Field Study Fun

A field study plot is an area set aside for making observations over time. By observing a particular plot of ground scientists can learn about how the plants in the plot grow, what animals use the plants that grow there and other valuable information about the area. In a small field study plot the most common animals you will observe will be invertebrates (animals without backbones) such as insects, spiders, slugs etc.

Choose a plot or several plots in your schoolyard or outdoor classroom. You can rope off your plot(s) if you choose. Explain to the children that they are going to look closely and carefully at a plot of ground over the next few months. Take them to the field study plot. Have them make observations about what they see. Record their observations. Encourage them to look for animals, small plants etc at the ground level. Encourage them to use their senses. What do they see? What do they hear? What do they smell? Is there anything that the children are hoping to learn about the plot of ground over the next few months?

Take the children to the study plot on a regular basis and record their observations. Try taking pictures every week and making a poster board showing how the plot has changed. How has the plot changed? What animals do you see? Have plants in the study plot grow or changed? How are the animals using the plants in the study plot? What have you learned from your study plot? What would you like to find out next time?

Make field journals for children to draw or make observations at your study plot. You can use spiral bound notebooks and create covers for them or you can make your own journals with paper. One way to make journals is: cut 8x11 sheets of paper in half, make a stack of paper as thick as you would like them, hole-punch two holes at the top, thread a rubber band through and then around a small stick that is the width of your paper. The stick will be at the top and front of your journal and hold it together. You can have the children collect the sticks themselves on a walk around the schoolyard or your local park. Allow children to decorate the front of their journals. Try bringing in leaves or other natural items for them to glue to the front.

For this and other fun activities use Growing Up WILD’s “Field Study Fun”.

Book List

Arnosky, J. 1997. Bug Hunter. Random House Children's Books.

Arnosky, J. 1979. Crinkleroot's Book of Animal Tracks and Wildlife Signs. Penguin Group (USA).

Arnosky, J. 1997. Crinkleroot's Guide to Knowing Animal Habitats. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.

Arnosky, J. 2002. Field Trips: Bug Hunting, Animal Tracking, Bird-watching, Shore Walking. HarperCollins Publishers.

Arnosky, J. 1999. Crinkleroot's Nature Almanac. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.

Arnosky, J. 1995. I See Animals Hiding. Scholastic.

Barraclough, S. 2007. Respecting Our World. Black Rabbit Books.

Baylor, B. and P. Parnall. 1997. The Other Way to Listen. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.

Burnie, D. 2005. Plant. DK Publishing, Inc.

Burns, D.L. and J.F. McGee. 1996.  Berries, Nuts,and Seeds (Take-Along Guide). T&N Children's Publishing.

Burns, D. and L. Garrow. 1998. Leaves, Trees and Bark (Take-Along Guide). NorthWord Books for Young Readers.

Capogna, V.V. 1999. Did You Ever Wonder about Things You Find in Your Backyard? Marshall Cavendish Inc.

Charman, A. 2003. I Wonder Why Trees Have Leaves and Other Questions about Plants. Houghton Mifflin Company.

Dixon, M. 1998. Plants around Us. Smart Apple Media.

Fowler, A. 2001. From Seed to Plant. Scholastic Library Publishing.

Fredericks, A.D. 2001. Under One Rock: Bugs, Slugs and Other Ughs. Dawn Publications.

Fredericks, A.D.  2006. On One Flower: Butterflies, Ticks and a Few More Icks. Dawn Publications.

Giogas, V. 2007. In My Backyard. Sylvan Dell Publishing.

Hoban, T. 1984. Is It Rough? Is It Smooth? Is It Shiny? HarperCollins Publishers.

Kalman, B. 1993. The Colors of Nature. Crabtree Publishing Company.

Morrison, G. 2004. Nature in the Neighborhood. Walter Lorraine Books/Houghton Mifflin Books.

Pallotta, J. and R. Masiello. 1990. The Icky Bug Alphabet. Charlesbridge Publishing, Inc.

Pascoe, E. and D. Kuhn. 2003. The Ecosystem of a Fallen Tree. Rosen Publishing Group.

Pascoe, E. and D. Kuhn. 2003. Ecosystem of an Apple Tree. Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

Pascoe, E. and D. Kuhn. 2003. The Ecosystem of a Grassy Field. Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

Pfeffer, W. 1997. A Log’s Life. Simon Schuster Children’s Publishing.

