The Inquiry about Birds Continues

Today we the students read a book about birds and all the things they use to make their nests. The students learned that birds often use anything they can find to build their nests including: twigs, sticks, dead leaves, yarn, string, animal hair, feathers, pine needles, straw, spider web silk, pebbles and even dental floss! The students went outside and were given another challenge. Today's challenge was to build a nest that would protect an egg when the wind blew. Students were given some string this time to help build a stronger nest.

Adding string to make his next strong

 Students were given plastic eggs to put in their nests. We used a folded box as "the wind" to experiment what makes a strong nest.

 B.W. put his egg in the middle of the nest. This led to a great class discussion of what birds do to protect their own eggs in their real nests. After seeing this, M.C. decided she would protect her egg by making a nest under the picnic table where no animals would find it!

The discussions we had were amazing. What was even more impressive was the learning that happened and how students built on each others' learning.