Category: Patterns in Nature

Feathering the Nest – Activities

It is illegal to collect birds’ nests, feathers, or eggs without federal and state collecting permits.

After handling nests, be sure to wash hands.

FOCUS: Although all birds’ nests are made to contain and conceal the eggs, the design, location, and construction of nests varies greatly. Nests are built in many different places and they are built with many different materials. Some are simple scrapes and others are intricate woven baskets. Each nest is characteristic for its species, and every bird knows by instinct how and where to build it.

INTRODUCTION
Objective: To begin to explore and ask questions about bird nests.

Set out a variety of nests, ask children to take a close look, and ask what they wonder about them.

Materials: Bird Nest Set: five bird nests from key plus additional nests if available (from a licensed owner), magnifying lenses.

NEST DETECTIVES AND JOURNAL ACTIVITY
Objective: To investigate a variety of birds’ nests and create an inventory, documenting the materials used in their construction.

Ahead of time, place the five nests from the Bird Nest Set at five separate stations. Label each station with the letter listed on the paper tag attached to each nest.  Continue reading Feathering the Nest – Activities

Feathering the Nest – Puppet Show

Birds of a Feather

Characters: Mrs. Bluebird, Mr. Bluebird, Red-eyed Vireo, Phoebe, Goldfinch

Mrs. Bluebird  Well, that’s the last straw!

Mr. Bluebird  What is it, my dear? Is something the matter?

Mrs. Bluebird  The matter? No, I just said that’s the last straw. I’ve just added the last piece of straw to our nest, and now it’s done.

Mr. Bluebird  And a more beautiful nest I’ve never seen. I always admire your great talent in nest building. It must have been hard to learn. Continue reading Feathering the Nest – Puppet Show

Feathering the Nest – Standards

FEATHERING THE NEST ALIGNMENT WITH
NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS
The activities in this unit help children understand the basic concepts in the Disciplinary Core Ideas listed here. You can use the following list as a guide for lesson planning. These Disciplinary Core Ideas are taken from Grade Band Endpoints in A Framework for K-12 Science Education. Additionally, our activities give children opportunities to engage in many of the Science and Engineering Practices and reflect on the Crosscutting Concepts as identified in the Next Generation Science Standards. Continue reading Feathering the Nest – Standards

Animal Disguise and Surprise – Background

Insects in leaf litter, birds in thickets, frogs on the pond’s edge – all around us animals are hidden in plain sight. They have evolved a myriad of different disguises in response to constant pressure from keen-eyed predators. Animals can be variously colored, patterned, or shaped to blend into their surroundings, their disguise being most effective when they remain perfectly still. While some animals are concealed by camouflage, others warn off predators with bright colors, announcing danger in the form of bad taste, smell, or poison. While avoiding being eaten is an obvious benefit of effective camouflage, the ability to go unnoticed helps predators, too. It allows them to get closer to their prey before attacking, thus increasing their chances of success. In the end, whether predator or prey, those with the best disguise or surprise increase their chances of survival so that they might pass along these important characteristics to their offspring. Continue reading Animal Disguise and Surprise – Background

Animal Disguise and Surprise – Activities

FOCUS: All around you there may be animals hidden in plain sight. They can be variously colored, patterned, or shaped to blend into their surroundings. Some animals are concealed by camouflage, while others warn off predators with bright colors. Those with the best disguise or surprise will survive and pass along these important characteristics to their offspring.

INTRODUCTION
Objective: To begin to explore and ask questions about protective coloration in animals.

Show a photo or two of animals with protective coloration in the wild, and ask children to share what they see, notice, and wonder.

Materials: 1-2 photographs of animals with protective coloration.

ANIMAL DISGUISE AND SURPRISE SLIDE SHOW
Objective: To see examples of different types of protective coloration.

Show photographs of the different types of protective coloration – matching color, disruptive coloration, countershading, masking, warning and flash coloration. Continue reading Animal Disguise and Surprise – Activities

Animal Disguise and Surprise – Puppet Show

Bumble Bee-ware

Characters: Beulah Bumblebee, Greta Grouse, Wilbur Walkingstick, Farley Fawn, Benny Bagworm, Eddy Eft.

Props: branch

Beulah Bumblebee

            How nice to be a bumblebee,

            Flying along as free as free.

            Gathering nectar from flowers I see, Continue reading Animal Disguise and Surprise – Puppet Show

Animal Disguise and Surprise – Standards

ANIMAL DISGUISE AND SURPRISE ALIGNMENT WITH
NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS

The activities in this unit help children understand the basic concepts in the Disciplinary Core Ideas listed here. You can use the following list as a guide for lesson planning. These Disciplinary Core Ideas are taken from Grade Band Endpoints in A Framework for K-12 Science Education. Additionally, our activities give children opportunities to engage in many of the Science and Engineering Practices and reflect on the Crosscutting Concepts as identified in the Next Generation Science Standards. Continue reading Animal Disguise and Surprise – Standards

Frogs and Toads – Background

The warm rains of spring awaken an explosion of activity in our nearby pools, ponds, and muddy puddles. If you visit at dusk, you are sure to be greeted by a chorus of many and varied voices as one or more species of frogs comes a-courting, in a celebration of sound. This singing is an important part of their yearly breeding cycle and provides the music for spring and summer nights.

Frogs and toads, along with salamanders, are classified as amphibians. The word amphibian is from the Greek words meaning double life and refers to the fact that these animals have “two lives” – a larval stage and an adult stage that are often very different from each other. Most amphibians begin their lives in water but as adults are able to live on land, often returning to water to breed. They undergo an amazing transformation, or metamorphosis, from aquatic larva to terrestrial adult, involving physiological, anatomical, and behavioral changes. Continue reading Frogs and Toads – Background