Grade 3: One-Page Summary for Bird ID Nature Walk
Walk should take about 45-60 minutes
This is a one-page summary. Please see walk guide for details.
Purpose of walk:
• hone identification and observation skills (looking while being calm and quiet, not recess)
• learn more about bird structure
• appreciate birds as part of the larger ecosystem
Questions to ask about birds:
• How are birds different from other animals? Birds build/use nests, lay eggs, have beaks and feathers
• Why do birds fly? To hunt, protection, migration, move around.
• Do all birds fly? No, example ostrich--non-flyers evolved in safe conditions
• Are birds the only animals to lay eggs? No, insects do & amphibians
• Why do birds make sounds? To attract similar birds and protect territory
• Resident vs. Migrating/Passerine birds: Resident birds are seed/berry eaters and are first to mate and nest.
Passerine birds have less harsh winter and return when insects are available to eat.
Birdfeeder stop
• What kinds of birds come here to eat? Seed eaters, usually beak for grinding seeds.
• What else do birds eat? Worms, berries, rodents, snakes, insects, larvae
• Talk about beak purpose and types of beaks. Birds of prey, wood peckers, seed eaters, worm diggers
Look for birds
• Spread groups out and encourage children to be quiet.
• As part of supplies, there are bird ID books and one-page handout. The walk guide PDF has a black and white
copy of birds common to Conant – check this list before going out. ID books and color handout may be better to
use on the walk itself.
• Guide mentions going to Acton Arboretum. We do not do this – plenty to see at Conant.
Eggs
• All birds lay them, do egg experiment (page 3) somewhere on the black top
• Oval shape means:
o rolls to you rather than away
o stays in a nest
o more surface area for warmth as adult birds lay on it.
• Guess how many eggs a robin lays? 4-5 in each "clutch"
Wing Structure
• What are bird bones made of and how are they different from ours? Bones made of keratin, like our fingernails
with air pockets.
• What are feathers for? Flight, protection/camouflage, warmth, waterproof.
• Birds molt one or two times a year--they lose feathers like we lose hair and fingernails.
• Downy portion of feathers provide warmth and help provide curved surface to meet air for flight.
Additional questions to discuss while looking for birds:
• What role do birds play in the ecosystem? They are both predators and prey.
• Can you name predator birds? hawks & owls. What birds are more likely to be prey? Sparrows, wrens, robins
• What is a food chain? Can we see one in the meadow? Examples are:
o Worms eaten by Robins who can be eaten by foxes, cats or coyotes.
o Acorns eaten by squirrels, eaten by foxes.
o Leaf eaten by caterpillar that is eaten by a bird.
• People are also part of a food chain: grain, chicken, people.
Grade 3 - Spring Nature Walk
Schedule this walk for mid-May.
Grade three nature walks usually last 45 minutes to an hour and the objectives are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
To introduce identification skills and develop observation skills.
Learning bird structure.
Awareness of the relation of form and function.
Develop appreciation of birds and how they fit in and are a part of their
ecosystem.
Supplies:
1. Bird checklist per student.
2. Plastic eggs.
Before going out:
Birds are very different in form from other animals. Ask the children how birds are
different. Some answers may include:
Birds have wings and fly.
Birds build nests and lay eggs.
Birds have feathers.
Birds have beaks.
With these answers come other questions:
Why do birds fly?
Do all birds fly?
Are birds the only animals to lay eggs?
It is important for children to understand that birds react to noise and movement. Being
quiet and still will allow them to see more birds for their checklist.
Take the children out by the Kindergarten classes where the birdfeeders are located.
What type of birds do they think would come there? What other foods do birds eat?
A bird's beak is made for its purpose. What effect do you think this would have on the
structure of their beak?
small insect eater
small seedeater
(Chickadee)
large seedeater
(Cardinal)
Probing
(Robin)
filtering
(Duck)
meat eater - shredding
(Hawk)
Wings and Flight
Cross the stream to the meadow and look for flying birds. You may see the tree
swallows, crows or the red-tailed hawk. One of the fascinating things about birds is their
ability to fly. A bird's wing is shaped and formed to gather air and create lift.
A bird's bones are foil of small air pockets making birds as light as possible. This is why
birds are capable of flight.
Nesting
While crossing the meadow have the children look for other signs of birds. Maybe they
might see nests leftover from last year. They may see a bird collecting materials for its
nest. If they follow the bird "with their eyes" maybe they can find the nest in progress.
Some birds build nests using mud, grass, and other materials, usually in trees and shrubs
but sometimes on the ground. Other birds are cavity nesters, which means they use
hollow spaces in trees. This is why old growth forests are so important; they provide a
nesting habitat essential to some species of birds.
Eggs
Eggs are not exclusive to birds, but all birds lay eggs. If you look at an egg it is not
round but oval and one end is narrower than the other. On the sidewalk by the road give
each child a plastic egg. Ask the children to roll the egg in a straight line. The egg is
designed with one end narrower than the other which causes the egg to roll in a circle.
What advantage would this be?
Resident and Passerine Birds
Were the birds the children are seeing here all winter? Some birds stay and some birds
migrate. The birds that stay are called resident and the birds that migrate are called
passerine. There are advantages to both types of birds. The birds that stay have to have a
food source so most are seed and berry eaters. Though they have a much rougher
environment to live in, they are also the first to be able to set up a territory, mate and
begin nesting. The birds that migrate have a less harsh environment for most of the year
but they have to wait for their food source (usually insects) to become available, and by
then some of the best nesting sites have already been taken.
Feathers
Ask the children what they think feathers are for. Feathers allow birds to fly but they also
provide protection and warmth. Birds have two main types of feathers: contour feathers
and down. Contour feathers cover the bird in an overlapping manner helping to
waterproof the skin. The down is hidden underneath the contour feathers and keeps the
bird warm like a down jacket. The feathers are dead, like hair on a person. When the
feathers wear out the bird replaces them with the new ones. This process is called
molting and happens once or twice a year.
Bird Checklist
Walk across to the Acton Arboretum. While looking for birds ask the children what roll
birds play in their ecosystem. Are they predator or prey? The answer, of course, is both.
There are so many types of birds that they fill many rolls.
Return to the school looking for birds along the way and see how many birds on the
checklist they could find.
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