Children will observe birds coming to a classroom feeder, develop a question about a behavior they see, and conduct a scientific study to answer the question. Students will gain an understanding of the scientific process.
Background
Feeding birds is a fun and interesting way to help birds, especially during the long cold winter. It is fascinating to watch the bird's behavior as they come to the feeder, eat their fill, and then head off to the next eating spot. When watching a feeder you may notice that each species behaves differently and that their behavior changes with the temperature and weather. These observations can lead to some interesting questions about boreal forest songbirds.
activity 1 of this chapter
paper/pencil
bird feeders/feed
Procedure
- Set up a bird feeder near the classroom window so that it is easily observed by the students.
- Spend several days watching the feeder and discuss possible questions that would be interesting to answer.
- Refer to activity 1 of this chapter and follow the scientific method steps to set up a feeder- watch experiment.
- Individuals or groups of students should develop a report about their experiment. The report should answer the questions listed in activity 1 of this chapter, under procedure step 5.
There are many things students can investigate when watching a feeder, such as: what type of food do birds prefer, what species of birds come to the feeder, how do individual birds react to birds of the same species versus different species, do these or other behaviors change when the temperature changes, do birds feed differently when it is sunny, snowing or windy, and do birds seem to feed more or less at certain times of the day?
As an addition to this project consider inviting a bird specialist to share information about the birds being observed outside the classroom. The specialist's information could be incorporated into the students final reports.
Continue to