Rau, D.M. 2006. Star in My Orange: Looking for Nature's Shapes. Lerner Publishing Group.

Richardson, A.D. 2001. Soil. Capstone Press.

Rotner, S. 1992. Nature Spy. Atheneum.

Schaefer, L.M. 2001. What is an Insect?. Coughlan Publishing.

Stockdale, S. 1999. Nature’s Paintbrush: The Patterns and Colors Around You. Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing.

Wallace, N.E. 2006. Look! Look! Look! Marshall Cavendish Children's Books.

Wilsdon, C. 1998. Insects (Audubon Society First Field Guide Series). Scholastic, Inc.

Wood, A. J. 2003. Beetles and Bugs: A Nature Trail Book. Silver Dolphin Books.

Yolen, J. and J. Stemple. Color Me a Rhyme: Nature Poems for Young People. Boyds Mills Press.

Aqua Charades
Every molecule of water that was present when the Earth’s oceans were formed millions of years ago is still present today.  That means the water you drink is the same water dinosaurs drank!  All living things need water: plants, animals and people. Water is important to us for many purposes such as drinking, bathing and growing our food. 

Set up stations for children to explore water.  Supply scoops, cups and other tools for filling, dumping and exploring. Supply cold water, warm water and ice.  If possible, boil water to show children water in its gas form – steam. Ask children: Do you use water?  How do you use water?  Who else uses water?  Do animals use water? Plants? Where is there water?  At your home?  Outside? What do you like about water?  Invite children to think of different words that describe water such as wet, cool or splash. 

Collect items from outside on your playground such as rocks, sticks, leaves or seeds.  Which do they think will float?  Which do they think will sink? Allow children to experiment with each item in the water.

Create water collages.  Have children look through magazines for pictures of water or people and/or animals using water.  Let them cut out the pictures they want and glue them to a piece of paper.  You could also incorporate the letter W into the collages.

For these and other ideas use Project WILD’s Growing Up WILD “Aqua Charades.

Book List

Base, G. 2001. The Water Hole. Harry N Abrams, Inc.

Branley, F.M. 1997. Down Comes the Rain. HarperCollins Children's Books.
Brimner, L.D. 1999. Raindrops. Scholastic Library Publishing.
Cole, J. and B. Degen. 1988. The Magic School Bus At the Waterworks. Scholastic, Inc.
Curry, D.L. 1999. The Water Cycle. Capstone Press.
DK Publishing. 2007. Water Everywhere. DK Publishing, Inc.
Edom, H. 2007. Science with Water. EDC Publishing.
Falwell, C. 2001. Turtle Splash!: Countdown at the Pond. HarperCollins Publishers.
Fourment, T. 2004. My Water Comes from the Mountains. Roberts Rinehart Publishers.
Greenfield, E. and J.S. Gilchrist. 1999. Water, Water. HarperCollins Publishers.
Hooper, M. The Drop in My Drink: The Story of Water on Our Planet. Viking Press.
Jango-Cohen, J. 2005. Why Does It Rain? Lerner Publishing Group.
Jarnow, J. and E. Hathon. 2000. Splish! Splash! Penguin Group, Inc. (USA).
Kerley, B. 2006. A Cool Drink of Water. National Geographic Society.
Olien, R. 1999. Splish Splash Science, Grades 1-3: Learning about Water with Easy Fun-Filled Activities. Scholastic, Inc.
Pluckrose, H. 2001. Water. Gareth Stevens Audio.
Seuling, B. 2000. Drip! Drop!: How Water Gets to Your Tap. Holiday House, Inc.
Swanson, D. 2005. Wonder in Water. Annick Press, Limited.
Tresselt, A.R. 1990. Rain Drop Splash. HarperCollins Publishers.
Waldman, N. 2003. Snowflake: A Water Cycle Story. Millbrook Press.
Wells, R.E. 2006. Did a Dinosaur Drink This Water? Albert Whitman & Company.
Weininger, B. and A. Moller. 2003. Precious Water. North-South Books.
Yolen, J. 1995. Water Music: Poems for Children. Boyds Mills Press.

Tracks!

