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Science Sunday: Feather experiments

February 13, 2011 Ticia 18 Comments

learning about bird feathers

Do you remember my post about bird ideas?  Well, I’m taking an idea from it for our experiment this week.

Supplies: feathers (preferrably several types, we only had contour feathers), bag of ice, stuff to make the feathers dirty (we used peanut butter, syrup, honey, flour), supplies to clean the bird (we used paper towels, cotton cloth, towels).

Set-up: We did this in two parts.  First observation of the feather coupled with the ice experiment, and the second part later that day for cleaning the feather.

Feather experiment 1: Type of feather

feather observations

First, observe your feather.  What type of feather is it?  What do you notice about it?

My kids all remembered what it’s purpose was, but were fuzzy on the name.  The older kids remembered the names.

 

feather observations using a magnifying glass

 

We looked through our magnifying glass, and made more observations.  It wasn’t strong enough to see the barbs, but they were able to see more details.

 

feather visuals

 

And finally we wrote it down on our observation sheet.  My kids just drew pictures, but the older kids wrote about it.

 

 

Feather experiment 2: insulation

feather visuals

Then they held a bag of ice (or a freezer pack) and then they held it with a bag of feathers underneath.

We all agreed the feathers do quite a nice job of insulating us from the cold.  Now they understand much better why someone might have a down blanket.

Except Jeff is allergic to down, and  according to Superman so is Blue Arrow, who he is going to grow up to be.

And then we kicked the kids out to play while we set up the next part.

Feather experiment 3: cleaning feathers from an oil spill

feather experimentfeather experimentfeather experimentfeather experiment
And then they had to clean off a bird that had been hit by pollution.  Their feathers were covered in gunk, and they all discovered that no matter how hard they tried to clean it, you can’t get it back to where it was.

So, we were able to bring in how God created us to be stewards of the world, and it is our responsibility to care for it to the best of our ability.

 

science flying creatures, Science Sunday, zoology

Comments

  1. musicalmary says

    February 13, 2011 at 1:46 pm

    Hi Ticia, I'm trying to link up, but I don't see where I can submit my link for Science Sunday – I do see a LinkWithin link, but when I click it it just takes me to their general site. Can you help?

    Reply
  2. Ticia says

    February 13, 2011 at 1:55 pm

    Linky tools should be working now.

    Reply
  3. April says

    February 13, 2011 at 2:16 pm

    I remember seeing the feather insulating experiment at The Rogers Family blog.

    Cool pollution experiment.

    Linking up later tonight 🙂

    Reply
  4. littlewondersdays says

    February 13, 2011 at 2:48 pm

    Neat project. We've been enjoying our pond walks, but have just been journaling the birds we see. We may have to try your experiment. The great backyard bird count starts later this week.

    Reply
  5. Christy says

    February 13, 2011 at 3:54 pm

    I like this experiment!

    Reply
  6. Raising a Happy Child says

    February 13, 2011 at 4:05 pm

    I really like both parts of this experiment – very fun. I will also link something bird-related tomorrow.

    Reply
  7. Nicole {tired, need sleep} says

    February 13, 2011 at 6:19 pm

    Oh Ticia, I just LOVE this post! You know we are a bit bird-crazy here. The next time we have a bird unit we'll do this for sure. I really like understanding how it keeps the bird warm, and how you brought stewardship for God's little creatures into it – good job, mama!! 🙂

    Reply
  8. O F F says

    February 13, 2011 at 6:29 pm

    What a fun experiment! Wasnt sure where to link up, so I am including it here. This is a terrific site, thank you!

    https://familyforest.blogspot.com/2011/02/saturday-fun-with-science.html

    Reply
  9. Kylie says

    February 13, 2011 at 10:10 pm

    Very cool experiment, thanks for sharing it with us.

    Reply
  10. An Almost Unschooling Mom says

    February 13, 2011 at 11:34 pm

    I like the feather insulting idea better than the lard one 🙂

    Reply
  11. MaryAnne says

    February 14, 2011 at 12:54 pm

    I like the feather insulating idea! Mike is allergic to down, too. Along with dust mites which means I'm not allowed to keep a remotely untidy house, sigh…

    Reply
  12. Debbie says

    February 14, 2011 at 1:33 pm

    I like the way you showed the kids how the feathers insulate from the elements, then explored the affects of pollution on them.

    Reply
  13. O F F says

    February 14, 2011 at 6:19 pm

    Ok, I see the linky now. Thank you for adding in our link!

    Reply
  14. Wonder Mom says

    February 15, 2011 at 12:52 am

    I do believe we may do this experiment this week in honor of National Bird Count Day…

    Thanks for the inspiration!

    Reply
  15. Richele says

    March 9, 2011 at 2:55 pm

    This is so cool! I love seeing pictures detailing the experiment also. 🙂 Great looking kids and great looking project.

    Reply
  16. The Book Chook says

    March 9, 2011 at 10:37 pm

    I love reading about ideas where kids work things out for themselves through practical experiments.

    Reply

Trackbacks

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    October 15, 2017 at 3:50 pm

    […] 3 Experiments With Feathers from Adventures In Mommydom […]

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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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