Community Bird Boxes
by Ava Levinson and Emma Boudrias
by Ava Levinson and Emma Boudrias
We made 22 birdhouses for our community to promote pollination, pest control, seed dispersal, and to provide shelter and protection for birds. We plan to set these up in the Zinsser gardens in addition to giving them out at the Hastings Farmers Market for members of the community to put up in their yards. We are passionate about biodiversity and this project was an accessible way for us to make an impact.
22 pine birdhouses
As a result of building and distributing birdhouses, there will be more bird habitat, which will contribute the benefits birds bring to the ecosystem.
Found a template/blueprint
Did research on the best wood to buy and necessary equipment, then bought the required materials for one birdhouse at Home Depot
Constructed a successful prototype
Went back to Home Depot and bought materials for another eight birdhouses
Built eight birdhouses
Went to Home Depot again and bought materials for fourteen birdhouses
Built fourteen additoinal birdhouses, resulting in a total of twenty-two birdhouses
Plan to put up birdhouses in the Zinsser community gardens and give out birdhouses at the Hastings Farmers Market
We learned about construction and the process through which things are made.
We learned what makes a manageable project and how to break projects up.
2 Project Leaders aged 15-24
6 Total Project Participants (excluding leaders)
1 Project Participants aged 15-24 (excluding leaders)
All of our materials and equipment laid out for our prototype
Sawing some of our first wood pieces
Figuring out how to drill the front hole
Everyone helping out sawing and treating the wood
Our completed prototype
Staining a front board with boiled linseed oil for added protection
Our families working in an assembly line to finish the last birdhouses
Drilling holes to put everything together!
A number of people helped us throughout this project, making it much more manageable. Mayor Armacost, Brooks Ballard, Gia Levinson, Bruce Levinson, Elana Levinson, JP Boudrias, Juju Boudrias, Sara Ho, Jack Maney, Pascale le Draoulec, and Susan Cahn all made a big impact on our project and its completion, and we are really grateful for them. In addition, a big thank you to Bloomberg Philanthropies' Youth Climate Action Fund for funding this project.