Wild animals are all around us, even in the winter. Most wild animals hide from us and so can be difficult to observe.  Luckily, wild animals often leave clues about themselves behind that we can find.  One of the biggest clues wildlife leaves behind are footprints or tracks.  By finding and observing animal tracks you can learn a lot about the animals that left them, such as, what kind of animal it was, where they were going, how many there were and what they were doing.  A whole wildlife story can be told by looking at footprints!  Winter is a wonderful time for looking for animal tracks because snow (and mud!) capture footprints well.

Take children on a walk around the schoolyard, backyard or local park to look for animal tracks.  If you are fortunate enough to have a bird feeder nearby that is a wonderful spot to find bird tracks.  Also look for squirrel tracks next to trees and deer tracks at the edge of wooded areas.  Encourage the children to share their observations.  Ask: What kind of animal do they think the tracks you found are from? What do they think the animal was doing?  Where was it going? Why?  As a class make up stories about what the animal was doing and where it was going.  When you get back to the classroom record your collective story and have the children draw pictures to illustrate it.  Collect the bits of story and save it as a new classroom book!  (Don't forget to have the children observe their own tracks in the snow too!)

Then when you get back to the classroom make tracks of your own!  You will need animal tracks stamps or stencils, butcher paper, paint, water and towels.  Lay out butcher paper and let each child remove their shoes and socks, dip their feet in paint and walk across the butcher paper.  Also, allow each child to use stamps or stencils to make tracks on the butcher paper.  Ask the children what they observe?  Were everyone’s tracks the same?  Why or why not? 

For snack time make “track crackers” with spread (cream cheese, hummus or something spreadable), crackers and veggies, chow mein noodles and dried fruit.  Arrange bits of carrots, noodles and/or raisins to make tracks on your crackers!

For more fun ideas use Project WILD’s Growing Up WILD “Tracks!”

Book List

Arnosky, J. 1998. Animal Tracker. Random House Value Publishing, Inc.

Arnosky, J. 1979. Crinkleroot's Book of Animal Tracks and Wildlife Signs. Penguin Group (USA).

Arnosky, J. 1995. I See Animals Hiding. Scholastic.

Arnosky, J. 1994. Crinkleroot's Twenty-Five Mammals Every Child Should Know. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.

Arnosky, J. 2008. Wild Tracks!  A Guide to Nature's Footprints. Sterling Publishing.

Boring, M. and L. Garrow. 1996. Rabbits, Squirrels, and Chimpmunks (Take-Along Guide). T&N Children's Publishing.

Dingwall, L. 1994. Deer (Getting to Know Nature's Children Series). Grolier Academic Reference.

Dorros, A. 1991. Animal Tracks. Scholastic, Inc

George, L. B. 1999. In the Snow: Who's Been Here?. HarperCollins Publishers.

Giogas, V. 2007. In My Backyard. Sylvan Dell Publishing.

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

MacLulich, C. 1996. Animal Feet. Scholastic, Inc.

Nail, J.D. and H. Skudder. 1994. Whose Tracks Are These? A Clue Book for Familiar Forest Animals. Rinehart Publishing.

Ricci, C. and S. Hall. 2003. Follow Those Feet! (Dora the Explorer Ready-to-Read, Level 1). Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group.

Robertson, K. 1986. Signs along the River: Learning to Read the Natural Landscape. Rinehart.

Rockwell, A. 1992.  Our Yard is Full of Birds. Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishers.

Ruurs, M. 2007. In My Backyard. Tundra.

Sams, C.R. and J. Stoick. 2000. Stranger in the Woods: A Photographic Fantasy. Carl R. Sams II Photography.

Selsam, M. E. and M.D. Hill. 1999. Big Tracks, Little Tracks: Following Animal Prints. HarperCollins Publishers.

Selsam, M.E. and J. Hunt. 1991. Keep Looking! Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.

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

Wiesmuller, D. 2003. In the Blink of an Eye. Walker & Company.

Wolff, A. 2006. Stella and Roy Go Camping. Yosemite Association.

Yee, W.H. 2007. Tracks in the Snow. Square Fish.

Bird Beak Buffet

It is time once again for the annual Great Backyard Bird Count! The GBBC is February 17-20 this year and people of all ages can participate.  The GBBC is a four-day even that engages people across the United States to count birds in their own backyards (or schoolyards!).  You can participate by counting only one day for fifteen minutes or you can count birds every day, the choice is yours.

