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Birds Unit

July 24, 2014 Ticia 4 Comments

I think of all of our science lessons this was one of my kids’ favorite biology units.  They loved our birds unit because it afforded them so many opportunities to make things and to act out what they learned.

bird unit

(there are affiliate links in here)

Anatomy of a bird activities

Why not start with the beginning of birds (unless, did the chicken come first?) and try some egg experiments.

Then look at a bird’s bones and compare it with a cow’s bone.  Comparing bones is a great activity to build observational skills.

My favorite bird activity was our feather experiments, partially because I got to do the oil slick feather experiment.

Finally, and I think this was the kids’ favorite of this section: design a bird.  Whose bird can fly the farthest? (As a side note, looking at pictures in this post just shows how OLD my kids are now, they were so little in this post)

Bird Unit for homeschooling

Bird behavior activities

Owls are an interesting creature because they swallow their food whole and then after digestion barf up their food as owl pellets.  I found a great source for owl pellets, and we dissected them.

Then maybe try out a bird migration activity.  My kids had a love-hate relationship with this one, because by the end they were very tired.

try to imitate the bird can you attract a mate

I always think I have a post for this activity, but I don’t, so here’s a bonus activity.  In many bird species, the male does bizarre things to attract the female’s attention.  In this bird’s case, they puff up their chest and assume strange positions and FREEZE until the female picks her mate.  This activity was done over and over and over again for a month straight.  The kids would run around and then I’d yell “Girl bird,” and they’d freeze until I picked the most interesting “boy bird.”  It really cracked them up.

For all of the posts in this series head on over to Zoology for Kids.

Bird Unit elementary middle kinder 5th 6th biology zoology

science biology, flying creatures, zoology

Comments

  1. Almost Unschoolers says

    July 24, 2014 at 5:21 pm

    That game could be used for a number of different bird and animal attracting behaviors – so many funny things to try!

    Reply
  2. maryanne @ mama smiles says

    July 24, 2014 at 5:41 pm

    Birds are such fascinating animals!

    Reply
  3. Natalie PlanetSmartyPants says

    July 25, 2014 at 8:14 pm

    We learned a lot about birds this year by watching our mourning doves nest 3 feet away from our front door. You did so much with birds already!

    Reply
  4. Claire says

    July 26, 2014 at 11:36 am

    Oh yes, I can just see my children pretending to attract a mate using bird tactics!! Very good idea!

    Reply

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Ticia Adventures in Mommydom Hi, I'm Ticia! This is the adventures of my family in life and learning. Follow along with us as we share our adventures. We're having a lot of fun and learning as we go.

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