This activity is an introduction to the study of birds. Students will gain observation and classification skills.

This activity is a field investigation of the bird population in the schoolyard and how the students will plan to attract more birds.

Audubon Christmas Bird Count
The nation's longest-running community science bird project fuels Audubon's work throughout the year.

A pdf file that contains slides with visuals to be shown. It explains the CBC from its beginning to end with an example of Data taken from our local bird count.

Students will be instructed to build a data table and graph representing data. Then draw conclusions.

Cornell's Lab of Ornithology provides a series of downloadable lessons which explore the topics of science process, natural and sexual selection, behaviors and heritability through hands-on activities and lively discussions. The lessons are companions to their "Bird's-of-Paradise Project" video series.  This set of lessons is part of a larger set of curricular and lesson resources available and through downloads.

This activity is a field investigation where students gather population data on bird species. The students will create bar graphs and interpret their findings. Based on their experiences and data, they will write an answer to the guiding question.

This activity is a class lab activity in which students will observe unknown rocks and learn about how they fit into the rock cycle.

This activity is a classroom and field activity in which students record observations of birds in their natural habitat and make connections between the structure and function of the bird feet.

The purpose of this lesson is to show learners how to keep a nature journal. How to reflect, respond, and question the observations they see in the world.

This article provides an overview of scientific inquiry and how citizen science programs run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology provide opportunities for inquiry about birds.

This activity is a classroom introduction to bird migration. Students will acquire new vocabulary, sharpen their map skills, and discover the scientific reasons some birds migrate.

Students evaluate and discuss statements about the evolutionary relationship between birds and dinosaurs and other facts about these groups, before and after watching the short film Great Transitions: The Origin of Birds. This activity can be used as an anticipation guide to focus students on several of the key concepts presented in the film. It also can serve as a pre- and post-assessment.

The starters typically take 5 minutes or less to complete and provide students with a focused activity to start class. Feel free to use the starters as they are provided or adapt them to fit your units of study.

I provide students with a Science Starters answer sheet (quarter format) that has room for nine weeks worth of answers. The answer sheets are collected every Friday to be graded and then I return them on Monday for the new week. I also have an answer sheet with room for four weeks worth of answers or a weekly Science Starters bookmark (weekly format) available as an alternative to the standard answer sheet.

This activity is an internet exploration of West Nile Virus and the effects this virus has directly on bird populations. Students will also see the secondary effects on human populations and the interrelationships of the three populations.

This activity is an inquiry based lesson focused on students making observations of birds in order to problem solve how to attract more birds to a schoolyard.