It’s a Windy Day!

What is wind?

Wind is air in motion. Wind is produced by the uneven heating of the Earth’s surface by the sun. As the sun warms the Earth’s surface the atmosphere warms too. Some parts of the Earth receive direct rays of sun and others do not. Warm air weighs less than cold air and rises; cold air moves in and replaces the warm air. This movement of cold and warm air creates wind.

Wind Study

Ask children about their experiences with wind. Have they felt the wind? Seen the wind blow? What do they think causes wind?

Using a fan, or their own breath, experiment with blowing objects like the wind. Have a variety of objects, from light-weight feathers to heavy pebbles, ask the children which objects they think the wind can blow? Make a chart with their predictions. Blow the experimental objects. Record your findings on the chart. Were their predictions accurate? Why or why not?

Study the Wind Outside

Make a chart and keep track of the wind daily. Is it windy today? Which direction is the wind blowing? How strong is the wind blowing? Have a scale for deciding this, either check the actual speed with a local weather service or create your own scale based on watching a windsock outside. Take a walk in the wind on different days to feel the different wind. Talk about the benefits (cool breeze in summer, wind energy, sailboats, seed and pollen dispersal for plants) of wind and the damage wind can cause. Have they ever been in a sailboat? Do they enjoy the breeze in the summer? Have they ever flown a kite?

Wind Craft

PBSparents: DIY Windsock

http://www.pbs.org/parents/crafts-for-kids/windsock-craft/

Wind Rhyme

The Playful Wind

The wind came out to play one day. (Cup hands and pretend to blow like the wind)

He swept the clouds out of his way. (Make a sweeping motion with hands)

He blew the leaves and away they flew. (Make fluttering motions with fingers)

The trees bent low and their branches did too! (Lift arms up high and lower them)

The wind blew the great big ships at sea. (Repeat sweeping motion)

The wind blew the kite away from me. (Cup hand over eyes and tilt head as if watching kite go)

Book List

Bauer, M. D., and J. Wallace. 2003. Wind. Simon Spotlight.

Cobb, V., and J. Gorton. 2003. I Face the Wind. HarperCollins Publishers.

Dorros, A. 1990. Feel the Wind. HarperCollins Publishers.

Frost, H. 2004. Weather: Wind. Coughlan Publishing.

Hutchins, P. 1993. The Wind Blew. Aladdin.

Kamkwamba, W., B. Mealer, and E. Zunon. 2012. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. Penguin Group (USA).

Markle, S., and J. Holub. 1998. Windy Weather Science. Scholastic.

Bird Beak Buffet

All birds have beaks that they use for grasping and eating their food.  Bird beaks are all shapes and sizes which enable them to eat certain kinds of foods.  Seed and nut eaters usually have short, thick beaks for cracking open seeds.  Nectar feeders have long slender beaks for reaching into flowers.  Other birds have beaks that are suited for meat eating, filtering, spooning, chiseling, or pinching.  Bird beaks are an example of an adaptation.  Adaptations are a special feature or behavior that allow an animal to survive in its environment.

For this activity gather a set of eating utensils (spoon, fork, chopsticks and toothpicks) for each child as well as a variety of shapes of cooked pasta (be sure to have round ones, as well as long thin ones), and sunflower or pumpkin seeds.  Begin by asking children what kinds of food they like to eat and how they eat these foods.  Why do they eat some foods with a fork and others with a spoon or even their hands?  Ask children what animals use to eat their food.  Have they ever seen a bird eat?  What does a bird use to eat its food?  Allow the children to use the different utensils to try and eat the various kinds of pasta and seeds.  Which utensils worked best for which food?  Have the children sort the foods by the utensil that worked to eat that food.

Next use various “tools” to imitate bird’s beaks, such a cup for a pelican’s pouch, a turkey baster for a hummingbird’s long slender beak, tongs for the long, thin beaks of shorebirds, and tweezers for the strong, pointed beaks of woodpeckers.  Allow each child to try out the different bird beaks at various stations that contain different bird “foods” such as bowl of water with plastic fish for the pelican, a tall vase of water for the hummingbird, plastic worms in sand or soil for the shorebirds, and rice tucked into the bark of a log for the woodpeckers. After each child has had a chance to explore the different stations ask them: Which bird beak worked best for each food?  Why?  What kind of food might each bird eat?  Why do they think so?  Can looking at a bird’s beak help us guess what it eats? 

