Teacher Guide Bird Migration and Climate Change. Major Concepts: Global warming may be affecting bird migration.

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Adrian Phelps
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1 Teacher Guide Bird Migration and Climate Change Developed by: Mark Koschmann Activity Focus: Bird migration and climate change Major Concepts: Global warming may be affecting bird migration. Objectives: After completing this activity, students will be able to: explain how greenhouse gases may be affecting global temperatures. explain how the green house effect works. explain factors that may determine bird migration. determine robin migration pattern with temperature patterns. predict how global warming may affect future robin migration. Materials and Preparation: You will need to prepare the following materials before conducting this activity. Copy the Bird Migration and Climate Change (make 1 copy per student). Different-colored copies for each group may be helpful. Make a transparency or PowerPoint slide for each map and figure. Procedures: Students may work individually or as a group to complete the remaining aspects of the activity. 1. Introduce the activity by asking students to identify some of the factors that influence bird migration. How would climate change affect bird migration? Read the Engage Your Thinking introduction and have the students answer the questions before starting the next section. You may want to discuss these as a class. 2. In the Explore and Explain section, the first part discusses climate change, greenhouse gases, greenhouse effect, and global warming. Students, in small groups, will read and answer questions. The second part focuses on bird migration, the factors that cause migration, and how migration may be changing. Students study the robin migration maps and draw a line of best fit (separating half of the sightings to the south and half to the north). Then isotherm maps are provided (after the robin migration maps) to see if any correlation can be found between the two. The third part of this section explores the difference between long distance and short distance migrants, and how climate change may affect these migrants. Activities for Conceptualizing Climate and Climate Change 1

2 An optional activity (Migration Headache adapted from Project Wild) is to play a migration game to better understand distance migration and climate change. Project Wild: Migration Headache (or should we say Climate Change Headache?) Objective: Students will understand how global warming may affect different migrants as they compete for nesting sites (cavity nesters). Class Size: 20 students Materials: 2 hoola hoops, 4 plastic gym spots (adjust numbers according to class size), gym or large area outside Have 6 students be the long distance migrants; they start their migration at the out of bounds line in gym (under basketball rim) Have 6 students be the short-distance migrants; they will start their migration at the free-throw line closest to long-distance migrants Place 4 hoola hoops with 2 plastic spots in each (hoola hoops are the trees and the spots are the cavities) Hoops are placed on opposite end of the gym. Others in class stand on the sidelines and the will become chicks after the migrations. Students migrate to other end of the gym. Each student puts a foot on the hoolahoop spot (cavity). 2 birds of the same species must be on one spot to successfully breed. Those that are successful may now pick 1 chick. Rules: 1. Must walk!! (This is not a hockey game.) 2. Must mate with the same species. Steps: 1. Practice migration 2. Allow LDM (long-distance migrants) to migrate first by saying flycatchers migrate. When the LDM arrive at the free throw line, allow the SDM (shortdistance migrants) to migrate by saying starlings migrate at the place where the SDM are starting (the two groups should arrive at their nesting sites at the same time). Each group records its results (graph the number of birds and the year). 3. Repeat step 2 two more times. Record the results (3 years-worth of data). 4. Repeat step 2 but allow the SDM to leave when the LDM are halfway to the free throw line (the SDMs should arrive at the nesting sites sooner than the LCMS). Record your results (graph number of birds and year). 5. Repeat step 4, two more times if you have a population of LDM. If not, the game is over. Record results (3 years-worth of data). 6. If you still have a LDM population, repeat step 2, but this time let the SDM and LDM migrate at the same time. Each group records its results (3 years-worth of data). Graph the results and discuss the game. 1. What did the hula hoops and gym spots represent? 2. Which migrants, the short-distance or long-distance migrants, have the nest cavity advantage? Activities for Conceptualizing Climate and Climate Change 2

