Hands-On Science Activity: Bird Adaptations

Here is a great hands-on science activity to teach students about animal adaptations.  I was able to witness this activity firsthand when I subbed for a class who did pretty much the exact same activity.  It was a big hit with students!


Ashleigh-EducationJourney supplies photos of her classroom experience with the project.  She also provides the printable sheets students used to record data.  To learn about how birds have adaptations to help them survive in various environments, students use tools like tweezers, eye droppers and tongs to mimic different kinds of beaks.  They use the "beaks" to try to gather items that represent food (staples, rice and other items stand in for seeds, bugs, etc).  


Which type of beak is best suited for picking up specific kinds of food?  Students get a chance to make a prediction, choose their "beaks," and are timed to collect the food and record their data.  Check out her blog for more info and the data sheet that you can use to do the activity with your own students.

image:  microsoft