The United Federation of Teachers

Elementary School Units

Bird watching as an alternative to chick hatching

Apr 7, 2000 4:03 PM

LEVEL: GRADES 2 TO 6
DURATION: FOUR TO SIX WEEKS

Some of the information in this unit has been adapted, with permission, from United Poultry Concerns' Replacing School Hatching Projects booklet as well as the United Federation of Teachers Humane Education Committee's "Wildlife" newsletter Vol. IV, No. 111.

SCIENCE OBJECTIVE #5: Create models of non-intrusive, productive animal research through natural (non-manipulative) observations.

UNIT OVERVIEW:

This unit will explore the problems involved in classroom chick hatching projects. It will discuss the wide variety of alternative projects which exist with a focus on bird watching. The underlying goal will be to involve young students in the exciting, highly motivating, and often awe-inspiring study of birds in their natural environments. It is hoped that students will come to appreciate the value of observing birds in nature as living beings deserving of our respect rather than as "specimens" in a classroom incubator project.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

Every year, primary school teachers and their students place thousands of fertilized eggs in classroom incubators to be hatched within three to four weeks. These birds are not only deprived of a mother; many grow sick and deformed because their exacting needs are not met during incubation and after hatching. Body organs stick to the sides of shells because they are not rotated properly. Eggs can hatch on week-ends when no one is in school. The heat may be turned off for the week-end causing the embryos to become crippled or die in the shell. Commercial suppliers' eggs hatch an abnormally high number of deformed birds reflecting the limited gene pool from which they derive. Some teachers even remove an egg from the incubator every other day and open it up to look at the embryo in various stages of development, even though this results in the death of the embryo.

When the project is over, these now unwanted birds may be left in boxes in the main office for many hours without food, water or adequate ventilation waiting to be collected for disposal. Students and even some teachers are misled to believe that the birds surviving at the end of the project are going to live out their lives happily on a farm. In reality, most of them are going to be killed immediately as working farms do not assimilate school project birds into their existing flocks. Some birds will be sold to live poultry markets and auctions, while others will be fed to captive zoo animals.

Each year, animal shelters across the country are brought unwanted chicks, ducklings, quails and even turkeys by educators who cannot find homes for them. Nearly all of these birds are killed immediately because there are no homes for them or because they arrive sick. Residential zoning laws ban keeping domestic fowl. Even those people who can provide a good home can accommodate only so many birds. Normal flocks have several female birds to one male. Roosters crow before dawn and during the day. This sometimes poses a problem for people willing to take them and may lead to complaints from neighbors.

Observations of birds in their natural environments should be considered as an alternative science unit. This holistic approach can be supplemented with books, videos and posters for a comprehensive and exciting educational experience.

PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVE I: Students will be able to identify some species of birds.

MATERIALS: Crinkleroot's Guide to Knowing the Birds or other grade appropriate books for children which name birds and describe their anatomy and behaviors.

MOTIVATION: Find out what your class already knows about the subject of birds and have them begin to formulate some questions that will guide their study of birds. One methodology for doing this is some kind of semantic mapping or brainstorming activity. K.W.L. is one of these. The K.W.L. activity asks children to think of what they know about a subject (brainstorming), what they would like to find out about the subject (questioning) and what they learned about the subject as the unit progresses (summary). The K.W.L. activities are usually done as a chart. An example follows. Create the chart on large sheets of paper or on an overhead transparency, because you will want to save it and come back to add to the chart as the children acquire more information on the topic.

ACTIVITIES:

Look at and discuss the pictures in the Crinkleroot's Guide to Knowing the Birds book or another book suitable for the grade level you are working with. Practice naming some of the birds in the book based upon their color, shape and size.

Read and discuss the book about birds with the class. This may take several days. Discuss identifying features of the birds shown. For example, which bird is almost completely red? blue and black? Which birds swim in the water? Chart this information in graph form. Be sure to include chickens, roosters and turkeys in your listing. Write or call United Poultry Concerns for their "Chickens Can Fly" packet which includes photos of chickens in trees.

Bird Habitats

Place a check in the boxes that apply

Type of bird Birds Who Swim Birds Who Nest in Trees etc.

and

Main Color of Birds

List as many birds as apply under each heading

Have children label a drawing of a bird to show the crown, forehead, beak, throat, breast, belly, foot, leg, tail, wing, back and cheek.

Look out of the classroom window or take a neighborhood walk to look for neighborhood birds. Can you identify any of them? If possible, have a representative of the local Audubon Society, or other group knowledgeable about birds, talk to the class and show a video or slides about birds. Get pictures from a chicken sanctuary to show to the class.

PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVE II: Students will understand that birds have feathers. Birds also lay eggs. The baby birds hatch from the eggs.

MATERIALS: It Could Be A Bird book, Egg: A Photographic Story of Hatching book.

MOTIVATION: Ask the children to name the birds they know. Ask them how they know it's a bird. Try to elicit the fact that birds have feathers and lay eggs.

ACTIVITIES:

Read It Could Be A Bird book. Discuss what this book tells us that all birds have in common. If this book is not available read another library book which provides this information. Older children may be asked to bring library books or information from encyclopedias and dictionaries to get this information. Ask children to relate their personal experiences.

Look at birds through the classroom window, in the school yard and in the neighborhood. Note that all of these birds have feathers. Try to locate birds nests from a respectful distance. Have students photograph or sketch these local birds. Place their pictures in sequence on a poster or an observational notebook. Have children draw pictures of birds sitting on their nests. Assemble a bird collage using back issues of magazines on this topic. Read Egg: A Photographic Story of Hatching. This book shows how birds breathe inside eggs, how birds within shells "talk" and the moment of hatching in close-up photographs.

PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVE III: Students will study birds to learn about their behaviors and needs.

MATERIALS: Project PigeonWatch or Project FeederWatch materials; a bird house or feeding station near the school; Chick, Chick, Chick video, "Chickens Can Fly" materials from United Poultry Concerns.

MOTIVATION: Develop a Venn diagram to show what people need and what chickens need. Which needs do people and chickens share? Which of their needs are different?

Needs of

People Both Chickens

ACTIVITIES:

Your bird unit will rely on your students' observational skills, so an observational journal is very helpful. All children can maintain some kind of a journal. An observational journal includes illustrations as well as words; it includes questions as well as statements. Students can make their own notebooks for this purpose. Younger children enjoy making their own bird-shaped notebook which they can trace from your template.

MAKE A BIRD SHAPE BOOK

You can enlarge this pattern to make a template size suitable for your needs.

In recording information in an observational journal, children learn to collect observational data and begin to make comparisons over time. Students should make entries in their observational journals on a regular basis, at least twice a week for a month. If you are also asking children to make seasonal comparisons, you can decide as a class when to do follow-up observations and enter those dates on your class reminder calendar so you won't forget to do so. An example of observational journal pages follow, but create a format that suits the interests and abilities of your students.

As you begin to hone students observation and questioning skills, you also need to begin to provide input. This input can be interdisciplinary, spanning a number of subject areas. In your communication arts program, begin reading books about birds to your class and provide books on the topic in your guided and independent reading. Look for books with good technical information and a humane theme.

If possible, take a trip to a bird rehabilitation center or environmental center to observe birds. Contact your local Audubon Society, Parks Department or Environmental Study Center for assistance. Before you go, ask the students to brainstorm questions that could be answered on their trip. Students should take along trip boards. These are

homemade clipboards made from cardboard to which a pencil is attached with a string. A study sheet is attached to it which the students can refer to during the trip. The sheet can contain diagrams, requests to illustrate what they observe, as well as any questions they have prepared for their trip. If possible, take photographs of birds you see for future discussion.

Contact the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, an international bird study center, for free advice and information to teachers. It specializes in direct observation programs. Ask about Project Pigeon Watch and Project FeederWatch. Activities are designed to strengthen such skills as observation, identification, research, computation and writing. Phone #: 1-607-254-2440.

