active hands-on experiments. The children were presented with a number of tools which mimicked different types of beaks as well as a variety of food stuffs and were asked to try them out (see photos). The children learned that beaks, like tools, optimally function to find and extract some types of foods over others. We are doing a lot of fun activities with the children for this unit: bird watching, bird identification wheels, and bird related crafts. We also did feather study looking at types of feathers (e.g., flight, downy), feather parts (e.g., blade, rachis), and coloration, with children bringing home their very own peacock feather. Several cockatiels visited our classroom courtesy of Miriam and Sergio Cartagena who raise these beautiful birds. In March, we will have a more focused study on several types of birds such as song birds, Florida’s beautiful water birds, and birds of prey, especially owls. Our owl focus will include learning about the food chain, and owl pellet dissection (each child will have their own food pellet to dissect and will bring home the bones of their little prey). We also will have had Ms. Tina Brennan visit to share live specimens including owls, kites and hawks. The children have been doing beautiful art inspired by well known artists using a variety of media. They also have been doing process art, which is art that focuses on the process over the product. This helps children break boundaries about what constitutes art and just enjoy the process of working with their hands.
Cockatiel Delight!
Bird Beak Study
Feather Study
For literature we read Charlotte’s Web and ended it with popcorn and a movie. Endless fun!
Bird Beak Study