Friday Flashback Linky and a Surprise!

Woohoo!! I am back with Friday Flashbacks so we can take a glimpse back at our week and share some of our best activities.  But, before I do, I just want to let you in on a little surprise....I'll have a new Saturday series on my blog starting tomorrow that's a little more personal (think for the shopping lovers and fashionistas) and it will kickoff with a fabulous giveaway, so be sure to stop back by tomorrow and check it out!!!  Now, back to the flashback....

We were learning about birds this week in our animal study and students worked through stations to learn how different birds' beaks help them find/catch food in their habitats.

Here are some pics of the kids trying out some of the various tools that represented birds' beaks.

Here's what you would need to do these stations in your room:

Station 1:

Place erasers in a container of water to represent fish in water.  Students will use needlenose pliers, eyedroppers, and a slotted spoon to try to catch the erasers.  Students should come to the conclusion that the needle nose pliers work best. (Birds with fish-eating beaks similar to pliers are the great blue heron and the kingfisher.)

Station 2:

Toss mini-marshmallows in the air to represent flying insects.  Students will use a large envelope, tweezers, and chopsticks to try to catch the marshmallows.  Students should come to the conclusion that the envelope works best.  (Birds with insect-catching beaks similar to an envelope are the swallow and whiporwhill.)

Station 3:

Shelled nuts to represent seeds with hard coverings.  Students will use nutcrackers, tongs, and a slotted spoon to try to open the nuts.  Students should come to the conclusion that the nutcrackers work best.  (Birds with seed-eating beaks similar to a nutcracker are sparrows and cardinals.)

Station 4:

A bunch of grapes hanging from a string to represent fruit hanging on a tree.  Students will use tweezers, an eyedropper , and a nutcracker to try to remove the grapes from the tree.  Students should come to the conclusion that the tweezers work best.  (Birds with fruit-eating beaks similar to tweezers are the hawk, owl, and eagle.)

Station 5:

A large container with tiny marshmallows to represent aquatic plants and animals.  Students will use a slotted spoon, chopsticks, and eyedroppers to retrieve the marshmallows.  Students should come to the conclusion that the slotted spoon works best.  (Birds with mud-sifting beaks similar to the slotted spoon are  mallards and Canadian geese.)

Station 6:

Rice in a container with a small opening to represent insects in a hollow log or tree.  Students will use tweezers, an eyedropper, and pliers to try to retrieve the rice.  Students should come to the conclusion that the tweezers work best.  (Birds with chisel beaks similar to tweezers are the woodpecker and brown creeper.)

Station 7:

Large pieces of bread to represent a mouse or other small animal.  Students will use pliers, tweezers, and a slotted spoon to try to capture the animal.  Students should come to the conclusion that the pliers work best.  (Birds with preying beaks similar to the pliers are hawks, owls, and eagles.)

Station 8

A bowl filled with dry oatmeal and gummy worms underneath to represent worms buried in mud.  Students will use tweezers, eyedroppers, and a screwdriver to try to retrieve the gummy worms.  Students should come to the conclusion that the tweezers work best.  (Birds with probing beaks like this include the sandpiper and snipe.)

It was a great, hands-on activity to show students how adaptations help animals survive in different environments!  We'll move on to other animal groups next week, and I'll be back to share more!

Link up to share your favorite activities from this week!  I can't wait to read about them!