BIRD FEEDERS

Build one or more bird houses near the school and observe the birds from a respectful distance using binoculars.

a) Make bird feeders by smearing pinecones with peanut butter. Then roll them in a birdseed mix. Use cord around the top for a hanger.

b) Clean large plastic jugs very well. Decorate the outside of the jug with non-toxic permanent markers. Suspend from a cord. Fill with mixed bird seed. c) Suspend plastic salad bowls or wooden salad bowls from cords. Fill them with birdseed. Fill orange or onion bags with suet and hang them using a cord.

BE SURE TO REMOVE THE CORDS AND REMAINING MATERIALS FROM THE TREE WHEN THIS PROJECT IS OVER. IF YOU HAVE STARTED THIS PROJECT IN THE FALL OR WINTER, BE SURE TO FEED THE BIRDS UNTIL SPRING WHEN THEY CAN MORE EASILY LOCATE ANOTHER FOOD SOURCE.

Write to Droll Yankees. Ask them for a free bird feeder for use in the classroom. Be sure to write on school stationery and give your school address. Ask for information on all their products. Write to Feeding For Fun, Droll Yankees, 27 Mill Road, Foster, RI 02825.

Watch the Chick, Chick, Chick video. What do the chickens eat? drink? How do they bathe? in water? in dust? Who wakes them in the morning?

Have the children look at photographs from United Poultry Concerns. How did the chickens get into the trees? What behaviors won't the chickens in cages be able to carry out?

PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVE IV: Students will understand why some people are opposed to chick hatching while other people endorse it.

MATERIALS: A Home For Henny book, materials from organization which sells chick eggs and incubator for classroom use.

MOTIVATION: Have the children list why they think that some people might like the idea of hatching chick eggs in a classroom while other people think that it's a bad idea. Chart student responses before and after they read, or listen to the teacher read, A Home For Henny as well as materials promoting classroom chick hatching..

ACTIVITIES:

Tell students that while A Home For Henny is fiction, that many of the individual incidents in the books are based on actual events. Read and discuss A Home For Henny. Where was Henny born? Why didn't all the eggs in the incubator hatch? What problem did some of the chicks have at the time of hatching? What happened to the chicks after the classroom project?

Why did someone try to steal Henny? Why was Henny taken to United Poultry Concerns? What did Melanie observe the hens and roosters doing at United Poultry Concerns?

Read materials promoting classroom chick hatching from organizations which provide the eggs and the incubator. Why do some teachers like to hatch eggs in the classroom? What can children learn from hatching chick eggs in a classroom incubator? Create a two-column chart, as illustrated, and have the students complete it as a group. Older students might debate this topic.

CHICK HATCHING

PROS CONS

BIRD CARE VOCABULARY

  1. Altricial - born helpless at birth, naked and eyes closed
  2. Cere - a fleshy piece across the top of the bill in some birds
  3. Courtship - the behavior before mating that binds a pair
  4. Crop - a storage place for food before it is digested
  5. Cuttlebone - the chalky inside shell of a cuttlefish; provides essential minerals
  6. Down - the softest fluffy feathers next to the skin
  7. Fledgling - young bird just out of the nest and beginning to fly
  8. Flock - a group of birds gathered together
  9. Gizzard - organ that grinds food
  10. Grit - fine gravel used to grind food in the gizzard
  11. Migrate - to travel from one area to another
  12. Moult - the process of shedding the old and growing in new feathers
  13. Nares - a bird's nostrils
  14. Nestling - baby bird who cannot fly and is still in the nest
  15. Ornithologist - a person who studies birds
  16. Plumage - a bird's entire covering of feathers
  17. Precocial - born with down covering and able to walk or run shortly after hatching
  18. Preen - what a bird does with its bill to arrange, clean and dress his feathers
  19. Primaries - the long flight feathers on a bird's wing, usually nine to twelve in number
  20. Rachis - the thick shaft in the center of a feather
  21. Rouse - the process of shaking dirt out of the feathers
  22. Secondaries - the shorter flight feathers on a bird's wing
  23. Stoop - a steep dive when a bird is in flight
  24. Territory - an area that one bird or a pair of birds claim as their own
  25. Waterfowl - birds that spend most of their time on or in the water; ducks, geese, swans

Reprinted with permission from the MARIN HUMANE SOCIETY, 171 Bel Marin Keys Boulevard, Novato, CA. 94949.

