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Backyard Explorer 3 to 5 / Week 03 / Friday
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Week 03 · Birds: Built to Survive

Friday

Built to survive
// Feathers, beaks, feet and the things birds do
⏱ about 15 min

Friday: Built to Survive

Rocket pins his bird drawings across the workshop wall. Feathers, beaks, feet, eyes.

"Every part has a job," he says. "It is like the bird was built on purpose."

Raven adds a card that says "sings" and one that says "flocks". "Behaviors too."

Nova draws cyan lines from each part to a job word: warm, fly, eat, grip.

Every part, every behavior, a job

This week you met a lot of structures and behaviors.

Here is the big idea. Each one helps the bird survive, grow, or raise young.

Feathers keep a bird warm and let it fly.

The beak gets food and builds the nest.

Feet grip, paddle, wade or grab, depending on the bird.

Eyes watch for danger or judge distance.

Singing, flocking, preening and migrating do jobs too.

Take away any one of these, and the bird has a harder time staying alive.

Structure or behaviorFunctionHelps the bird...
flight feathers and wingsflyfind food and escape danger
fluffy body featherstrap warm airstay warm
beak shapeget a certain kind of foodeat
foot typegrip, paddle, wade or grabrest, swim or catch food
eye positionsee all around or judge distancestay safe or catch food
singingclaim space, attract a materaise young
flockingmany eyes watchingstay safe

Make a claim

Scientists explain things with a claim and evidence.

A claim is what you think is true. Evidence is the observation that supports it.

Claim: a duck is built for water. Evidence: it has webbed feet and a flat, wide beak.

Claim: a hawk is built to catch food. Evidence: it has talons and a hooked beak.

Your turn. Pick a bird, name a structure, and say what it is for.

CLAIM OR EVIDENCE?
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
A woodpecker has a strong, chisel-shaped beak. Claim or evidence?
A woodpecker is built to find insects in bark. Claim or evidence?
Which is the best evidence that a duck is built for water?
Fluffy body feathers trap warm ____.
A hawk's hooked beak and talons help it ____ food.
A claim is supported by ____.
Week checkTrue or false?
Feathers help a bird fly and stay warm.?
All beaks are the same shape.?
Webbed feet help a bird paddle.?
Behaviors never help a bird survive.?
A scientific name is shared by scientists everywhere.?
WHY THIS EXERCISEEvery structure and behavior has a job. Names and shapes differ from bird to bird.
BUILD A CLAIM
  • ?Ask what job that structure does.
  • ?Watch a bird and notice one structure.
  • ?Write the evidence: the structure you saw.
  • ?Write a claim: this bird is built to...
WHY THIS EXERCISEGood claims start with careful watching and end with the evidence.
What word names the observation that supports a claim?
WHY THIS EXERCISEEvidence is what you observed. It holds the claim up.

Get ready for Explorer Day

Tomorrow you count birds by what they do, not just what they are.

Make a tally sheet in your notebook with these rows.

  • Flying
  • Perching or sitting still
  • Hopping or walking on the ground
  • Pecking or eating
  • Singing or calling
  • Preening or bathing
Try it
In your field notebook, make the tally sheet today.
Add a row for "other" in case you see something new.
Put the date, weather and place at the top, like every entry.
Safety first
Look with your eyes. Never touch a wild bird, a nest, an egg or a feather.
Stay with your grown-up and wash your hands when you come inside.
Draw one bird from your field guide. Write one claim and one piece of evidence beside it.

Claims with evidence! Tomorrow is Explorer Day: a bird count by behavior.

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