Bird Basics Fourth and Fifth Grade Lesson Plan For more information, please contact: Veronica Frehm Director of Education John D. MacArthur Beach State Park T: (561) 776-7449 Ext 104 Email: veronica@macarthurbeach.org [September 2014]
Bird Basics EKG Key 1. Explain how animals get their energy. Animals must consume (eat) plants or other animals to get their energy. 2. Show the flow of energy from a producer to a bird of prey such as an osprey, owl, hawk or eagle. Sea grass small fish large fish Osprey 3. What do all animals need in order to survive? Animals need food, water, shelter and space. 4. Tell what happens if an animal cannot meet its basic needs in its environment. If an animal cannot meet its needs the animal may move to a new location or it will die. 5. Choose an animal and describe an adaptation the animal has to help it survive in its environment. (Answers will vary. One example may be an osprey. Osprey have talons for catching their prey (fish) like all birds of prey. ) 6. Pick one of the following ecosystems and create a food web. (hammock, estuary, dune and beach, or rock reef) Osprey Large Fish Great Blue Heron Rosette Spoonbill Small Fish crabs shrimp Sea grasses 7. Name a positive and negative impact humans can have on an environment. Positive impacts on a beach environment picking up litter or not littering at all, staying off the dune, when snorkeling, swimming or boating remember to not touch the reef, do not disturb turtle nests, if you live along the beach, turn off your outside lights at night during turtle nesting season, etc. Negative impacts on a beach environment littering the beach, leaving fishing line on the ground or water, walking on the dunes, dropping anchor on a reef, building on the dunes, etc
Title Grade level Student Target NGSS (4 th ) SC.4.N.1.1 SC.4.L.17.2 SC.4.L.17.3 SC.4.L.17.4 NGSS (4 th ) SC.5.L.15.1 SC.5.L.17.1 Bird Basics (Mini-Lesson) Fourth and Fifth Grade Raise questions about the natural world, use appropriate reference materials that support understanding to obtain information ( identifying the source), conduct both individual and team investigations through free exploration and systematic investigations, and generate appropriate explanations based on those explorations. Explain that animals, including humans, cannot make their own food and that when animals eat plants or other animals, the energy stored in the food source is passed to them. Trace the flow of energy from the Sun as it is transferred along the food chain through the producers to the consumers. Recognize ways plants and animals, including humans, can impact the environment. Describe how, when the environment changes, differences between individuals allow some plants and animals to survive and reproduce while others die or move to new locations. Compare and contrast adaptations displayed by animals and plants that enable them to survive in different environments such as life cycles variations, animal behaviors and physical characteristics. Materials Teacher MacArthur Beach Background Information EKG Activity Copies of Bird Feet Adaptations Bird Identification Books, magazines with pictures of birds, or Bird Books Copies of Bird Sorting Chart Key Vocabulary Herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, producers, consumers, adaptation, structures, functions, survival, food chain, food web Warm-up 1. Using the Bird Feet Adaptation Sheet, discuss the structure of birds feet and why different birds have this adaptation. Main Lesson 1. In teams of 3 or 4 children, provide each group a bird identification book, magazines with pictures of birds or bird books and the sorting sheet. Have each group go through the resource materials and sort the animals based on their feet structure. Reflection
1. Discuss the results of their findings. 2. What other structures do these birds have to help them survive? What type of environment do you think they may live in for this structure to be necessary? Assessment EKG Activity given prior to any lesson Participation in the activity Attachments Information packet about John D. MacArthur Beach State Park Copy of Bird Feet Adaptations Copy of Bird Feet Sorting Sheet Making STEM Connections/Common Core Standards Science (All of the above) Technology 5. Use the computer to investigate what birds live or migrate to our area. Look at the adaptations of these birds that allow them to survive in our area. Engineering 6. Divide the children into teams of 3 to 4. Tell the children they are going to be transported 100 years into the future. Their task is to write about the conditions of the environment and construct a bird that can exist in this new environment using natural or craft supplies. What adaptations will your bird need in order to survive? Be able to tell about what it eats, how it finds shelter, how it moves, and how it raises its young. 7. Write about the conditions of the environment in 100 years and the adaptations your bird has in order to survive in this environment. 8. Present your bird of the future to the rest of the class. Mathematics (Common Core Standards) 4.MD.A.1; 4.MD.A.2; 4.MD.A.3; 5.MD.A.1; 5.MD.B.2; 5.G.A.2 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- English Language Arts Common Core Standards: RI.4.5; RI.4.7; RI.4.9; W.4.2; SL.4.4; RI.5.1; RI.5.7; W.5.2; SL.5.4
BIRD FEET ADAPTATIONS SHAPE TYPE ADAPTATION Grasping Raptors like Osprey use their large curved claws to snatch fish from the water. Scratching Pheasants and other birds that scratch the soil for food have nail-like toes. Swimming Ducks and other webbed lined swimming birds use their feet like paddles. Perching Robins have a long back toe, which lets them grab a perch tightly. Running Many fast-running birds have three toes rather than four. Climbing A woodpecker's hind toes enable it to climb without falling backward.
