Bird Anatomy
by Mrs. Terry Thomas
It was an overcast, dreary day on Tuesday, April 14 when the third and fifth grade classes went on a field trip to Nockamixon State Park. Everyone was excited to go despite the weather. Both classes had been taught about birds, so going to the state park to learn about bird adaptations was the finishing touch to the unit of study.
They left Liberty campus in the morning and headed over to the educational building at the state park. Did you know you could tell where a bird lives by looking at their feet? What about knowing what they eat by the shape of their beak? The students learned some fascinating facts about birds. The
children were put into groups and given the opportunity to look and examine parts of actual birds to determine if they could guess the name of the bird. Some were looking at feet, wings, even entire birds that had been preserved. It was fun to observe the children’s excitement when they could
correctly determine, by the knowledge they had been given, the bird they were examining.
Finally, the students had the opportunity to go outside to see if we could locate some birds in the area using binoculars. Students were able to see birds and listen to their calls. They enjoyed locating nests even if the occupants were not home.
The trip ended at Quakertown Park where the group ate lunch under the pavilion.
Both classes had a great time learning outside the classroom setting and even Mrs. Jacobs and Mrs. Jaeger learned some new bird facts!