Sahamamama Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 We will be studying birds as part of our Science line-up this upcoming year (Sept. 2015 start), with two 3rd graders and a 5th grader. I have some ideas: dissect owl pellets dissect a chicken (my husband loves dissections, and will be in charge of this one; plenty of people around here with backyard chickens) observe & record birds that visit our feeders visit a nearby wildlife sanctuary visit another wildlife sanctuary in a different habitat participate in a Citizen Science project involving birds in our area build a chicken coop and raise our own chickens (we've been wanting to do this, anyway) complete some or all of the requirements for the Boy Scout Bird Study badge Any other ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susie in MS Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 Set up a bird bath and plant sunflowers around it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UCF612 Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 We will be studying birds with Home Science Adventures by Stratton House next year. I can't remember what hands on stuff is planned for it but you could check it out for ideas. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethel Mertz Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 Check to see if you have a local bird club. They often schedule bird walks. If you have an iPad or other device, download apps from Cornell or ibird (or maybe it's ebird) and learn the different calls of birds as well as their breeding plumage. Check out any offerings at a local natural history museum. Go birding -especially during fall migration. My spouse and DS are both avid birders. I had to buy a special bumper sticker for the car: "Birder on board. Be prepared for sudden stops." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairfarmhand Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 Mess around with eggs. I think I had a book with some projects in it somewhere. Like you dropped the egg in ???vinegar??? I think... and it ate the egg shell away and just left the egg in a membrane. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Tick Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 You have some great ideas! Are you doing this in the fall, spring, year-round? Where I live there is a notable difference in the birds we see at the feeder summer vs winter. Some different birds, some are the same birds with different coloring. It might be interesting to compare what toy see. I wonder if you can do a night walk looking for owls. I think you would want to know where they are nesting. Our local naturalist sometimes knows this. Are you near a migratory "fly-way"? Perhaps you could see sand hill cranes migrating? There is an Audubon group in our area that sometimes uses mist nets. I would be interested to see how that works. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdewitte Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 I bought a window feeder this past winter and keep a field guide near it. The kids have loved looking up the breed, plotting migratory patterns, etc. They enjoyed this much more than our Apologia textbook. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Your list looks great! The Cornell Ornithology website is really a fabulous resource. We did a fun bird day at our zoo. Dd had a chart for identifying all the birds we saw by their beak type (therefore what they eat), their location/habitat and the reason for their name (by appearance, geography/location or person who discovered them etc.). She made graphs for the beak and location info to summarize her observations. Nature on PBS has many good shows specifically on birds. We recently rewatched the one on parrots. I second the idea of finding a local birding club. Fun for kids to meet senior adults especially for whom birding has been a lifelong hobby. Fun for the seniors to meet the next generation of enthusiasts! We have been noting the different habitats near our home and the different birds we see just in a mile or two. Our backyard, a large creek/small river, a thickly wooded park, a large open meadow with a low, boggy spot in the middle, even downtown. I have been wanting to set up our own birdcam on a nest in our yard, but haven't managed this yet. Too techy for me, but we might do it with some help. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sahamamama Posted June 17, 2015 Author Share Posted June 17, 2015 I bought a window feeder this past winter and keep a field guide near it. The kids have loved looking up the breed, plotting migratory patterns, etc. They enjoyed this much more than our Apologia textbook. LOL, yes, a real bird and a field guide will always trump a textbook here, too. ;) But the book has merit, and they will read it for their independent reading (with the CD, if they like). We'll be using the Memoria Press course, What's That Bird?, along with the book of the same title. At first glance, this course looks dry (like all MP materials, IMO). But I think it's exactly what the girls need for this year -- something that actually requires mastery, not simply exposure. They've had plenty of exposure to plenty of sciency things. Now they are ready to really master some content. In addition to the MP bird course, we'll be using: Peterson Field Guide Coloring Book: Birds National Geographic Kids Bird Guide of North America (lovely) Peterson Field Guide: Birds of Eastern and