BIRD TRUE-FALSE GAME

  1. False. Most birds have wings but some cannot fly. The penguin, ostrich, emu and kiwi cannot fly. The kiwi has no wings.
  2. True. Birds also have backbones, are warm-blooded, and use lungs to breathe air.
  3. False. All birds lay eggs. (Afterthought: True.- Male birds do not lay eggs!! The students may think of this)
  4. False. Most birds eat alot in relation to their size. Some eat their weight in food every few days!
  5. True. Hummingbirds can fly backwards. They can also hover in mid-air, fly up and down, and fly forward at seventy miles an hour!
  6. True. A Bird's air-filled skeleton is light in weight, helping the birds fly more easily.
  7. True. Insect-eating birds have long thin beaks. Seed-eaters have short far beaks. Meat-eaters have strong hooked beaks. Some birds eat several kinds of food.
  8. False. The only place that birds are not found is in the center of the Antarctic continent.
  9. False. The female's duller colors make her hard to see when she is sitting on the nest.
  10. False. They need alot of room for flying, and being around people frightens them. It's hard to provide proper food for some birds. It's against the law to keep most wild birds aspects.
  11. True. No other animal has feathers.
  12. False. They have large eyes for their size and can see very well. They have a third eyelid that is transparent so when they blink to keep the eye wet, they can still see.
  13. False. An owl's eyes can only look straight ahead. He must turn his head to look sideways or backwards. He can turn his head straight back but cannot turn his head in a complete circle.
  14. True. Feet can be specially designed for perching (finch), running (ostrich), wading (flamingo), scratching (quail), grasping (eagle), swimming (duck), climbing (woodpecker) and attack or defense (owl).
  15. False. Some birds do not build nests at all. Birds that do make nests may use roots, leaves, hair, reeds, twigs, sand, pebbles, moss, mud, string, feathers, cotton, rags, bark, or other materials.
  16. True. Some birds' tongues are designed for special uses. The hummingbird has a thin tubular tongue for sucking nectar out of flowers, woodpeckers have very long tongues, barbed or sticky at the end, used for pulling insects out of holes or from underneath a tree bark.
    The thick flexible tongues of parrots and parakeets enable them to "talk" and imitate sounds.
  17. False. It is used to scoop up fish from the water.
  18. True. About twenty million mourning doves are shot each year.
  19. False. They eat billions of insects, weed seeds, and rodents (mice, rats, gophers) which can destroy crops grown for human consumption each year.
  20. True. Instead of having teeth to chew their crunchy food with, these birds have gizzards. The sand or gravel they swallow goes into the gizzard, which is like a strong muscular pouch. The gizzard squeezes and grinds the seeds that the bird swallow together with the sand, crushing the seeds so the birds can digest them.
  21. True. They have to spend a great deal of time finding food and eating in order to get all the energy they need.
  22. False. Some birds are helpless for several weeks after birth and need their parent to fee and care for them. Finches, wrens, robins, and jays are in this group. Baby ducks, chickens and quail, however, can run around, find food, and eat by themselves soon after they are born. The parent birds help protect them.
  23. False. People are their worst enemy. People who shoot them, destroy their habitat, and use pesticides and poisons which pollute their food and eventually kill them. Many birds are on the endangered species list.
  24. False. They do not do this. However, if a female sitting on her nest senses danger, she may stretch out her long neck along the ground, which makes her harder to see.
  25. True. In cold weather, birds puff out their feathers to trap a layer of warm air around them. In hot weather, the feathers are held flat along the body.
  26. False. The act of cleaning the feathers is called preening. Molting occurs once or twice a year, when a bird loses its old feathers ( a few at a time) and grows new ones.
  27. False. Often the parent birds are nearby, watching the baby on her first flying lesson. If she is a very young bird and you can get her back to iher nest without hurting her (or you!), do that. If she looks like she's ready to learn to fly and an adult bird is watching her, only move if she is in a street or other unsafe place. No one knows more about raising birds than birds do! Don't take baby birds in unless they're injured or definitely abandoned.
  28. True. Different birds use their beaks the way people would use tweezers, scissors, a hammer, a spear, a strainer, a nutcracker, a hook, a scoop, or a chisel.
  29. False. The tiny rufous humming bird migrates from Alaska to South America, many thousands of miles. Other types of hummingbirds migrate too.
  30. True. Birds such as jays and mockingbirds often swoop down at cats, snapping at them with their beaks and screaming to warn other birds of the danger.