Title Grade level Student Target NGSS (4 th ) SC.4.N.1.1 SC.4.L.17.2 SC.4.L.17.3 SC.4.L.17.4 NGSS (5 th ) SC.5.L.15.1 SC.5.L.17.1 Bird Basics (Regular Lesson) Fourth and Fifth Grade Raise questions about the natural world, use appropriate reference materials that support understanding to obtain information (identifying the source), conduct both individual and team investigations through free exploration and systematic investigations, and generate appropriate explanations based on those explorations. Explain that animals, including humans, cannot make their own food and that when animals eat plants or other animals, the energy stored in the food source is passed to them. Trace the flow of energy from the Sun as it is transferred along the food chain through the producers to the consumers. Recognize ways plants and animals, including humans, can impact the environment. Describe how, when the environment changes, differences between individuals allow some plants and animals to survive and reproduce while others die or move to new locations. Compare and contrast adaptations displayed by animals and plants that enable them to survive in different environments such as life cycles variations, animal behaviors and physical characteristics. Materials for Pre & Post Lessons (Start Here) Teacher MacArthur Beach Background Information Prior to your visit: Watch our Island in Time video about John D. MacArthur Beach State Park by logging onto http://weblogs.pbspaces.com/macbeachexplorations/. Construction Paper Craft supplies (glue, stapler, tape, scissors, string, yarn, artificial feathers, etc.) Student Paper Colored pencils or crayons Pre-visit Warm-up Lesson (completed in classroom before visiting) 1. Review the information in the MacArthur Beach Background Information and view Island in Time with your students. Main Lesson (completed during visit with their staff) 1. Welcome, Introductions to park, overview of park, and safety talk. 2. Divide the students into 2 groups to rotate through 2 different activities: A. Estuary to Beach Hike: Students will explore the ecosystems from the Estuary to the Beach focusing on the diversity of the environments and the adaptations that the birds have in order to survive in these environments.
B. Osprey Game: Students will participate in an activity to learn how birds survive in their environment and compare skulls and feet replicas of various birds to see the adaptations necessary for survival. Post-visit Reflection Lesson (completed in classroom after visiting) 1. Take the class on a bird hike in the schoolyard. Compare these birds to the birds at MacArthur Beach State Park. 2. Write a story about a bird in your area or one from the Park. Describe the environment and the adaptations the bird has in order to survive. 3. Write about your experiences at John D. MacArthur State Park. Assessment 1. Participation in the activity 2. EKG Activity Attachments Background Information about John D. MacArthur Beach State Park Making STEM Connections/Common Core Standards Science (All of the above) Technology 1. Use the computer to investigate what birds live or migrate to our area. Look at the adaptations of these birds that allow them to survive in our area. Engineering 2. Divide the children into teams of 3 to 4. Tell the children they are going to be transported 100 years into the future. Their task is to write about the conditions of the environment and construct a bird that can exist in this new environment using natural or craft supplies. What adaptations will your bird need in order to survive? Be able to tell about what it eats, how it finds shelter, how it moves, and how it raises its young. 3. Write about the conditions of the environment in 100 years and the adaptations your bird has in order to survive in this environment. 4. Present your bird of the future to the rest of the class. Mathematics (Common Core Standards) 4.MD.A.1; 4.MD.A.2; 4.MD.A.3; 5.MD.A.1; 5.MD.B.2; 5.G.A.2 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- English Language Arts Common Core Standards: RI.4.5; RI.4.7; RI.4.9; W.4.2; SL.4.4; RI.5.1; RI.5.7; W.5.2; SL.5.4