A Sample Life History:
THE SONG SPARROW Song Sparrow with nestling, sketch by Jim Conrad

Topics covered:

The idea here is to choose a single animal likely to be in many North American backyards -- the Song Sparrow is a good one-- and look at it closely. There are a couple of good reasons for doing this:

It'll give us a feeling for the complex and interesting life that all plants and animals lead, and therefore suggest directions our thoughts can turn whenever we discover a new organism

It'll show us that once we know an organism well, we can't but feel close to it, perhaps even admire it -- at least be sensitized to it in important ways