I stumbled upon this great looking project out of Arizona - a long-term ecological study of your schoolyard with urban schoolyards in mind. Here’s a direct link to the Teacher’s guide (PDF):

http://caplter.asu.edu/explorers/pdfs/Forteach.pdf

Problem, of course, is that all the references to locations, flora, & fauna in the curriculum are based on Arizona. I can certainly adapt most of the lessons to NYC, but it would be helpful to work with other teachers in developing identification guides for insects, birds, weeds, trees, etc. in the NYC area.

Take a look at the project and let me know if you are interested in developing this idea further.

Mike

-- Michael W Gatton (mgatton@vzavenue.net), September 28, 2003