Submitted by: Kathy Richardson, Shannon Smith & Claire Bailey
Collaborators: Joy McDonald, ITRT
School: Hungary Creek Middle
Summary
As a part of our adaptations unit, students will complete a lab that illustrates how bird beaks have adapted to their environment. Students form teams of 5 and each chooses an implement that mimics a type of bird beak (tweezers, board clip, clothes pin, cup and a fork). In a manner similar to the game “Hungry, Hungry Hippos” students will use thier implement to try and ‘eat’ as many ‘seeds’ as possible in 30 seconds at a series of 6 stations that mimic different ecosystems. After each trial, students enter their data into a google form and analyze graphs of the data. As an assessment, students view an image of a beak and use the experiment data to answer critical thinking questions, such as: What adaptations would this bird need to survive in this particular habitat?
TIPC Ratings
Approaching: Students were engaged in scientific research during this lab. They collected and assembled data while investigating the concept of how adaptations impact survival. As ecologists do in their work, the students then used the data analysis to make predictions about the likelihood of other birds thriving.
Developing: Students worked in groups, in roles defined by the teacher. They used Google forms and spreadsheets to share their research findings with the class, thus allowing for a shared data set when critical thinking activities were assigned.
Approaching: Students used experimental research data collected by the entire class to make predictions and solve the open ended task of determining what ways their bird/beak could adapt to specific habitats to increase reproduction and survival rates.
Creativity was not a focus of this lesson.
Student Artifact
Download Files
Contents:
