WHOSE NEST IS THIS?

Our investigation into birds and nests.

HOW IT BEGAN
The Tuesday/Thursday group became very intrigued with a nest that I had
set up on our discovery table. I asked the children a simple question:
Whose nest is this?

On the table, along with some pencils and paper, were magnifying
glasses. The children were very excited to use the nagnifiers to
look closely at parts of the nest.
Mrs. Lynchuk Whats this? pointing to the fluff in the nest
Niklas Some cotton stuff!
Mrs. Lynchuk Where would a bird get that?
Niklas Hmmm, well sometimes Ive found socks or fluff
outside.
Niklas was hard at work drawing the nest and shading pieces of
an egg that he had drawn into his picture. These are the cracks!
he exclaimed.
We decided as we met together later as a group, to read some
books about birds and nests. Maybe that would help us to solve
this mystery! As Grant stated.
Through some individual research,
and group research the children
learned some exciting facts about
birds that they shared with each
other. This collection of research
also helped to engage the children
in an interest of wanting to know
how the birds had created the
nest to hold their eggs.

After reading the books and
writing down our new learning, the children needed to return to
the nest to see if what they had learned in the books was true.
Miguel stacked the play eggs on top of each other in the nest, but they kept falling.
Mrs. Lynchuk Kindergarten! Look whats happening here. This is very interesting. The eggs are being stacked one on top of another. What does
that tell us about how many eggs were in this nest?
Some of the children answered with ideas about that there could only be 3 eggs, because more than that,
they didnt fit without spilling out.
This past week, following up on our wonderings about the nest and eggs, the children created
their own nests out of clay. We discussed what we would need to think about as we built a nest for our
egg.
It needs to hold the egg carefully!
We need to think like a mommy!
As the children began to build their nest, they found out that it was
more difficult than they once thought. Grant wanted to shape his nest
so that it could close over his egg and hold it in tightly. Lillian reminded
Grant that if he did that, then the baby bird wouldnt be able to hatch.
Grant re-shaped his nest to make a cozy, safe place for his egg.
Dominic Look! If the bird stands up, theres room for it. And the mom and dad!
I need a ledge!
Kiara added detail by scrapping with a ruler and pushing with her finger on the edges and inside of her nest.
Aysha rolled her clay carefully, before shaping it.
Mrs. Lynchuk Why did you make it this way?
Aysha If the bird came out, it would have room to sleep!
Through this work, the children shared personal
stories of their experiences with birds, when
they have heard baby birds chirping, or have
seen adult birds gathering food for their chicks.
It was exciting to see the children making
connections between their home experiences
and their school life, gathering prior knowledge
to answer questions and provide new learning
for others.