PROGRAM 2

Birdsu GET READY TO WATCHDisplay pictures of birds and books about birds in the classroom.After students have had a chance to examine the pictures and booksfor a few days, ask the students what characteristics they havenoticed about birds and list them on a chart. Expect such responsesas: Birds have feathers; Birds have wings; Birds are animals; Birdshatch from eggs; Birds have beaks. If these responses do notemerge in the discussion, lead them to notice these characteristicsthrough questioning. The main purpose of this activity is for studentsto think of ways that birds differ from other animals.

u TALK ABOUTAfter viewing the program, add characteristics of birds to the chart started above (likely additions would be items related to the movementsand sounds of birds).

Brainstorm a list of the different birds mentioned in the program.Display this list in the classroom so that other birds may be added.

Obtain a recording or tape of bird sounds. Select some birds commonto your area and play the sounds, identifying each bird before you playit. Have students look at the pictures of birds displayed in the classroomand match the picture with the sound they are hearing.

u CURRICULUM INTEGRATION ACTIVITIESScienceInvestigate the construction of bird nests. Locate three or fourunused bird nests in trees and large bushes, and bring them to theclassroom. (The best time to find these is winter.) Display the nestsand discuss the size and shape of each. Assign small groups ofstudents to each nest to investigate. Have the students make asketch of the bird nest and predict the materials that make it up.Then have students carefully pick apart the nests, using tweezersand probes (a pencil makes a useful probe for this activity). Whichmaterials from their prediction list were actually part of the nest?What additional materials did they find? Could the nesting materialsbe found in nature in the surrounding area? Have students speculate what kind of bird might have made the nest. Use birdbooks to help them find out. (Strongly discourage students frombreaking apart the nests with their hands. Stress the care a scientist would take with a specimen.) Make sure students washtheir hands frequently when handling the nests.

Investigate beak shapes. Enlarge the drawings of the bird beaksat the back of this chapter, and place them across a chart withspace under each picture. Add an extra column to the chart forother unique beaks. Have students search old issues of naturemagazines (e.g., National Wildlife, Ranger Rick, Owl, and others)and cut out pictures of different types of birds. Then have themglue each picture under the drawing of the bird that has a beakmost like the bird in the picture. They may use the last column forbirds that have unusual beaks but do not fit in the other categories.Discuss with students how the shape of the beak affects what abird eats.

u Program Description

Celia and Bud discover that birds are at home in a variety of environments, not just in trees. They learn how birds’bodies are suited to their climate andhabitat. Ducks are at home in the water,with their webbed feet for swimming and wide bills for catching fish; otherbirds are adapted for perching on plantsand pecking seeds.

Crinkleroot shows how birds have different songs and how they use theirappearance for different purposes. Celiavisits a raptor recovery center wherehawks are rescued and returned to thewild. For fun, children demonstrate howto make a bird feeder from a bleach bot-tle and how to go birdwatching.

©1998 GPN/University of Nebraska-Lincoln. All rights reserved.Teachers who have purchased this Backyard Safari Backyard Safari Teacher’s Guide are granted permission to reproduce pages from this book for their own classroom use (notice or copyright and source mustappear on all copies of pages.) In all other cases, no part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of GPN.

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Language ArtsHave students prepare a “Guide for Birdwatchers.” Brainstormsome tips for successful birdwatching that include useful attributesand tools or equipment that a birdwatcher must have. Pictures ofcommon birds that can be found in the area might be a part of theguide as well. A section on respect for birds and their nests couldalso be included.

Have students select a bird to research. Obtain some referenceand informational picture books about birds to display in the classroom. Find the following information: size (length of body);habitat (forest, desert, seashore, rainforest, etc.); coloration; nest(what it looks like, is made of, and number of eggs); and an inter-esting fact. Make sure everyone locates a picture of her/his bird ina book. Have students introduce their birds to the rest of the classusing the puppets they made (see activity below) and the information they found.

MathCompare bird eggs. Cut out several construction paper bird eggsin a variety of real-life sizes. The Bird Eggs Chart at the back of thischapter might be helpful. Pose some problems for students tosolve, such as:

• Arrange the eggs from smallest to largest. • Which birds have eggs that are about the same size? • Estimate how many robin eggs (or other bird eggs) would fit

inside an ostrich egg. Have students verify their estimates.(Discuss why real eggs would differ from the paper eggs they are using.)

• Find other objects in the classroom that are about the same sizeas the eggs. For example, “the egg of a cardinal is about thesame size as a . . .”

Compare other bird attributes. Using picture cards of differenttypes of birds, have students sort them according to different physical attributes, such as color, type of beak, type of feet, howthey move, etc.

Social StudiesLearn about bird geography. As students conduct their researchon different types of birds, they will discover that their habitats areall over the world. Have students make small tags (about the sizeof a business card) containing a drawing of a bird and its name,and place them in appropriate regions on maps of the world, theUnited States, or their own state.

ArtInvolve students in creative movement to a song. After discussing the different movements of birds, substitute the namesof birds and their corresponding movements for the words in thissong (to the tune of “Did You Ever See a Lassie?”):

If I could be a penguin,a penguin, a penguin,If I could be a penguin,I’d waddle like this.A penguin, a penguin,a penguin, a penguin.If I could be a penguin,I’d waddle like this.

©1998 GPN/University of Nebraska-Lincoln. All rights reserved.Teachers who have purchased this Backyard Safari Backyard Safari Teacher’s Guide are granted permission to reproduce pages from this book for their own classroom use (notice or copyright and source mustappear on all copies of pages.) In all other cases, no part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of GPN.

u Crinkleroot’s Corner

The only known poisonousbird is the “hooded pitohui”

from New Guinea. Its feathers, skin,and internal organs contain a poisonthat is similar to that of the poisonarrow frog.

