Embedded Files
The Challenge!
Structure and Function: Nature is the most fantastic engineer!
The design of a bird's beak is built specifically for the food that the bird eats. We challenge you to design, build and test a model of NJ bird's beak to see what kind of food the beak is best designed for. Join others by entering your data into the table and watching it add to our data chart in real-time!
Challenge Constraints
Challenge Constraints
1) You must design and build a model for 1 of the 3 beak options given.
2) You are restricted to the materials offered.
Student Skills In Focus
Student Skills In Focus
Learning Goals
Learning Goals
Students will:
Use the engineering design process to develop a model to test for the purpose of acquiring data and then using that data to construct an explanation.
Demonstrate an understanding that the structure and function of an organism's traits allow it to survive well within a particular habitat.
Use the challenge to develop the Pillar Skills in focus.
Questions To Ask Students:
Questions To Ask Students:
What can the data tell us about which beak is built for eating which foods?
Why the does structure of the beak best suit the food it is built for?
Did the way models were built affect the results? How?
What other beak styles do birds in our area have? How do they help the bird to eat the food the bird eats?
Essential Questions:
Essential Questions:
What are the characteristics that allow populations of animals to survive in an environment?
How do bird beak structures help them to survive in the habitats they live in?
NJ Student Learning Standards:
NJ Student Learning Standards:
8.1.5.DA.1: Collect, organize, and display data in order to highlight relationships or support a claim.
8.1.5.DA.3: Organize and present collected data visually to communicate insights gained from different views of the data.
3- LS3-2 Use evidence to support the explanation that traits can be influenced by the environment.
3- LS4-2 Use evidence to construct an explanation for how the variations in characteristics among individuals of the same species may provide advantages in surviving.
3- LS4-3 Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.
3-5-ETS1-1. Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.
3-5-ETS1-2. Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
3-5-ETS1-3. Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.
Page updated
Report abuse