Central North America Common Birds and Their Songs (book/CD) Abeka Bird Cards (cards with illustrations, range maps, and facts about 31 birds) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmasc Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Mess around with eggs. I think I had a book with some projects in it somewhere. Like you dropped the egg in ???vinegar??? I think... and it ate the egg shell away and just left the egg in a membrane. Seconding this! We did this a few months ago and it was really cool! Put the egg in a coffee cup, pour vinegar to cover, leave 24 hours. Next day, empty vinegar, carefully refill with fresh vinegar. Leave 24 hours. At this point the egg should be completely held together by its membrane only, with no outer shell. You can hold it, see inside by putting it up to a light, etc. Cool stuff! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sahamamama Posted June 17, 2015 Author Share Posted June 17, 2015 Your list looks great! The Cornell Ornithology website is really a fabulous resource. We did a fun bird day at our zoo. Dd had a chart for identifying all the birds we saw by their beak type (therefore what they eat), their location/habitat and the reason for their name (by appearance, geography/location or person who discovered them etc.). She made graphs for the beak and location info to summarize her observations. Nature on PBS has many good shows specifically on birds. We recently rewatched the one on parrots. I second the idea of finding a local birding club. Fun for kids to meet senior adults especially for whom birding has been a lifelong hobby. Fun for the seniors to meet the next generation of enthusiasts! We have been noting the different habitats near our home and the different birds we see just in a mile or two. Our backyard, a large creek/small river, a thickly wooded park, a large open meadow with a low, boggy spot in the middle, even downtown. I have been wanting to set up our own birdcam on a nest in our yard, but haven't managed this yet. Too techy for me, but we might do it with some help. Thanks for these ideas, especially the bolded. I love the idea of the girls graphing bird beaks! :) Note to self: PBS, parrots. Yes, we have become more aware of the different habitats near our home, in large part due to our fascination with birds. Seeing which birds are here or there has helped us to think more about that particular area's habitat -- is it boggy? is it wooded? is it meadow? Oh, the birdcam! I will mention this to my husband, Inspector Gadget. Hmm... maybe build a birdhouse from a kit (since he is not Tim-the-Toolman), and install a birdcam? Funny, true story about the different habitats near our home. Last summer, I was driving the kids to VBS at our church, and every morning we passed a small pond along the road, and every morning we saw the same blue heron at this pond. He was always there -- on the way to church, and on the way home. Monday, he was there. Tuesday, he was there. Wednesday, he was there.... On Thursday morning, I was amazed that he was still there, in the same spot, with the same leg up in the air! What a creature of habit! What good fishing he must find in that small pond! How fortunate the inhabitants of the house, to have the opportunity to regularly observe this lovely bird. "Um, Mommy?" "Yes, dear." "I think he's plastic." :leaving: We still laugh about this on the way to church, especially in winter, when he stands on one leg in the snow. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotherGoose Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 If you know people with chickens, get ahold of a live, relatively tame one, and observe the physical anatomy. It may be easier to do this near sunset as they will be calmer then. You can see feathers, vent, feet, etc. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerileanne99 Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Don't forget about the Great Backyard Birdcount Project in February! http://www.audubon.org/content/about-great-backyard-bird-count 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerileanne99 Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 DP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasider Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 http://www.birdday.org 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Micron4 Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Lol about your blue heron story. 😃 My dd9 is a bird lover. One thing she really enjoys is watching the birdcams on the Cornell website. It's truly amazing to get to watch these birds up close on a daily basis. Also seconding the suggestion to go on bird walks with a group. The ones in my area are mainly senior citizens, and they just loved having a younger person around. It was really interesting to see what they spotted and how they identified it. There's really no substitute for a group of people who are passionate about a subject--you can just learn so much. We would have never been able to spot so many species by ourselves. Truly we had been to the same exact park before and identified a handful of birds. When we went with the group we saw and identified about 25! I'm not a very outdoorsy person, so I wasn't sure how it would be. I was mainly doing it for my daughter, but then I surprised myself by enjoying it after all. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 You can try your hand at weaving a nest. Studying the different kinds is fun, too. