Bird Study Begins

It's the new year and the 1-2 kids are on to their next big study - BIRDS! 

Birds are a fascinating animal group with many unique characteristics and interesting adaptations. Over the next months, we will be taking a closer look at birds which will encompass observations of local winter birds, read alouds, science experiments, nature video clips, nonfiction research as well as participation in the Mass Audubon Junior Duck Stamp Contest. 

BUT before we can delve that deep, we like to take a little dipstick of what knowledge our students are bringing to the table. To kick this unit off, we started the week by having kids rotate through House Tables to add their thoughts in pictures and writing to prompts on mural paper - 

What do you know about birds? 

What do you know about bird feet?

What do you know about bird beaks?

Where do you think birds live?

From this check-in, we saw that the kids are bringing lots of prior knowledge to the table. Kids knew that there are many kinds of birds and drew as well as labeled some examples. Students knew that different birds have different types of feet - some have webbed feet for swimming, some have sharp talons for hunting. They also knew that there are many different shapes and sizes of bird beaks. As far as where birds live, some kids identified nests and trees as bird homes as well as bird houses, as this is what they see most in our local environment. Some students who were thinking more globally were able to say that birds could live in many places around the world.

All of these areas will be explored and examined as we take our deep dive into this unit! Check out the kids below as they pool their knowledge to get their brains ready to learn more!