Summary
Building upon their understanding of insect migration phenology, students will explore the phenology and life history of a variety of bird species. Through scaffolded analysis of graphical data, the use of an interactive digital model, and life history descriptions, students will develop an understanding of (1) trends in bird migration, and (2) how bird life history influences migration patterns. From these activities they will draw conclusions about the biological significance of the data sets, and draw connections between bird and insect migration. Additionally, the will learn about how scientists collect bird migration data in general and specific to the data models they explored.
Essential Question(s)
How do bird activity and migration change seasonally? Why is the timing of seasonal bird activity and migration important?
Snapshot
Engage
Students examine a model of migration timing of several species of warblers.
Explore
Students explore a model of species-specific bird migration patterns.
Explain
Students investigate the life history of birds and connect their annual cycle to changes in migration timing.
Extend
Students continue investigating the model of bird migration, identifying patterns over time and among species.
Evaluate
Students create visual representations of the relationship between insect and bird migration.
Materials
Lesson slides
Sticky notes
Poster paper (optional)
Colored markers (optional)
Colored pencils (optional)
Blank white paper (optional)
Life History handout (attached, 1 per student)
Window Notes handout (attached, 1 per student)
Engage
Use slides 2-4 to introduce the lesson’s title, essential questions, and objectives.
Go to slide 5. Begin by asking students to explain some ways birds and insects are related. Specifically, you are helping students connect the previous lesson to the activities in which they are about to engage. After asking for student ideas, go to slide 6 to provide context for the birds they will be investigating. If necessary, remind students that a “trophic level” indicates an organism’s location in a food web.
Go to slide 7 and direct students to use the link or QR code to access the “Warbler Arrival” page of the Shiny app. Go to slide 8 to review the instructions for the I Notice, I Wonder strategy. Give students some time to explore the data and record their questions on sticky notes. If students need help finding a starting place, consider un-hiding slide 9 and suggesting the listed focus areas.
After the students have had time to make some observations (I notice) and ask questions (I wonder), bring the class together to discuss their findings. First, ask for volunteers to share out what they noticed, and guide them to share their observations in terms of patterns. Then go to slide 10 and answer the questions together as a class.
Conclude the activity by going to slide 11 and having students add their questions to the Driving Question Board.
Explore
Following the discussion of bird arrival, students should direct their attention to the “Aerial Insectivore Migration” page of the Shiny app. Go to slide 12. Make sure students understand which variables they can change, before releasing them to answer the following question: “Which species tends to be the earliest to complete its northward migration?” For simplicity, they only need to use one map for this exercise, though they are welcome to use both. The students can ignore the data table below the maps for now.
After students have had time to figure out which species “gets to the north first,” go to slide 13 and ask each group to share out how they reached their conclusion. They should conclude that Tree Swallows tend to be the earliest arrivals north. Some groups may come to a different answer, depending on what data they explored within the model, but this is okay provided they can justify it.
Next, go to slide 14, and ask students to engage in a Collective Brain Dump to brainstorm some factors that would affect the timing of birds’ migration north. Depending on your class, you can either do this informally, or have students turn their speculations into questions for the Driving Question Board. Encourage them to think about biotic and abiotic factors and to be specific. For example, if they offer climate as an answer, probe them for what aspect of climate they think is affecting birds (e.g., warmer spring temperatures). If they struggle to come up with ideas, prompt them to think about some of the factors that affected insects as a place to start.
Explain
Next, place students in groups of 3-4 to learn about of the bird species from the data they just explored. There are 10 bird species available in the Shiny data, and each group should be assigned or self-select one. Go to slide 15 and provide students with the Life History handout. Direct students to use the link or QR code to first visit the All About Birds Guide website. They should search for their selected species, read over the Life History information, and fill out the graphic organizer.
After visiting the site, they can (1) return to the Shiny app to make more detailed notes about their species’ range, or (2) visit the Audubon Guide to North American Birds website (slide 16) for additional life history information.
Additionally, students should investigate some of the factors they brainstormed at the end of the Explore. These can be assigned to different groups, or students can explore whichever they are specifically interested in learning about. Go to slide 17 and return to the Driving Question Board to facilitate this part of the exploration.
Ask student groups to share out what they learned about their species’ life histories and any answers to the Driving Question Board questions they explored.
Slides 18-20 briefly describe basic bird life history, the annual cycle, and migration. It is up to your discretion whether to have students take notes over this information. Continue to slides 21-25. These slides provide an overview of some common ways bird data is collected. Detailed information and explanations to share with students are provided in the notes section of these slides.
Return students attention to their Shiny observations. Lead them in a discussion over the questions on slides 26-27 to connect life history with the patterns they identified in the data.
Go to slide 28. Take a few minutes to add new concepts to the Big Ideas list before continuing to the next activity.
Extend
Go to slide 29 and give each student a copy of the Window Notes handout. For the next data exploration, students will continue to use the Aerial Insectivore Migration page. They should select a bird species for Map 1 and compare the arrival timing for the species across several different years. They should make notes about any trends or patterns they see in the data. Students should record their findings using a modified Window Notes format, with the following categories: trends within a year, trends between years, trends between species, and other interesting trends.
Next they should repeat this process for a different species on Map 2, looking again for trends and patterns in this data set. After making their initial observations of the data, students are free to compare the maps in whatever way they want in order to gather more observations. This may include comparing the same species for two different years, comparing two species across the same year(s), or examining more species. Encourage students to make specific observations (e.g., patterns in latitude, timing, etc.).
If there are relevant Driving Question Board questions for students to explore with this model, have the class attempt to answer these as well.
Have students share out some of their findings from the Shiny app activity and as a class discuss the significance of these results. Extend the discussion to answer the questions on slide 30.
Evaluate
To conclude the lesson, ask students to create a visual representation of how insect arrival/activity and bird arrival are related to one another, including how they are changing over time. This could take a variety of forms, including but not limited to: graphs or tables, flow charts, concept maps, illustrations, etc. Additionally, have them include a 1-3 sentence explanation of their representation. Modify slide 31 to reflect the specific guidelines you want students to follow to complete the activity.
Provide students with poster paper, printer paper, colored markers, colored pencils, or other materials as necessary to the format you choose.
Resources
Birds, Bugs, and Phenology https://aeroecology.shinyapps.io/Birds_Bugs_and_Phenology/
All About Birds Guide https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/
Audubon Guide to North American Birds https://www.audubon.org/bird-guide
Birds of the World https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/home
K20 Center. (n.d.). Collective brain dump. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/111
K20 Center. (n.d.). I notice, I wonder. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/180
K20 Center. (n.d.) Window Notes. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/189
K20 Center. (n.d.). Cognitive comics. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/198
K20 Center. (n.d.). Concept card mapping. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/123
K20 Center. (n.d.).Mind maps. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/1277
K20 Center. (n.d.). One-pager. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/72