3 3. What caused the advantage in the game? 4. What does the Migration Headache game have to do with global warming? 3. In the Extend Your Thinking activity, students will construct a concept map using the terminology used in the previous section. 4. Apply What You Learned has a map of North America; have the students draw a line of best fit for the year In the Reflect What You Learned activity, answer the questions and see if there are any changes in your answers. 6. Administer assessment item. 7. Optional Assessment: Look up a species of migrating bird (example: red-winged bird, oriole, etc.) and write a brief summary of how climate change may be affecting this species. Assessments: The following assessments may be used as a pre/post activity assessment or as part of a module assessment. How do greenhouse gases affect the greenhouse effect? How does the greenhouse effect affect global temperatures? What factors determine bird migration? How can climate change affect the migration of birds? Quiz: The following quiz may be used as a post activity assessment. How do greenhouse gases affect global temperatures? How does global warming affect bird migration? Robin migration seems to be mostly influenced by: A. Open water B. Day Length C. Temperatures D. Changes in habitat Activities for Conceptualizing Climate and Climate Change 3

4 How may global warming affect short and long distance migrants? A. Both the long distance and short distance migrants are arriving at their nest areas at the same time. B. The long distance migrants are arriving at their nesting areas before the short distance migrants. C. Both the long distance and short distance migrants are arriving earlier to their summer nesting areas. D. The short distance migrants are arriving at their nesting areas before the long distance migrants. Bibliography Figure 1: Temperature changes: Figure 2: How greenhouse gases create the "greenhouse effect Figure 3: Greenhouse Gas Production Bird Migration ange/default.cfm Climate Change Linked To Migratory Climate change has severe consequences for egg-laying and migration in birds Robin migration: The Journey North The Canada Goose : Where Do Canada Geese Migrate? Guest Author - Lisa Shea New Goose Recipe: U.S. Plans To Ease Culling of 'Residents' Geese That 'Don't Know Where Canada Is' Could Face Early Demise in U.S. Suburbs By JAMES P. STERBA Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Activities for Conceptualizing Climate and Climate Change 4

5 Appendix Figure 1: Annual Average Global Surface Temperature Anomalies Source: EPA Activities for Conceptualizing Climate and Climate Change 5

6 Figure 2: How greenhouse gases create the "greenhouse effect" Source: Greenhouse Gases and Society by Nick Hopwood and Jordan Cohen Activities for Conceptualizing Climate and Climate Change 6

7 Figure 3: Changes in the greenhouse gases. Source: Hansen and Sato, 1999 Figure 4: The American Robin Source: Journey North Activities for Conceptualizing Climate and Climate Change 7

8 Figure 5: Locations of Robins for 2/5-18, 2007 Source: The Journey North Activities for Conceptualizing Climate and Climate Change 8

Figure 6: Average Isotherms (temperature line) for 2/5-18, 2007.

9 Figure 6: Average Isotherms (temperature line) for 2/5-18, Source: NOAA Activities for Conceptualizing Climate and Climate Change 9

10 Figure 7: Locations of Robins for 2/22-3/21, 2007 (pink and red circles) Source: The Journey North Activities for Conceptualizing Climate and Climate Change 10

11 Figure 8: Isotherms for 2/22-3/21, 2007 Source: NOAA Activities for Conceptualizing Climate and Climate Change 11

12 Figure 9: Locations of Robins for 3/22-4/18, 2007 (blue circles) Source: The Journey North Activities for Conceptualizing Climate and Climate Change 12

13 Figure 10: Average temperature for 3/22-4/18, 2007 Source: NOAA Activities for Conceptualizing Climate and Climate Change 13

14 What birds really think!!! Activities for Conceptualizing Climate and Climate Change 14

Activity 3.6: Ecological Mismatches

Activity 3.6: Ecological Mismatches Grades 5 6 Description: In Part 1: Modeling an Ecosystem, students begin with an activity that illustrates the connections between plants, animals, and abiotic factors