Birds
Grade Level: 3rd-6th 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
© Tamra Monroe, 2000
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