Lesson Title: Everybody has to Eat!

Intro text:

This lesson is designed to teach students the various hunting strategies employed by raptors and make the connection between hunting strategy and habitat. This lesson could be used for Middle to High School ages. This lesson addresses Utah State Science Core Curriculum Standard 1, Objective 3.

LESSON INFO

Author: Brandon Spencer

Grade Level: Middle School or High School

Subject Area: Observation of Organisms

Curriculum Standard: Biology Standard 1, Objective 3.

Materials Needed: Computer(s) connected to the Internet,

Time Needed: 2-3 50 minute periods.

Best season for this lesson: All-season

Background information: A teacher need not know much about raptors before this lesson. In fact, a novice teacher with no experience with raptors would do just fine with this lesson. It is designed to teach allow the student to investigate and learn about hunting strategies of various raptors and to then draw conclusions and make connections between the birds and the environments in which they live. The students also need not know anything about raptors before completing this lesson.

THE LESSON

Engage:

Have the students watch any of the short video clips referenced below. I suggest watching either of the Peregrine Falcon clips from Nature/PBS or National Geographic. The Nature/PBS clip is, in my opinion, the better “attention getter.”

Short-toed Eagle from India, found at

Flight of the Tarn

Google video

Bald Eagle Catches a Fish

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBTw67ZWeGQ&feature=related

Eagle and deer

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tctoA9oCRug&feature=related

Peregrine hunting

Explore:

Have the individual students brainstorm feeding strategies or techniques used by raptors. Allow 3-4 minutes for the students to work individually. Then, have the students work in groups of three or four to share and discuss their ideas. Allow another 5-10 minutes for group discussions.

Explain:

When these groups have come up with their top 6 strategies, compare them to the list compiled at www.northbirding.com/writings/cthompson/raptor/raptor.htm. Emphasize the point that there are many strategies. But, these are six common strategies.

Elaborate:

Have the students search the Internet for two pieces of information (1. what the raptor eats and 2. where or in what habitats does the raptor live) pertaining to as many raptors as you see fit (2 or 3 per students should be sufficient). I suggest either or both of these websites for information.

www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide

www.whatbird.com

Gather the class together and compile the data. Have the students look for similarities and trends in the data. Discuss with the students how different raptors have different feeding strategies based on the different habitats in which they live.

This could also be a good place to springboard into a food chain/web discussion or activity.

Evaluate/Assessment:

Have the students write a half-page summary on feeding strategies in raptors. Make sure the students focus on the connection between where they live, what they eat, and therefore how they hunt.

The teacher may also take the time to make up a hypothetical bird (a newly discovered species, perhaps). The only thing we know about the bird is what it eats. So, how does it hunt for it? Or vice versa: the only thing we know about the bird is how it hunts. So, what might it eat?