Objective: Students will understand that a bird s appearance, diet, and habitat are connected. They will learn to deduce facts about a bird s diet and habitat based on its appearance, and vice versa, and write a report to demonstrate their knowledge. Time: 2 3 class periods Content Areas: Life Science, ELA Reading and Writing informational text Suggested Level: 1 2 Prior Knowledge: Birds are a distinct group of animals, separate from mammals, fish, reptiles, etc., that lay eggs, have wings, feathers, and beaks or bills. Materials: Report Builder database Books and online resources Smart Board Adopt a Bird Research Sheet Crayons/colored pencils DAY 1: GUIDED DISCUSSION PART 1: REVIEW Select one water/shorebird and one land/forest bird from the database. Share a photo of one of the birds and ask what kind of animal it is. Ask students what information they already know about birds, and guide the discussion to review the attributes used to classify birds (they have feathers, beaks/bills, wings, and lay eggs). Review the fact that birds are classified as their own animal group, and are different from mammals, reptiles, insects, etc. Finish by giving the specific name of the bird. PART 2: COMPARE AND CONTRAST As a class, create a T Chart comparing water/shorebirds with land birds. Begin by having students study the photo of the water/shorebird and asking what they notice about how the bird looks. Does it have webbed feet for swimming? Long legs for wading? What is the shape of its beak or bill? Is it large or small? List the attributes on one side of the T chart. Repeat with the land bird, having students focus on the differences between the two birds. List the attributes on the other side of the T chart. Ask students to think about how the birds physical attributes would help them survive in their respective habitats, including how the birds get around, hide from predators, and search or hunt for food. PART 3: IDENTIFY BIRDS Together as a class, look at a few of the birds from the Report Builder database. Based on the photographs, ask students to guess the birds habitat and diet. Have students refer to the T chart if necessary, and explain what clues they used to help them guess (e.g., The bird has webbed feet for swimming so it probably lives near water, or The bird has sharp, large talons, so it probably eats animals. ) To demonstrate research skills, click through the sections on the birds to see if students guesses were correct.
DAY 2: ACTIVITY ADOPT A BIRD PROJECT, PART 1: RESEARCH Review the Report Builder database and explain that each student will be researching and reporting on his or her own bird. Assign (or have students choose) a bird to adopt. Students will fill out their Adopt a Bird papers using the database and other resources to research their birds. Adaptation: This can be done as a group project with 3 4 students adopting and researching the same bird together. DAY 3: ACTIVITY ADOPT A BIRD PROJECT, PART 2: REPORT Explain that a report is a way for students to teach others about what they ve learned, and that there are three parts to a report, much like the beginning, middle, and end of a story: the Introduction, the Information, and the Summary or Conclusion. Review a completed Adopt a Bird Research Sheet (you may use a student s or a teachercreated sample). Together as a class, use the information to demonstrate writing a report of several sentences or 2 3 paragraphs (depending on level) about the bird. Explain that it is important to list the resources where information was found in a report, and make a list of resources using the information from the worksheet. Have students work independently to write reports based on their research, and draw and label a picture of their bird to accompany it. Adaptation: Students may print and label a photograph of their bird instead of drawing.
Adopt a Bird Research Sheet Name: Date: 1. What is your bird called? 2. What is your bird s habitat? 3. What size is your bird? 4. What does your bird eat? Draw your bird s beak or bill: How does your bird s beak or bill help it eat its favorite foods?
Draw your bird s legs and feet: Does your bird use its feet to hunt or search for food? Draw and color your bird s feathers:
Do you think your bird s feathers are for camouflage or for show? Share one or more fun facts about your bird: What resources did you use to find information about your bird?
Birds Rubric 1 Needs Improvement 2 Satisfactory 3 Good 4 Excellent Information: inaccurate unclear incomplete lacking details Information: accurate clear complete detailed Gives Credit for Information: no sources credited Gives Credit for Information: sources credited Mechanics: sloppy poor spelling missing capitalization and/or punctuation poor grammar unorganized Mechanics: neat accurate spelling correct capitalization and punctuation good grammar organized Art Project: colors are inaccurate bird is generic bird is not named and parts are not labeled Art Project: colors are accurate student made best attempt to draw the bird accurately bird is named and parts are labeled Comments: