JUNEAU -- There may not be an elegant British man narrating it, but Juneau kids are finding that the best nature show is the one in their own backyard.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Alaska coordinator Steve Brockman in 2011 introduced a project he thought would connect kids to nature: trail cameras.
"When kids lose connection with the outdoors, they become adults without a connection," he told the Juneau School Board. "I wanted to use technology to lure kids back to the outdoors."
Digital cameras with motion sensors were placed along trails, in the woods, along streams and shorelines. Brockman said they were first introduced as part of Bio Blitz, an event hosted by a handful of agencies that encourages teams to identify as many species as possible within a defined area.
"There's a lot of research that shows that kids who are connected to the outdoors tend to be happier, healthier and do better in school," he explained. "A lot of kids today don't have that connection with the outdoors. They spend a lot more time in front of screens."
53 checkouts statewide
The program is popular. There are 10 cameras that can be checked out, and in 2014 there were 53 checkouts and an estimated 5,000 kid-hours in the field.
The Alaska Department of Fish & Game partnered with USFWS a few years ago because the trail cams dovetailed with their Wild Workshops and professional development programs for teachers.
"It kind of took off," Wildlife Education and Outreach specialist Tennie Bentz said. "Teachers can check them out, camps can check them out, different education groups and the museums."
A teacher or adult supervisor, often paired with a biologist, hunter or trapper, will take the kids out to set up the cameras.
"They start to kind of observe the area around them and talk about what might be in the area," Bentz said. "Looking for animal signs, tracks and scat. … You can get the kids to look small. Look for holes in the ground."
While setting up and collecting the cameras is part of the fun, it's viewing the video that gets the kids going.
"When you get a hit, the class cheers -- even something like a squirrel," Brockman said. "When the kids see what they get on the cameras, they're excited. It's fun."
Animal variety
There are cameras across the state now, and their motion sensors have picked up a lot of animals beyond squirrels. Coyotes, mice, bears, beavers, moose, foxes, porcupines, deer, hares, river otters, birds, wolves and others have been spotted. Near Juneau's Glacier Valley Elementary School, the camera captured an owl catching a fish.
Aside from the excitement they generate, the information kids gain from trail cams -- tools used by real biologists to gather data -- can be applicable to a number of subjects, from ecology to earth science and math.
"It's not just 'Hey, let's go out in the woods and play,' " Bentz said.
From the data, kids can graph when they see animals to learn whether they are nocturnal or diurnal. Data collected by kids across the state can help create new lessons, books or video projects to show off their findings.
Brockman hopes more teachers will incorporate the trail cams, and that kids will be inspired to go into biology and wildlife conservation.
"It's also important for instilling a sense of ownership in the outdoors, and ultimately conservation of the things we all depend on," Brockman said. "These are the people who are going to be managing the resources of the planet in the future, and if they don't have connections, we can hardly expect them to understand … the importance."
Melissa Griffiths is a Juneau Empire reporter. Used with permission.