Determining Bird Populations Through Counting

This activity is designed for students to use observation, field techniques, data collection and analysis. Key concepts include appreciating the diversity found among local bird populations and gaining an understanding of factors that may limit bird populations.

Vocabulary:
-Habitat
-Environment
-Population
-Predator
-Mean
-Median
-Mode

This lesson is an integral part of a greater unit on birds with the following topics previously covered: wing shapes and flight, beak shapes and habitats, avian anatomy, feathers and feet, migration, nest building and egg production and environmental concerns.

Materials:
- 5-10 pairs of binoculars
- Data sheets
- Stopwatches
- Clipboards
- Pencils
- 5 bird identifications books
- CD with bird sounds and graphing paper

A guiding question will be posed to students: How will counting birds help us know more about wildlife, people, and our shared environment? Students will travel to an appropriate site. Students will work in small groups of four. These groups will rotate among 4 different sites and record the number of birds seen or heard within a six-minute time frame. The students will tally their total count of birds and share the results whole class. Students will also share individual bird species counts at each site. Students will discuss the reasons why the counts vary. Students will create two bar graphs (one comparing total counts for each location and a second graph comparing the total species counts) and then determine mean, median, and mode for the given sets of data. Students will write two inferences from the bar graphs. Students will draw inferences from the data to explain variations in data from different sites. After the field trip, the students will write an answer to the guiding questions based on their experiences.

Materials:
-5-10 pairs of binoculars
-Data sheets
-Stopwatches
-Clipboards
-Pencils
-5 bird identifications books
-CD with bird sounds and graphing paper.

Each student group will need to be chaperoned as they move independently through the park or forest. Students need time to learn to use the binoculars and stop watches. They also need to know how to use the bird identification books. I plan to use this new activity in the spring when birds are moving into their summer ranges. This a new unit for my students.

The teacher will assess students' learning by the quality of students' questions and on the data collection in the bar graphs. The summative assessment will be based on the quality of inferences drawn by the students and a written answer to the guiding question.

5.I.A-communication of methods