‘School Birds’ Lesson Plan & Worksheet Resources for a kinder world. ‘School Birds’ Lesson Plan Topic: Australian Native Birds Subject Areas: Science with sustainability as a cross curricular priority. Duration: 50-75 minutes Year Level: Year 7 ACARA National Curriculum Links: ACSSU112 - Interactions between organisms can be described in terms of food chains and food webs; human activity can affect these interactions ACSIS125 - Collaboratively and individually plan and conduct a range of investigation types, including fieldwork and experiments, ensuring safety and ethical guidelines are followed Lesson Objectives: - To identify Australian native birds in the school environment - To list threats to the wellbeing of Australian native birds - To list the things Australian native birds need to exist happily in urban environments Lesson Outline: - Explain that the class will be learning about Australian native birds. Show the following YouTube clip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNW3Ho903lU). Ask students to think about the names of the birds shown. Watch the clip again and have students write down the name of the birds. The birds in order of appearance are: Tawny Frogmouth, Sulphur Crested Cockatoo, Willy Wagtail, Rainbow Lorikeet, Kookaburra, Blue Billed Duck, Brush Turkey, Jacky Winter, Crow, Red-Browed Finch. - Discuss birds that students have seen around the school. Discuss how human activity can impact on their feeding behaviour. For example, feeding birds bread can be bad for their digestive systems and could also discourage them from their natural feeding behaviours. Explain that students are going to survey the school for types of birds. Clarify what a survey means, and split the class into small groups, with each given a camera/camera phone/ iPad. - Supply a map of the school, or draw a simple map on the board, and get student groups to choose a part of the school to conduct their survey. Explain that the students should sit quietly in a group and observe any birds around them. If a bird stops within the school, take a photo and record its name if known. Survey takes approximately 20 minutes. - After 20 minutes, direct students to come back to class. Ask students to compile a class list of birds observed. Leave a column to the side to list a description of any unknown bird species, and students can research and identify these online later. Ask one group at a time to access and print any photos they took while conducting the survey. Alternative: Supply a USB on a main computer and ask students to plug the cameras/phones in, one group at a time. You can transfer and save images to the USB under different folders for each group, then display them using PowerPoint. - Give each group a laptop and ask them to access http://www.photovisi.com/ where they can create a collage of their photographed birds, or do it together as a class, with students providing input to the instructor. - Meanwhile distribute the corresponding worksheet and work through it as a class. Materials needs: - ‘School Birds’ corresponding worksheet - Computer with internet access and printer - Interactive whiteboard - Class set of digital cameras - Class set of worksheets Note: This lesson can be delivered as an ongoing project over two lessons; Lesson 1 - Bird Surveying, Lesson 2 - Research and Collage Creation www.thinkkind.org Developed by Lucy Townsend, Education Officer Reviewed by Sonia Bennetto, Content Reviewer Contact: [email protected] Native Birds Describe the survey you did. Include information about where you were and what you saw. ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ What are some threats to the wild birds that visit our school? ________________________________________ Rainbow lorikeet ________________________________________ List some things our school community can do to create a safe environment for wild birds. ____________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________ Colour the native birds on this worksheet. Your teacher can display images of the birds on the IWB for you to use as a guide. www.thinkkind.org Kookaburra