For this and other great ideas use Growing Up WILD’s “Bird Beak Buffet” and the included supplemental materials.

Looking for an extension of this activity?  February 14-17 is the annual Great Backyard Bird Count and everyone can participate!  Visit their website at http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc for more information.  Bird feeders are a wonderful place to observe and count birds.  If you are lucky enough to have a bird feeder outside your classroom window observing and counting birds there would be a wonderful way for children to participate in the GBBC.  If not, you can create bird feeders as a class using clean, used milk cartons or jugs or even pinecones.  The feeders can be hung outside where they are easily observable from the classroom.

Feeding and Observing Birds:

http://www.pbs.org/parents/catinthehat/activity_feeding_observing_birds.html

Milk carton bird feeder:

http://www.greeneducationfoundation.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=667:activity-milk-carton-bird-feeder&catid=137:greenthumbactivities&Itemid=434

Feeding wild birds:

http://www.osweb.com/kidzkorner/feeder.htm

Book List

Arnosky, J. 1997. Bird Watcher. Random House Children's Books.

Arnosky, J. 1993. Crinkleroot's 25 Birds Every Child Should Know. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.

Arnosky, J. 1992. Crinkleroot's Guide to Knowing the Birds. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.

Bailey, D. 1992. Birds: How to Watch and Understand the Fascinating World of Birds. DK Publishing, Inc.

Bushnell, J. 1996. Sky Dancer. HarperCollins Publishers.

Collard, S.B. 2002. Beaks! Charlesbridge Publishing, Inc.

Garelick, M. 1995. What Makes a Bird a Bird? Mondo Publishing.

Herkert, B. 2001. Birds in Your Backyard. Dawn Publications.

Latimer, J. et al. 1999. Backyard Birds (Peterson Field Guides for Young Naturalists). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Oppenheim, J.F. and B. Reid. 1987. Have You Seen Birds?. Scholastic, Inc.

Pascoe, E., et al. 2000. How and Why Birds Use Their Bills (How and Why Series). Creative Teching Press, Inc.

Rabe, T. and A. Ruiz. 1998. Fine Feathered Friends: All About Birds (Cat in the Hat's Learning Library). Random House Children's Books.

Rockwell, A.F. 1992. Our Yard Is Full of Birds. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.

Sill, C.P. 1997. About Birds: A Guide for Children. Peachtree Publishers.

Weidensaul, S. and T. Taylor. 1998. Birds (Audubon Society First Field Guide Series). Scholastic, Inc.

Yolen, J. 1999. Bird Watch: A Book of Poetry. Putnam Juvenile.  

Zim, H.S. 1989. Birds. St. Martin's Press.

Classroom Animals
Animals can be a wonderful resource to enhance learning and understanding in the classroom. Many children today have limited exposure to wildlife and animals. Having an animal in the classroom allows children to observe and study an animal first hand. It allows for the observation of animal life cycles, and behaviors. Classroom animals also teach students responsibility as they care for the needs of the animal. It teaches students to treat animals with respect, understand their needs and meet those needs.

Classroom animals must be chosen with care. Considerations:

-Safety of your students is first and foremost, chose an animal that is appropriate for the age-level of your students.

-Consider the needs of the animal and whether or not you and your class will be able to provide what the animal needs.

-Keep in mind the logistics of keeping a classroom animal. Is it an animal that can be left at school during weekends? What is the plan for holidays? Who is going to provide vet care if the need arises?

-Is there a permit required to obtain and/or keep your chosen animal? What are the regulations of your school district? (For example, in Iowa, you may collect and keep tadpoles and frogs if you have a valid fishing license. Research your state laws and regulations before you obtain any animal.)

Fish, frogs, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and small mammals are common classroom pets. Also consider ant farms, worm farms, and insects. Consider having an “observation” tank or aquarium that can house various animals through the year on a revolving basis. For example, use it to observe grasshoppers for a week in the fall, spiders during the winter, and tadpoles in the spring.

Links

Pets in the Classroom (offers grants to help pay for pet supplies for classroom pets)

http://www.petsintheclassroom.org/

Pet Smart: Teacher’s Guide to Classroom Pets

http://promotions.petsmart.com/landing/teachers-guide/