 Activities and Ideas for
Teaching With Birds
Because of the
volume of material offered here, we have divided the activities into three parts, each
with it's own web page.
Part 1: Introducing Birds
- Study the natural history and
behavior of birds
- Sketch the birds at your feeder,
schoolyard or nearby park
- Keep a Bird Journal
- Preparing for spring: Bird songs and
calls
- What Is a bird?
- How do beaks and feet help birds eat?
- Describe a bird's "Awesome
Eating Tools"
- Make bread dough models of beaks and
feet
- Eating like wild birds
- How do feathers work?
- How do birds fly?
- Create a bird
- "Life of Birds" video with
activity
- Create a Bird Wall of Fame
- Examine the bird line-up: Bird ID
Part 2: Bird Ecology/Become a
Scientist
Bird
Ecology
- Learn about food chains and food webs
- Bioaccumulation game -- Demonstrate
the effects of poisons on top predators
Become a
Scientist
- Paper airplane experiment --
Introduce the experimental method
- Students conduct original research
- Ornithology conference/Poster session
-- Report your research results
- Create a classification poster or
taxonomic key
Part 3: Bird Games/More Ideas For
Implementing Bird Studies
Bird Games
- Bird Word Find
- Bird Word Match
- Play "What Bird Is It?"
- Be a "Bird Phrase" Sleuth
- Flash Cards/Matching Game
More
Ideas For Implementing Bird Studies
- Conduct an online scavenger hunt
- Birding backpacks
- Pairing field guides with descriptive
nature books
- Birding Buddies -- Pair up younger
and older children (i.e., 1st graders with 5th graders) to learn
bird ID and other bird studies
- Advanced studies
- Student Question Board
- What to do about no birds
- Tips for schoolyard feeders
- Geography lesson
- Bird collage with tissue paper
Many of the ideas on this page were
sent to us by teachers and other educators. Send us your favorite activity idea:
Educator's Guide to Bird
Study
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
159 Sapsucker Woods Road
Ithaca, NY 14850
Email:baj3@cornell.edu
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