Prepare your little ornithologists by starting off with a study of birds. Ask students if they have ever seen birds? Where have they seen birds? Ask them if they have ever seen a bird eat? What do birds eat?  How do birds eat? Record their responses and observations. Look at pictures of birds, and read books about birds. Go for a walk and look for birds or signs of birds.

Now you are going to try to eat like birds! For snack time gather a set of utensils for each child - spoon, fork, chopsticks, and toothpicks. Next give each child a variety of previously prepared food items, such as a variety of shapes of cooked pasta, seeds, nuts etc, use what you can to imitate bird food . Allow the children time to try to each of the foods with the various utensils. After the children have had a chance to try the various utensils with the different foods ask them which utensils worked best for which foods? Have them sort the food into piles of which utensils they ate them with.

Next set up stations for different bird “beaks”, such as a cup for a pelican’s pouch, a turkey baster or eye dropper for a hummingbird’s slender beak, tongs for the long thin beaks of shorebirds, and tweezers for the strong, pointed beaks of woodpeckers. At Each bird station put the coordinating “food” for the bird’s “beak”. For the pelican, a bowl of water with plastic fish, 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. Allow time for each student to be able to visit each station and try to eat like a bird. Try using different “beaks” at different stations? Which “beak” works better for which food item? Why? Look at the different bird “beaks” and look at pictures of real bird beaks. How can looking at a bird’s beak help us guess what it eats? Why do they think so?

As a class, create bird feeders to hang outside your windows or in the schoolyard. Try making milk carton or pinecone bird feeders. Observe your feeders once a day and record how many birds you see. Have a bird ID book handy and look up the birds you see and record your observations. One day during the GBBC record the birds you see at your feeders. Take a walk around your schoolyard and record the species and number of birds you see. Submit your results to the GBBC. You are now citizen scientists and have contributed to the study of North American song birds!

For this and other activities, including craft, snack and math connections, use Growing Up WILD’s “Bird Beak Buffet”!

Links

Great Backyard Bird Count

http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc

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

Pinecone bird feeder:
http://www.enviro-explorers.com/pinecone_web_page/pineconefeederindex.html

Feeding wild birds:
http://www.osweb.com/kidzkorner/feeder.htm

Edible ornaments for birds:
http://www.nwf.org/Get-Outside/Be-Out-There/Activities/Cook-and-Craft/Make-Edible-Ornaments-for-Animals.aspx

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.

Snow

The white snow and whistling winds of winter have officially set in and it is the perfect time of year to play with and observe snow!

If possible, take students outside on a winter walk to observe the snow, let them touch it, smell it, listen as they crunch it, walk on it etc. Allow them to share their own observations. For example ask:  What does the snow feel like? Is it cold? Warm? What does it smell like? What does it sound like when you walk on it?  What do you think would happen to the snow if we brought it inside? Why?

When you are done exploring and playing outside bring a container of snow inside to observe as it melts. Ask the children why they think it melted. Is there anything they could have done to keep the snow from melting inside? Listen to and record their ideas and then do the classroom experiment below.

Insulation experiment:

Ask children what they wear when they go outside in the winter? Why do they wear these? Do the extra layers keep them warm? Would layers keep the snow/ice cubes cold? Explain that the layers they wear work as insulation to keep them warm. Insulation traps air and keeps the temperature the same or slows down the change of the temperature.

You are going to do an experiment to see if you can wrap snowballs or ice cubes in insulation to prevent them from melting in your classroom.  Ask the children what they think would prevent the ice/snowballs from melting (or use previously discussed ideas from above). Keep a list of their suggestions. Discuss as a class the ideas that you want to try. Pick the ones that you are going to try and gather the supplies that you need. Some suggestions for insulation for the ice/snowballs might be newspaper/paper, hats/mittens, aluminum foil, tissue etc…let the children lead the experiment.

Once you have decided on the insulation that you are going to use, gather snowballs from outside or use previously frozen ice cubes and place each one in a separate container. Wrap each snowball in its chosen insulator and place in its own container. Be sure to leave on ice cube/snowball without insulation to act as your “control” to see how fast the ice cubes/snowballs would otherwise melt inside.  Make predictions about what you think is going to happen to the ice cubes/snowballs.

Over the course of the day observe your ice cubes/snow balls and record what is happening. Take pictures so you can create a display board of your experiment to display in your classroom. As you observe the ice cubes/snowballs ask the kids to make observations about what is happening. Is it what they thought was going to happen? Why or why not? Why do they think it turned out the way it did?  What else do we use insulation for? Record your classroom results and observations.

