Topic: Birds

Target group

4th‑grade students of elementary school

Core curriculum

Grade IV
VI. The natural environment of the immediate area. Pupil:
7) recognizes and names common organisms occurring in the immediate vicinity of the school.

General aim of education

Students describe the characteristics of selected bird species.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• exchange bird adaptations for the flight;

• recognize some birds living in Poland.

Methods/techniques

• expository

  • talk.

• activating

  • brainstorming.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• notebook and crayons/felt‑tip pens;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers;

• binoculars;

• keys for marking birds.

Lesson plan overview

Before classes

• Students get acquainted with the content of the abstract. They prepare to work on the lesson in such a way to be able to summarize the material read in their own words and solve the tasks themselves.

Introduction

• The teacher explains the aim of the lesson and together with students determines the success criteria to be achieved.

Realization

• The teacher asks pupils to exchange characteristics that distinguish birds. He writes all the proposals on the board.

• The teacher instructs students to read the abstract and to confront ideas gathered during brainstorming. Selected students show green on the board those bird characteristics that are correct, and with red color add these bird attributes, which they learned about, learning about the abstract.

• The teacher asks students to answer the question: „Why can birds be observed at any time of the year?”. The teacher complements students' statements and corrects possible mistakes.

• The teacher displays an interactive illustration of common birds living in Poland. Students analyze their appearance.

• Pupils, equipped with binoculars and keys for marking birds, go out to the school yard with their teacher. Their task is to recognize as many birds as possible around the school.

• After returning to the class, the students discuss the results of their observations made during field activities.

Summary

• The teacher asks students to carry out the recommended interactive exercise themselves.

Homework

• Listen to the abstract recording at home. Pay attention to pronunciation, accent and intonation. Learn to pronounce the words learned during the lesson.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Birds

Birds are vertebrates which are adapted to flight. It is the means of moving which is characteristic of most of these animals. Birds' forelimbs are shaped into wings. Birds have a small skull with large eye sockets, and instead of teeth, they have a pointy beak. The bridge connecting their ribs has a large appendage called a keel, to which powerful muscles which move the wings are attached. Certain bones are filled with air. Birds are warm‑blooded, and their average body temperature measures almost 40°C. All birds are oviparous, and the vast majority look after their eggs and young. Eggs are covered in a strong, calcareous shell.
Birds' best‑developed sense is that of sight. They can see significantly further and more clearly than us. Birds' hearing is also very sensitive, despite the fact that they don't have ears which are visible on the outside of the body.

Birds are an extremely diverse group – over 12 000 species of these animals are known. They can be found in almost all environments – some of them can even survive the hot deserts. Most birds have the ability to fly, but there are some which are not able to (the ostrich, the emu and the kiwi). Penguins have also lost the ability of flight, but however, they are excellent swimmers.

Another characteristic trait of birds is their ability to communicate via a variety of sounds. Song is characteristic of the bird species. Other than song, birds emit sounds which are used in various life situations, for example as a warning.

Birds reproduce sexually. Males are often more colourful than females, and both genders can also differ in terms of size. During the mating season, males can fight (for example grouse or sandpipers), dance (for example cranes and swans) or simply show their plumage (for example, peacocks) to catch the attention of a female. Birds lay eggs, and put them into various types of nests, hollows or burrows. Brooding is when the egg is warmed by a parent's warm body.

Birds feed on both plant matter and invertebrates (for example insects) or vertebrates (for example fish and rodents). Many of them eat various types of food, depending on the season. They themselves are also food for many animals and people. They play a huge role in limiting the number of insects – insectivorous birds eat as much as half of all adult insects which appear in summer! Birds also play an important part in spreading seeds. Woodpeckers also play an important role, as when they dig hollows, it is not only useful for them, but also for other animals.

• Birds are vertebrates, whose jaws are formed into a beak, and whose bodies are covered in feathers.

• Birds have four limbs, of which the forelimbs are shaped into wings.

• Birds reproduce sexually, lay eggs, and usually look after their young.