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Birds Lesson Plan

Birds Lesson Plan

Objective: Students will understand that a bird’s appearance, diet, and habitat are
connected. They will learn to deduce facts about a bird’s diet and habitat based on its
appearance, and vice versa, and write a report to demonstrate their knowledge.
Time: 2–3 class periods
Content Areas: Life Science, ELA Reading and Writing informational text
Suggested Level: 1–2
Prior Knowledge: Birds are a distinct group of animals, separate from mammals, fish,
reptiles, etc., that lay eggs, have wings, feathers, and beaks or bills.
Materials:
• Report Builder database
• Books and online resources
• Smart Board
• Adopt a Bird Research Sheet
• Crayons/colored pencils

DAY 1: GUIDED DISCUSSION

PART 1: REVIEW
Select one water/shorebird and one land/forest bird from the database. Share a photo
of one of the birds and ask what kind of animal it is. Ask students what information they
already know about birds, and guide the discussion to review the attributes used to classify
birds (they have feathers, beaks/bills, wings, and lay eggs). Review the fact that birds are
classified as their own animal group, and are different from mammals, reptiles, insects, etc.
Finish by giving the specific name of the bird.

PART 2: COMPARE AND CONTRAST

As a class, create a T Chart comparing water/shorebirds with land birds. Begin by having
students study the photo of the water/shorebird and asking what they notice about how
the bird looks. Does it have webbed feet for swimming? Long legs for wading? What is the
shape of its beak or bill? Is it large or small? List the attributes on one side of the T chart.
Repeat with the land bird, having students focus on the differences between the two birds.
List the attributes on the other side of the T chart.
Ask students to think about how the birds’ physical attributes would help them survive
in their respective habitats, including how the birds get around, hide from predators, and
search or hunt for food.

PART 3: IDENTIFY BIRDS

Together as a class, look at a few of the birds from the Report Builder database. Based on
the photographs, ask students to guess the birds’ habitat and diet. Have students refer to
the T chart if necessary, and explain what clues they used to help them guess (e.g., “The
bird has webbed feet for swimming so it probably lives near water,” or “The bird has sharp,
large talons, so it probably eats animals.”) To demonstrate research skills, click through the
sections on the birds to see if students’ guesses were correct.

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Birds Lesson Plan

DAY 2: ACTIVITY

ADOPT A BIRD PROJECT, PART 1: RESEARCH

Review the Report Builder database and explain that each student will be researching
and reporting on his or her own bird. Assign (or have students choose) a bird to “adopt.”
Students will fill out their Adopt a Bird papers using the database and other resources to
research their birds.
Adaptation: This can be done as a group project with 3–4 students adopting and
researching the same bird together.

DAY 3: ACTIVITY

ADOPT A BIRD PROJECT, PART 2: REPORT

Explain that a report is a way for students to teach others about what they’ve learned, and
that there are three parts to a report, much like the beginning, middle, and end of a story:
the Introduction, the Information, and the Summary or Conclusion.
Review a completed Adopt a Bird Research Sheet (you may use a student’s or a teacher-
created sample). Together as a class, use the information to demonstrate writing a report
of several sentences or 2–3 paragraphs (depending on level) about the bird.
Explain that it is important to list the resources where information was found in a report,
and make a list of resources using the information from the worksheet.
Have students work independently to write reports based on their research, and draw and
label a picture of their bird to accompany it.
Adaptation: Students may print and label a photograph of their bird instead of drawing.

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Birds Lesson Plan

Adopt a Bird Research Sheet

Name: __________________________________________________ Date:______________________

1. What is your bird called?

_______________________________________________________________________________
2. What is your bird’s habitat?
_______________________________________________________________________________
3. What size is your bird?
_______________________________________________________________________________
4. What does your bird eat?
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
Draw your bird’s beak or bill:

How does your bird’s beak or bill help it eat its favorite foods?
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

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Birds Lesson Plan

Draw your bird’s legs and feet:

Does your bird use its feet to hunt or search for food?
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
Draw and color your bird’s feathers:

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Birds Lesson Plan

Do you think your bird’s feathers are for camouflage or for show?
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
Share one or more fun facts about your bird:
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
What resources did you use to find information about your bird?
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

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Birds Lesson Plan

Birds Rubric
1 2 3 4
Needs
Improvement Satisfactory Good Excellent

Information: Information:
inaccurate ____ accurate _____
unclear _____ clear _____
incomplete _____ complete _____
lacking details _____ detailed _____

Gives Credit for Information: Gives Credit for Information:

no sources credited _____ sources credited _____

Mechanics: Mechanics:
sloppy ______ neat ______
poor spelling _____ accurate spelling _____
missing capitalization and/or correct capitalization and
punctuation _____ punctuation _____
poor grammar _____ good grammar _____
unorganized _____ organized _____

Art Project:
Art Project:
colors are accurate _____
colors are inaccurate _____
student made best attempt to
bird is generic _____
draw the bird accurately _____
bird is not named and parts are not
bird is named and parts are
labeled _____
labeled _____

Comments:
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________

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