In addition, bring snow into the classroom and place it in one of your centers in a water table and allow the children to play with it as it melts. Observe how it gets sticky before it melts. When was it the easiest to build with? Why? What can you do with frozen? Melted?

Book List

Bancroft, H. 1997. Animals in Winter. HarperCollins Children's Books.

Barasch, L. 1993. A Winter Walk. Ticknor & Fields.

Berger, M. 1995. What Do Animals Do in Winter?: How Animals Survive the Cold. Ideals Publications.

Brett, J. 1996. The Mitten. Penguin Group.

Buehner, C. 2002. Snowmen at Night. Dial.

Butler, M.C. 2006. One Winter's Day. Good Books.

Cartwright, A. 1990. The Winter Hedgehog. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.

Cole, J. 1973. Plants in Winter. Harpercollins.

Conrad, H. 2001. Lights of Winter: Winter Celebrations Around the World. Lightport Books. 

Denslow, S.P. 2005. In the Snow. HarperCollins Children's Books.

Dixon, A. 2002. Winter Is. Alaska Northwest Books.

Evans, L. 2002. Winter: An Alphabet Acrostic. Houghton Mifflin Company.

Fallon, J. 2005. Snowball Fight. Dutton Juvenile.

Finnegan, M.P. 2002. Winter: Signs of the Season around North America. Capstone Press.

Fleming, D. 2001. Time to Sleep. Henry Holt & Company, Incorporated.

Florian, D. 1999. Winter Eyes. Greenwillow Books.

Freedman, R. 1981. When Winter Comes. Penguin Young Readers Group.

Gershator, P. 2001. When It Starts to Snow. Henry Holt & Company, Incorporated.

Glaser, L. 2002. It's Winter. Millbrook Press.

Good, E.W. 1994. White Wonderful Winter! Good Books.

Hader, B. 2005. The Big Snow. Simon & Schuster Children's.

Hirschi, R. 1996. Winter. Penguin Group Incorporated.

Hiscock, B. 1995. When Will It Snow? Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.

Jones, J.B. 2001. Who Lives in the Snow? Rinehart P.

Kirk, D. 2004. Snow Dude. Hyperion.

Kroll, L. 2003. Winter, Awake! SteinerBooks, Incorporated.

Lawlor, E.P. 1998. Discover Nature in Winter: Things to Know and Things to Do. Stackpole Books.

McDonnell, J. 1993. Winter: Tracks in the Snow. Scholastic Library Publishing.

Minor, W. 1996. Red Fox Running. Houghton Mifflin Company.

Moncure, J.B. 2000. In Winter. Child's World, Incorporated.

Moore, E. 2005. The Magic School Bus Sleeps for the Winter. Scholastic, Inc.

Moutran, J.S. 1987. Story of Punxsutawney Phil, "the Fearless Forecaster". Literary Publications.

Murray, M.D. 2003. Don't Wake Up The Bear. Marshall Cavendish Inc.

National Geographic Society. 1997. Animals In Winter. National Geographic Children's Books.

Partridge, E. 1992. Moon Glowing. Penguin Young Readers Group.

Pascoe, E. 2000. How and why Animals Prepare for Winter. Creative Teaching Press, Incorporated.

Pfeffer,W. 2003. The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice. Dutton Juvenile.

Prelutsky, J. 1984. It's Snowing! It's Snowing! Greenwillow Books.

Sabuda, R. 2005. Winter's Tale: An Original Pop-up Journey. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.

Sams, C.R. 2000. Stranger in the Woods: A Photographic Fantasy. Sams, Carl, R. II, Photography.

Schnur, S. 2002. Winter: An Alphabet Acrostic. Clarion Books; Library Binding edition.

Seuling, B. 2002. Winter Lullaby. Harcourt Children's Books.

Stewart, P. 1999. Little Bit of Winter. HarperCollins Children's Books.

Stojic, M. 2002. Snow. Crown Books for Young Readers.

Stringer, L. 2006. Winter Is the Warmest Season. Harcourt Children's Books.

Thayer, T. 2001. Winter. Lerner Publishing Group.

Thomson, R. 1989. Winter. Scholastic Library Publishing.

