The Great Backyard Bird Count - Citizen Science Projects for 5th Graders
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Description
Are you looking for ways to teach your 5th graders about how individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earths' resources and environment? A citizen science projects is your answer! If you're unfamiliar with citizen science, it is when non-scientists study the world around them and submit the data they collect to scientists. Anyone can be a citizen scientist including you and your students!
This mini unit, the Great Backyard Bird Count - Citizen Science Projects for 5th Graders, was created to give your upper elementary students an opportunity to participate in a global wide citizen science effort. During four scheduled days in February each year, birders and educators world wide spend time counting birds to report to scientists before the annual spring migration in a project called the Great Backyard Bird Count. With as little as 15 minutes on one of these four days, you and your class can help scientists gather more data to better understand the populations of birds.
Participating in this project is easy and this mini unit will walk you through the steps. Teacher resources included in this product are background information about the Great Backyard Bird Count, how to participate, where to sign up and report your sightings, and helpful tips for counting birds with students.
In addition to the mentioned teacher resources, the product includes 9 lesson plans, one for each activity. Your students will be intimately involved with this citizen science project as the unit moves them step by step in the planning and implementation stages. They will begin by researching the food and bird feeders that will help to attract the largest diversity of birds in your area. They will evaluate their research and write a proposal for which bird food and feeders would bring in the most variety of birds to your feeding station.
Unsure whether or not you and your students can get the materials to make this project happen? A lot of pet stores and hardware stores have bird feeders left over from the summer months that they are willing to donate to educators for use in their classrooms. Have your students write letters to your local stores explaining the citizen science project they would like to participate in. You can also ask for donations of bird food as well; many are willing to help when there is an educational drive behind the project.
Your students will also make identification posters by researching one local bird that visits feeders. These posters will be key in helping to identify the birds on bird count day. After all the research and preparation, your students will get the chance to participate in a practice bird count so they are prepared for the big day. After counting birds on the Great Backyard Bird Count day, your students will share their results with the class and graph the class findings. The mini unit culminates with your students getting a chance to evaluate if they think the project helps the scientific community to protect the Earth's resources and environment.
This product includes:
- Tips and tricks for taking your class outside for learning
- The Great Backyard Bird Count background information
- How to make an eBird account
- Helpful tips for counting birds with students
- 9 lesson plans (one for each activity)
- Bird Food Research - researching and recording information about 5 different common bird foods (color and B&W)
- Bird Feeder Research - researching and recording information about 4 different bird feeder styles (color and B&W)
- Bird Food and Feeder Proposal - analyzing their research and writing a persuasive proposal for which bird food and feeders should be used for the project (color and B&W)
- My Bird ID Information - researching and diagraming important identification information for local birds that visit bird feeders (color and B&W)
- Practice Bird Count - a data collection form to practice counting birds at your feeders before the bird count day (color and B&W)
- Citizen Scientist Bird Count - a data collection form to keep track of birds at your feeders on the bird count day (color and B&W)
- Class Results - a data collection form to keep track of the agreed upon class data (color and B&W)
- Graphing the Class Results - a grid for graphing the agreed upon class data (color and B&W)
- How Does this Help? - an opinion writing piece where your students will evaluate whether they think the project helped the scientific community or not (color and B&W)
Citizen science projects are powerful opportunities for your students to develop their scientific skills and to get involved with their community. They will help your students feel empowered to use science ideas to protect the Earth's resources and environment because they are actually doing something to contribute. Get your students amped up with this mini unit, Citizen Science Projects for 5th Graders: The Great Backyard Bird Count!
Next Generation Science Standards
- 5-ESS3-1: Obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth's resources and environment.
ELA Common Core State Standards
- W.5.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
- W.5.2a: Introduce a topic clearly, provide a general observation and focus, and group related information logically; include formatting (e.g., headings), illustrations, and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.
- W.5.2b: Develop the topic with facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples related to the topic.
- W.5.9: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
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