Incredible LifeLesson A: Be a Bird, See a Bird
Grades: K-6
Subject Areas: Science, Geography, Art
Skills: Interpretation, map reading, identification, sketching, cooperation.
Standards met: TBD
Time: Prep: 2 hours
Lesson: 60-75 minutes
Location: Classroom
Materials: (plastic or cardboard) containing: simple costumes (link), lunch boxes with diet items (link); nesting materials egg models (link); photos of nests (link); migration maps (link); sound recordings (link); Be A Bird cards (link).
Goals: Students will use interpretive skills to identify 6 Maine seabirds and learn their life histories.
Objectives: 1. Interpret a variety of clues to identify 6 Maine seabirds. 2. Learn diet, nesting, eggs, voice and migration for 5 Maine seabirds. 3. Become familiar with field guides. 4. Practice sketching.
5. Work cooperatively in a small group.
Summary: “You never really understand someone...until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.” In this activity you will become a bird, and discover you can see what their lives are like. After learning how to fill out Seabird cards, and being shown how to use the mystery boxes, students will work in small groups to interpret contents of four different boxes. They will take turns dressing up in a costume, finding the bird in a field guide, opening a lunchbox to see the diet, building a nest with nesting materials, interpreting a migration map, and listening to the bird’s sound. All information will be interpreted and recorded on collectible cards, along with a sketch of the bird.
Vocabulary: Description, diet, migration, invertebrate.
The Lesson:
1. How to use the Seabird Cards.
Pass out six cards to each student and have them put name or initials in one corner.
The first card will be filled out together, with the teacher providing the information. Sketch each side of the card up on the board, and begin with the back (side with categories of information to be filled in). Present image of Atlantic Puffin, or a stuffed puffin. Fill in categories in order (you may use abbreviations, or pictoral codes),
like so:
Flip it over to the front and do a quick puffin sketch – see tutorial “How to sketch a Puffin” here.
2. Mystery Box of Clues!
Now that everyone is familiar with filling out the cards, let’s become familiar with the mystery boxes. Students will fill out a second card as the teacher shows the contents of first mystery box – it is a box of clues.
1. Costume – Bring a student up to put the costume on. Try to choose someone who’s not too goofy. Use the costume elements (color mainly) to write down the DESCRIPTION of the bird. (Black back, white belly, black webbed feet, black beak with white stripe)
2. Field Guide – Explain that we don’t have time to look through a whole book which contains all the birds of the U.S. (or your portion of it; the marked page will help narrow down your choices. (Compare various alcids to determine that the NAME OF BIRD is Razorbill.)
3. Lunch Box – inside you will find out the DIET. (Fish, shrimp, squid)
4. Nest and Eggs – Nesting materials can be used to put together a nest, modeled after the ones shown in included photographs. The size of the egg is shown by the egg model, but the color of the egg is usually shown in a photo. (The large plastic Easter egg shows us about how big a Razorbill egg is, but it is not, of course, bright yellow! Use all your clues!) Build your nest of rocks under a chair to show it is underground. (NEST under rocks and on rocks, EGG – 1 large spotted egg)
5. Migration Map – There is an “S” on the map in Maine - where these birds spend the summer to raise their chicks. Look for the “W” where they spend the winter. Younger students may just notice if it is close to Summer territory or far away – older kids can identify different states or countries. (The WINTERING PLACE for Razorbills is at sea, usually in the Gulf of Maine, or south as far as the ocean off mid-Atlantic states.)
6. Vocalization – Play the sound of Razorbill and decide how to write down a sound. (Rahrrrr, or low throaty growl)
7. Bird photos – Can be used to draw a Razorbill on the front of card.
3. Mystery Boxes for All
Now everyone gets to play! Place the four activity boxes in different places in the room. Divide the class into four groups and send one group to each station. They will have 10 minutes at each station to investigate and record information. It helps to work as a team and take turns with different clues at different stations. All clues except the Vocalization will be in the box. The recordings will be played for the whole group at the end while wrapping up.
Wrap Up: Bring the group back together to go over the answers – highlighting something special about each bird. (Arctic Tern – master migrant; Herring Gull – very broad diet; Double-crested Cormorant – has a messy nest that chicks could get tangled in; Common Eider – the only one of these birds where males and females look different.) Play all the vocalizations and write the information on the cards. Wow! Look at all this information you’ve collected! The next time you see one of these birds, not only will you know what kind of bird it is, but you will know what its nest is like, what it eats, and where it goes in the winter. .
Assessment: Completed Maine Seabird cards will show that the students have learned the information.
Diving Deeper: Make more cards for other birds that interest you – perhaps a collection for the birds around the school. Have kids create mystery boxes as an alternative to a written report, and share them with fellow students. Consider what conditions in the environment could affect birds at different stages of their lives (entanglement of nestlings, weather during migration.