POSSIBLE SCIENCE FAIR PROJECTS:

Make a bird feeder and place it so it can be viewed by students. Make a daily log nearby? Which birds come to feed? Chart the names of the birds as well as a count of the number of each type of bird which comes to feed. Supplement with photos or drawings. If space allow, set up two feeders and place different food in each. Note what type of food attracts what bird(s).

Have students make a class book about birds. Be sure to include information about chickens. Younger students can contribute to a big book which contains information about kinds of birds including the fact that all birds have feathers. Drawings and photographs can be used to enhance this book. Older students can contribute research, book reports, poems and essays about birds.

Have students make a dioramas including clay figures of birds which they have sculpted themselves. Use photos, clay, straws, sticks or magazine pictures. Attach a report about the birds featured.

Older students might make a video about birds. Which birds are seen in the school or community? Which birds are seen most frequently? What do they eat? Are different birds seen at different times or are the same birds seen all day? Are different birds seen in different seasons? Display the results on charts backed with cardboard or oaktag.

At the beginning of this unit, have the students choose several primary questions which they want answered from their research on birds. Before they begin to gather their data, have them make predictions about what they think they will find out. Their prediction, or hypotheses, could be about the kinds of birds, number of birds or the most common bird in the local community. Have students collect data and record their observations. Design a chart to record data which answers their primary questions. Help children to analyze their records. Which of their predictions came true? Which did not? Did some new birds come to a feeding station after several weeks? Did a bird that fed at these stations for several weeks not come in the last weeks of observation? Have the students develop a written statement explaining what they found through their research. A culminating activity could be the construction of a display board which includes predictions, hypothesis, procedures, data and conclusions as well as drawings, pictures from magazines or photographs.

Children in grades four and above can be helped to conduct an experimental study about student attitudes toward birds. Design a pre-test with input from the students and teacher. Formulate questions which will show student knowledge and attitudes about birds. What do all birds have? What do birds eat? How do birds get from place to place? Is it okay to photograph birds? feed birds? shoot birds? hatch bird eggs in the classroom? Administer the test to the class carrying out the project (the treatment group) and a class that will not be learning about birds in a given time period (the control group). Carry out activities as outlined in this unit. Administer a post - test to the treatment and control groups. Record results. Are the results the same or different? Do students in the treatment group know more or less about birds? Have their attitudes changed? Do girls or boys have more humane responses? older or younger students? Construct a display board or a class book to record this study.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Arnosky, Jim, Crinkleroot's Guide to Knowing the Birds, Bradbury Press, Macmillan Publishing Company, 866 Third Avenue, New York, New York 10022.

VIDEO, OVERHEAD TRANSPARENCIES, MICROSLIDE SET:

ORGANIZATIONS TO CONTACT:

E-mail: EDUCTION@MARIN -HUMANE.ORG

United Poultry Concerns, P.O. Box 59367, Potomac, MD. 20859, Phone #: 1-301-946-2406 Has the Replacing School Hatching Projects: Alternative Resources & How to Order Them booklet, A Home For Henny book, a "Chickens Can Fly" packet, books for adults as well.