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sahamamama Posted June 18, 2015 Author Share Posted June 18, 2015 Lol about your blue heron story. 😃 My dd9 is a bird lover. One thing she really enjoys is watching the birdcams on the Cornell website. It's truly amazing to get to watch these birds up close on a daily basis. Also seconding the suggestion to go on bird walks with a group. The ones in my area are mainly senior citizens, and they just loved having a younger person around. It was really interesting to see what they spotted and how they identified it. There's really no substitute for a group of people who are passionate about a subject--you can just learn so much. We would have never been able to spot so many species by ourselves. Truly we had been to the same exact park before and identified a handful of birds. When we went with the group we saw and identified about 25! I'm not a very outdoorsy person, so I wasn't sure how it would be. I was mainly doing it for my daughter, but then I surprised myself by enjoying it after all. Thanks for the reminder, I'm going to put that in my notes! The MP Bird Study course is really only 12 lessons (which include vocabulary, bird song identification, and bird picture identification), so we'll have plenty of time to do field work, hands-on projects, and the Cornell website. I wonder how long it would take me to drive to Ithaca? Google Maps says 3.5 hours, which means that if my husband drives, we could be there in 2 hours. :auto: Day trip? Company car, gas is free. Admission is free. Picnic lunch. Okay, that's on the list. ;) We also will look into joining a local birding group. Thanks for the ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 Home Depot kids build Saturdays usually do birdhouses at least once or twice a year. Free and you don't have to set up, buy stuff etc. Fun for dads with kids. Your year sounds so fun. My kids would like this. Following so I can come back and do it another year. Don't forget to post back and tell us how it goes! :D 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erica in OR Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 Not sure if this was mentioned already—during a bird unit in our science book, one activity was to take a chicken bone, crack it across, then see that you could remove the marrow with a toothpick or tool and that the majority of the bone inside was hollow. We waited until a night we were grilling drumsticks, then used several of those bones. We just went to an excellent free-flight raptor show in AZ. We were surprised to find one of the great horned owls only weighed 2 to 3 pounds; the handler brought up hollow bones. Erica in OR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternallytired Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 We've just moved cross-country and it's driving me nuts that I can't ID all the flora and fauna, so we've been making our own field guide. (We own some, but I thought it would be nice to collect info on the things we see most often and learn a lot about them.) When we're out and about, I snap pictures of any birds or plants we don't recognize; when we get home, we make a page for each on the computer, researching to find out what we've photographed and what characteristics make it unique. We also note when and where we saw it. Since this is computerized thus far, we sometimes return and add notes such as when we DON'T see certain flowers/birds anymore. This is a little like the Boy Scout Field Guide, but more in-depth. The kids have really enjoyed helping me to ID everything and reading up to glean important facts. It's also been interesting to find conflicting reports from different sources and trying to find still more articles to see which seems to be the most-agreed-upon data. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 You can try your hand at weaving a nest. Studying the different kinds is fun, too. I have always wanted to build and put up an owl box. Boy Scouts near us build them and put them up in a protected area very near our house. I really like owls. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 The pp about raptor shows reminded me of the birds of prey show we have seen at the Rennaisance fair. There ar eusually regional organizations that train hawks to hunt and demonstrate falconry as it used to be practiced. Very cool and we learned tons about hawks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 Study the physics of flight and pay attention to the way different birds fly. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sahamamama Posted June 19, 2015 Author Share Posted June 19, 2015 I have always wanted to build and put up an owl box. Boy Scouts near us build them and put them up in a protected area very near our house. I really like owls. http://www.hungryowl.org/nesting-boxes.html A scout near us was building and selling bat houses, so you might want to inquire of your local troop. I wonder if a scout would be willing to show you how to build one and/or build it for you and sell it? We recently watched as a red-tailed hawk caught and killed a gray squirrel. As gruesome as it sounds, we pulled over to the side of the road to watch the hawk eat that squirrel. Quite unforgettable, the sound of the hawk ripping the squirrel's fur and limbs. Sounded like strong velcro being pulled apart. :huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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