are not. We studied the different habitats and the needs of a variety of animals and birds.

All of the children have a better understanding of why it is so important to preserve habitats for birds and animals.

Our class trip to the Whittier Narrows Nature Center was planned as a culmination of our studies. While it was not the L.A. River, it was an example of a riparian habitat along the San Gabriel and Rio Hondo Rivers, quite similar to some areas along the L.A. River. We went on a docent-led nature walk that showed us ponds, streams, a section of channeled river bed, a small lake, and native plants and animals.

The children saw and smelled numerous small animals. They saw a large variety of birds including Bullock's orioles, a loggerhead shrike, California towhee and rufous-sided towhee, song sparrows, an American goldfinch and many other bird species, including waterfowl and hawks. Upon our return the children wrote in their journals, and we made a book about our trip and what we saw.

It was amazing to me how much five- to seven-year-olds could learn and retain. I feel that all of the children have a better understanding of why it is so important to preserve habitats for birds and animals. The role of the L.A. River in providing some of these habitats is something that the children can now understand.