Varina ES

Science - It’s for the Birds (LITERALLY!)

Henrico Learner Profile (HLP) 6C Focus

3-5 Grades - Science

SOL/Standard  

3.4 Animal Adaptations - The student will investigate and understand that adaptations allow organisms to satisfy life needs and respond to the environment. 

4.3  Ecosystems - The student will investigate and understand that organisms, including humans, interact with one another and with the nonliving components in the ecosystem. 

Learning Experience

This community outreach project enabled us to build birdhouses for our school and community. We received a grant through the Henrico Education Foundation that enabled us to purchase the materials. Students participated in library centers that involved research, bird beak exploration, owl pellet dissection, egg embryology, and a STEAM project of creating a new bird. This experience helped support science SOL strands, as well as improve student problem solving skills and collaboration.  Students completed a self-reflection on the experience itself and the collaboration skills that were necessary to complete the projects. 

What did the student(s) learn about this experience:

"I realized if we work together, we will get things done faster" - Milan, 4th Grade

What did the teacher enjoy about this experience:

"This project enabled students to experience hands-on collaborative learning and make connections with science standards" - Kimberly Slayton, Librarian 

Additional Pictures, Media & Artifacts

Students did research with books and on the computer.

They learned facts about habitats, adaptations, and life cycles.

Students explored with hands-on materials to determine bird beak adaptations.

During owl pellet dissections, students looked for rodent and bird bones.

The students used the bones to determine what creatures the owl consumed.

We got a first-hand look at the life cycle of a bird thanks to the VCE.  We hatched 2 chicks!

Students worked collaboratively to build bird houses to place around the community.

The bird houses will provide shelter for our local birds - and are aesthetically pleasing!

Thank you to the innovators who helped make this experience possible: