Birds

Birds

Grade Level: 3^rd-6^th Grade

Length: 3 weeks

Reason of Study:

Birds are amazing creatures and a great testament of God's great handiwork. We see them referred to often in the Bible to convey some great truth, and man has often pondered and been fascinated by these winged creatures. Some cultures have even worshipped them. It is good to study such a wonderful piece of work and to glorify our Father for his greatness.

Unit's Objectives:

After a study of birds, the student will know basic body parts and how birds fly.
The student will also investigate the Christian character of attentiveness and how birds demonstrate this skill.
Students will learn how beaks and feet tell much about the way a bird eats.
Students will know parts of an egg.
After exploring various areas around, the student will become acquainted with a variety of birds.
The student will demonstrate attentiveness by drawing birds in their nature journals freehand.
The student will learn about John J. Audubon and become familiar with his drawings.

Concepts:

Bird bodies
Bird wings
Bird beaks and feet
Attentiveness
Types of birds
Nature notebook
John J. Audubon

Vocabulary

plume
v-formation
perch
preening
fly
glide
migrate
beak
gullet
crop
gizzard
air sacs
feather
hook, barb, shaft
down

pinfeather
eggs
brooding
hatching

Christian Character/Bible:

Character: Attentiveness
Bible Verse: Matthew 6:26

Resources:
Teacher Resource Books:

#256 Thematic Unit - Birds, 1992, Teacher Created Materials, Inc.
Forshaw, Joseph, Howell, Steve, Lindsey, Terence, and Stallcup, Rich, The Nature Company Guides Birding, 1994, Time Life Books and The Nature Company
Bull, John and Farrand, John Jr., National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds, 1994, Chanticleer Press, Inc.

Thaxton, Carole and Hulcy, Jessica, Konos Curriculum Volume 1

Robbins, Chandler S., Birds of North America

Thompson, Bill, Bird Watching for Dummies

Buff, Sheila, Birding for Beginners

Leahy, Christopher W., The Birdwatcher's Companion

Student Reference Books:

Tekulsky, Mathew, Backyard Birdfeeding for Beginners

Lerner, Carol, Backyard Birds of Winter

McKean, Barbara A., The Hayes book of Birds of North America

Grans, Roma, Birds at Night

Cromer, Richard, The Miracle of Flight

Wells, Robert, Science Hobby Book of Bird Watching

Kieran, John, An Introduction to Birds

Audubon, John J., Audobon's Birds of America

Various entries of Discover magazine

Living Books:

Eastman, P.D., The Best Nest

Eastman, P. D., Are You My Mother?

Gibbons, Gail, Penguins!

Cherry, Lynne, Flute's Journey: The Life of a Wood Thrush

Asch, Frank, Moonbear's Pet

Ehlert, Lois, Feather's for Lunch

Cannon, Janell, Stelluluna

Howard, Joan, The Story of John J. Audubon

Audovisual Materials:

Movie Fly Away Home

Computer Resources and Games:

Bird experiment centers
Internet:

Birds of North America, http://www.birdsofna.org/

Attenborough, David, The Life of Birds, http://www.pbs.org/lifeofbirds/

Enchanted Learning Software, Zoom Birds, http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/birds/ (Fantastic site for printouts and ideas)

Newman, David, How to Tell The Birds From The Flowers, http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/2406/contents.html (Poems for children on birds)

Tobias, Kris, To Feed or Not to Feed, That is The Question, http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/curry/class/edis/590s4/Tobias/tofeed.htm (A story and activities to go with it on feeding the birds)

SeaWorld, Diurnal Birds of Prey, http://www.seaworld.org/birds/bird.html

Buonanno, Richard R., and Creative Multimedia Corp, Audubon's Birds of America, http://employeeweb.myxa.com/rrb/Audubon/ (Complete book on the web of Audubon's)

Materials:

sketch pad or blank paper for journal
Bird seed
Chicken
Feathers
Magnifying glass
Crisco
Cloth
Sand
Tweezers, pliers, strainer, tongs, chopsticks, coffee filter, sunflower seeds, soda in a bottle, gummy worms in peanut butter, nuts, rice in water, hot dog, marshmallows
materials to make bird feeders and baths

Field Trip(s):

Ritchie County farm and woods on nature hike
McDonough Park on nature hike
Back yard exploration

Activities:
Throughout the Unit:

Read a variety of books on the unit theme
Draw in nature notebook birds seen throughout unit
Read a biography on John J. Audobon

Week 1:

Learn bird body parts
Nature walk at park and work in nature notebook
Read about some unique birds
Discuss attentiveness
Observe bird flight
Using books, identify birds seen
Make a bird puppet
Investigate chicken body parts and bones with chicken
Place seed and sand in baggy to simulate gizzard experiment

Week 2:

Determine pecking order - Konos activity
Make original bird feeders using materials at hand
Bird feather experiment as discussed in Konos
Sketch birds
Field trip to farm and forest to see birds and draw them
Notice the different bird calls. Try to determine what it sounds like each bird specie is saying.

Week 3:

Discuss migration and make a migration map pattern chart of more popular birds (activity in Teacher Created Materials)
Break open an egg and examine it. Draw the parts and label.
Keep watching for birds in yard and add to nature notebook.
Examine different bird feathers collected at last field trip. Notice the parts and differences among feathers.
Add John J. Audubon to timeline
Partially dissected a dead bird killed by our cat
Bird beak experiment and worksheet
Narrative on what you learned about bird beaks

Cumulating Activity:

Collect bird drawings, laminate, and publish
View movie Fly Away Home

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