Every June, as seniors at the Science and Math Institute (SAMi) toss their graduation caps, the remaining students explore immersive, hands-on learning during a Micro-Term. At SAMi, located in the heart of Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, students use this time to deep dive into one class for a week of focused, project-based learning. This year, one group of SAMi students took on an environmental issue: birds colliding into windows.

Led by teachers Alayna Vuylsteke and Xavier Scott, the Micro-Term course was a creative collaboration rooted in conservation. The project was created by SAMi students and zoo interns Eva Avila and Raven Nastasi, who are part of Tacoma Public Schools’ Next Move Internship Program. As conservation interns at Point Defiance Zoo, Eva and Raven noticed an opportunity to bring awareness to bird strikes, a silent but deadly problem for countless birds each year.

Bird strikes happen when birds fly into reflective or transparent glass, mistaking it for open sky or habitat. Window strikes are among the leading causes of wild bird population declines across North America. The large west-facing windows of SAMi’s Environmental Learning Center (ELC), a 30,000-square-foot building full of science classrooms and labs, were identified as a high-risk zone.

First, the students studied bird biology and behavior to understand why window collisions occur. Then they analyzed solutions, weighing costs and effectiveness between paint, decals, and UV-reflective clings. Their final designs were more than functional, they were beautiful. Students painted murals of zoo and aquarium animals and applied decals to both the inside and outside of the ELC windows to create patterns that birds can see and avoid.

To help educate the public, signs are placed around the building explaining the importance of the murals and stickers. The signs read:

“As part of SAMi and the zoo’s commitment to protecting local wildlife, we are implementing bird-safe windows in high-risk spaces around the ELC. The stickers on this window contain UV light reflecting material, which appears brightly colored to birds and warns them that there is a surface here. The average US home kills two birds a year through window strikes. Adding bird deterrents makes a big difference to local wildlife.”

Through this project, students used science, art, and community partnership to make their campus safer for wildlife, all while supporting the zoo’s conservation goals.