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Other possible substitutions might be “If I could be an eagle (orseagull or hawk, etc.), I’d soar just like this;” “If I could be a flamin-go, I’d stand just like this;” “If I could be a robin, I’d hop just likethis;” “If I could be a crow, I’d flap just like this;” and any othersthat the students might think of. Place the students in a circle. Achild stands in the center and decides on a bird and a movement.That child does the movement for the first four lines of the songwhile the others in the circle sing. On the fifth line, everyone joins inon the movement, singing and moving around the circle.

Make bird puppets from paper plates. Each student will need twopaper plates. Cut one paper plate in half. The whole plate becomesthe body of the bird. Staple the half plate to the whole plate, edgeto edge, with the eating surfaces facing each other. This leaves anopening on the back in which a child can insert her/his hand tohold the puppet. Have students color or paint the body of the birdthey wish to make. They can cut a head and feet from the remain-ing half plate. Add a construction paper beak and tail feathers.

u Sass’s SceneSome simple bird feeders can bemade with the assistance of an adultat home:1) Wind string or twine around thetop of a pine cone and make a loopfor hanging. Spread the pinecone with peanut butter and rollit in birdseed. Hang the pinecone from a tree branch.2) Melt some suet in a heavy pan overlow heat. Let it cool and mix birdseedwith the suet. Cut cardboard milk cartonsoff until there is only about a 3-inch depthat the bottom. Pour the suet mixture intothe milk cartons to solidify. Lace pint-sizeplastic berry baskets together with yarnon three sides. Place chunks of suet inthe baskets before lacing the fourth side.Tie the baskets to tree trunks.3) Use cookie cutters to cut shapes out ofbread that is getting dry. Poke a hole inthe top of the shape. Brush the breadwith egg white and sprinkle with bird-seed, gently pressing the seed onto thebread. Put a piece of string through thehole and tie the shape to a tree branch. **Hang bird feeders out of reach of catsand squirrels. Sprinkle a little birdseed onthe ground beneath the feeders when youfirst put them out to attract the birds.

©1998 GPN/University of Nebraska-Lincoln. All rights reserved.Teachers who have purchased this Backyard Safari Backyard Safari Teacher’s Guide are granted permission to reproduce pages from this book for their own classroom use (notice or copyright and source mustappear on all copies of pages.) In all other cases, no part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of GPN.

Have students imagine that they are birds flying and discussthe concept of “bird’s-eye view.” Use photographs, art prints, orpicture book illustrations to compare what they can see from abovea scene, with what they can see at eye-level on the ground. Havethem choose a place they know well, such as the classroom,school building, their own backyard, their bedroom at home, etc.,and sketch a bird’s-eye view of that place.

u CRINKLEROOT SAYS, “DO YOU WANT TOKNOW MORE?”Check out these books about birds at your local library or bookstore:

Arnosky, Jim. Crinkleroot’s 25 Birds Every Child Should Know.Bradbury, 1993.

Arnosky, Jim. Crinkleroot’s Guide to Knowing the Birds.Bradbury, 1992.

Bash, Barbara. Urban Roosts: Where Birds Nest in the City.Sierra Club Books for Children, 1990.

Chermayeff, Ivan. Feathery Facts.Gulliver/Harcourt Brace, 1995.

Ehlert, Lois. Feathers for Lunch.Harcourt Brace, 1990.

Florian, Douglas. On the Wing: Bird Poems and Paintings.Harcourt Brace, 1996.

Foster, Joanna (retold). The Magpie’s Nest.Illus. by Julie Downing. Clarion, 1995.

Gates, Frieda. Owl Eyes.Illus. by Yoshi Miyake. Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1994.

Lerner, Carol. Backyard Birds of Winter.Morrow, 1994.

Lerner, Carol. Backyard Birds of Summer.Morrow, 1996.

Oppenheim, Joanne. Have You Seen Birds?Illus. by Barbara Reid. Scholastic, 1986.

Mazzola, Frank, Jr. Counting is for the Birds.Charlesbridge, 1997.

McMillan, Bruce. Puffins Climb, Penguins Rhyme.Gulliver/Harcourt Brace, 1995.

Pallotta, Jerry. The Bird Alphabet Book.Illus. by Edgar Stewart. Charlesbridge, 1989.

Peters, Lisa Westberg. This Way Home.Illus. by Norman Chartier. Henry Holt, 1994.

Ryder, Joanne. Catching the Wind.Illus. by Michael Rothman. Morrow, 1989.

Schoenherr, John. Rebel. Philomel, 1995.

Yolen, Jane. Bird Watch: A Book of Poetry.Illus. by Ted Lewin. Philomel, 1990.

Additional resourcesAll About Birds. Internet site: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/birds/

Bird. Eyewitness video. DK, 1994.

Birds of Prey. “Amazing Animals” video. DK, 1997.

Tropical Birds. “Amazing Animals” video. DK, 1996.

Virtual Reality: Bird. Eyewitness CD-ROM. DK, 1996.

©1998 GPN/University of Nebraska-Lincoln. All rights reserved.Teachers who have purchased this Backyard Safari Backyard Safari Teacher’s Guide are granted permission to reproduce pages from this book for their own classroom use (notice or copyright and source mustappear on all copies of pages.) In all other cases, no part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of GPN.

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©1998 GPN/University of Nebraska-Lincoln. All rights reserved.Teachers who have purchased this Backyard Safari Backyard Safari Teacher’s Guide are granted permission to reproduce pages from this book for their own classroom use (notice or copyright and source mustappear on all copies of pages.) In all other cases, no part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of GPN.

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REPRODUCIBLE #01

Bird Beaks

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REPRODUCIBLE #02