Vestergaard, H. 2004. Hello, Snow! Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Wellington, M. 2000. Bunny's First Snowflake. Penguin Group Incorporated.

Wildsmith, B. 1991. Animal Seasons. Oxford University Press.

Yolen, J. and J. Stemple. 2005. Snow, Snow: Winter Poems for Children. Boyd Mills Press.

Owl Pellets

An owl pellet is a dense mass of indigestible food that an owl coughs up after digesting a meal. Owls are predators and eat small mammals, birds, and reptiles. Owl pellets may contain bones, fur, and feathers. They offer a wonderful look at what owls in general eat as well as an intimate look at what a particular owl has eaten.

Obtain sterilized owl pellets for your class. Allow enough pellets so that children are in groups of 2-3 per pellet. If you collect pellets yourself instead of ordering pre-sterilized pellets the pellets will need to be sterilized. Sterilize by wrapping pellets in foil and heating them in a 325° oven for 40 minutes.

Start by asking children if they have ever seen a bird eat? How did it eat? What did it eat? What kinds of foods do birds eat? Show them one of the owl pellets and ask them what they think it might be? Tell them it is something made by a bird. Tell them they get to be scientists and explore what the object is.

Give each group/pair of children a pellet as well as a paper plate, dissecting tools, magnifying glass, and small containers. Explain that they can touch, pull apart, and separate the object. Explain that the containers are for them to sort out what they find. As they are examining their pellets ask them questions about they find. What do they notice about the object? What is inside of it? What does it feel like? Allow them to share their ideas and observations. Continue to ask questions and make observations until they come to the conclusion that it is the leftover bones, fur, and feathers from a meal of a bird. Show them pictures of owls. Has anyone ever seen an owl? What did it look like? What do owls eat? Talk about predators. Ask why they think the owl coughed up the bones, fur and/or feathers?

Barn Owl Nest Box

Build a Barn Owl nest box (or several) together as a class. Then find a place to hang them. Check with your local County Conservation Board or local land owners. Plan a field day to help hang the nest boxes (or at least observe). Plan to revisit the site at a later date to check if it is being used. Perhaps partner with CCB or landowner to have someone check it regularly and give photos/updates to the class.

IDNR: County Conservation Boards

http://www.iowadnr.gov/InsideDNR/DNRStaffOffices/ConservationLawEnforcement/CountyConservationBoards.aspx

All About Birds: Barn Owls

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/barn_owl/id

USDA Barn Owl nest Box and Instructions

ftp://ftp-fc.sc.egov.usda.gov/CA/news/Publications/wild_habitat/owl_nest.pdf

Missouri Department of Conservation How to Build a Barn Owl Nest Box (includes video and audio of Barn Owls)

http://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/how/woodworking/how-build-barn-owl-nest-box

Shaw Creek Bird Supply Barn Owl Nest Box Plans

http://www.shawcreekbirdsupply.com/plans_barn_owl.htm

Snacks and Crafts

Provide children with various craft supplies and various natural objects to make their own owls (do this craft outside if possible and allow children to gather their own natural objects). Some ideas are toilet paper or paper towel rolls (cut in thirds), press the tops down together to form the head and ears of an owl. Allow children to decorate as they want. Leaves, bark, fabric or paper scraps can be wings. Googly eyes, small stones, seeds can the eyes. Another idea is to use paper plates to make owls. Allow children to use their imaginations and see what wonderful owls they come up with! Display the owls in the classroom.

For snack time make owl toast. Cut the crust off of toast. Cut into a circle, cut another small half circle off of the top to form the ears of the owl. Use two banana slices with chocolate chips for eyes. Use a small triangle of a graham cracker for the nose. Enjoy!

For this and other fun ideas for exploring owls with young children use Growing Up WILD’s “Owl Pellets”.

Links

Virtual Owl Pellet Dissection

http://www.kidwings.com/owlpellets/flash/v4/index.htm

NWF: Legends of the Guardians Owl Activities

http://www.nwf.org/~/media/PDFs/About/NWF-Movies/LOTG_KidsGuide.ashx

Owls made with a paper towel roll

http://www.frugalfamilyfunblog.com/2010/10/owl-family-play-set.html

The Owl Pages

http://www.owlpages.com/

Wikipedia: Owls

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owl

Owl pellets for sale

http://www.pelletsinc.com/

Sounds Around

Sit quietly and listen. What do you hear?  A clock ticking? Birds singing? Children laughing? Sounds surround us every day, some we actively listen to, such a song on the radio, other sounds we “tune out”, like the ticking of a clock. Nature is full of sounds, birds calling, leaves rustling in trees, small animals scurrying through the underbrush.  For this activity you will be encouraging children to use their sense of hearing.

Take children outside to a natural area near your school.  You are going to make sound maps of the noises you hear. Provide each child with a paper plate, and a pen, or pencil. Have them make a dot (or draw a person) to be themselves in the center. Instruct them to make a dot each time they hear each noise (during the quiet listening time). For example, if they hear a dog somewhere behind them, the dot would go behind them on their sound map. When everyone is ready with their prepared sound maps sit quietly for a few minutes and listen. After you are done listening discuss what you heard. Ask children: What did you hear? Where was the sound coming from? What do you think was making the sound? How was it making the sound? Can you make the same sound?

Have prepared paper cups with the bottoms cut off, show children how to hold them up to their ears. Sit quietly and listen again. Can you hear any better with your cup ears? Why do you think that is? How are your cup ears like animal ears? What are some animals that can hear really well? Why? Talk about animal hearing.

Now it’s time to make sounds of your own. Allow the children time to explore their surroundings to find natural objects to make sounds with. For example, the crunch of dry leaves, banging rocks together, sliding rocks against each other, drumming with sticks on a tree stump, etc…Record the sounds with a voice recorder so you can listen to them together later. Bring the natural “instruments” into the classroom and set up a learning center with them. Play recordings of the sounds they made for children to listen to.

Make and decorate rainsticks:

You will need - cardboard tubes, film canisters or pill bottles, beads, rice or beans, tape, and craft supplies (markers, stickers, paint etc…)

Seal one end of each tube using tape. Fill the tubes with the “sound bouncers”, the film canisters or pill bottles. Add the “noisemakers”, the beads, rice, and beans. Temporarily seal the other end, test the sounds. Experiment with more/less bouncers and noisemakers until children are satisfied with their rainstick’s sound. Permanently seal the other end when they are done. Allow each child to decorate their own rainstick. Listen to all the sounds together and individually.

Play “Sound Bingo”. Make cards/sheets for each child with images of different animals, sounds etc. Play corresponding sound. If the children have the corresponding image for the sound they put a game piece (acorn, pebble, bead, bean) on the image. The first child to fill in row or card yells “Bingo!”.

For this and other great activities use PLT’s Environmental Experiences for Early Childhood “Sounds Around”.

Book List

Baylor, B. and P. Parnall. 1997. The Other Way to Listen. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.

Becker, B. and B. Huang. 1995. The Quiet Way Home. Holt, Henry, and Company

Bouchard, D. and R. Parker. 1996. Voices from the Wild: An Animal Sensagoria. Chronicle Books LLC.

Carle, E. and Jr. Martin, B. 1997. Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? Henry Holt and Co.

Guillain, C. 2009. What is Sound? Heinemann-Raintree.

Graff, N.P. and G.B. Karas. 1998. In the Hush of the Evening. HarperCollins Publishers.

Hickman, P. 2006. How Animals Use Their Senses. Kids Can Press, Limited.

Kaner, E. 1999. Animal Senses: How Animals See, Hear, Taste, Smell and Feel. Kids Can Press, Limited.

Kindermusik. 2010. Sound Bingo. Chronicle Books LLC.

Martin, Jr., B. and J. Endicott. 1988. Listen to the Rain. Henry Holt & Company, Incorporated.

Pfeffer, W., and H. Keller. 1998. Sounds All Around (Lets-Read-and-Find-Out Science 1). Collins.

Rosinsky, N. M., and M. John. 2002. Sound: Loud, Soft, High, and Low. Coughlan Publishing.

Seuss, Dr. 1954. Horton Hears a Who. Random House Children's Books.

Showers, P. and Aliki. 1993. The Listening Walk. HarperCollins Children's Books.

Stephen, D. 2011. Letter Sound Yoga. Tate Publishing & Enterprise, LLC.

Links

Wikipedia: Sound

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound

Naturesongs: Nature Recordings and Photos

http://www.naturesongs.com/

Soundboard: Sound clips in over 20 different categories

http://www.soundboard.com/index.aspx