Spring 3 topic: What birds do we have in our gardens and grounds?

This term, we are going to be learning all about the birds we have in our gardens and grounds in preparation for taking part in the RSPB's Big School's Bird Watch.

Blackbird Science Investigation

After spending some time on the RSPB's bird A-Z website, the children discovered that blackbirds like to eat fruit. They wondered what type of fruit was their favorite, so we started an investigation. First, the children made a list of the fruits they wanted to investigate, and we then agreed to explore a couple each week. This week we investigated kiwis and pears. Firstly, the children tried the fruit and decided if they liked it or not, and then we placed a plate of kiwis and pears in the garden for our blackbirds. We will check on it after the weekend to see if they have eaten them.

Bird Spotting Map

As we have been learning about new birds, we have been going on bird-spotting walks around the grounds. To help us remember where we have seen the birds, we have started adding our sightings to a huge map of the grounds. This will help us know where to look when we do our RSPB bird watch.

Watermelon

Our investigation into what fruit birds like has continued this week. This was started by the children last week after they learned that blackbirds like to eat fruit. They made a list of fruits that they wanted to investigate, and we have been sampling them ourselves before putting them in the garden and watching to see if the birds like them. Last week's kiwis and pears were not liked by the birds, but lots of little black slugs did like them. This week we have put watermelon out. The children definitely liked it, and we are hopeful that the birds will, too.

Hanging Fruit Feeders

Some of us made some hanging feeders using apples and raisins (fruits we know the birds like) this week. We learned how to use a needle and thread safely and created a repeating pattern using the fruit before tying them to the bushes where we see the most birds. We will check on them next week to see if they have been eaten and need replenishing.

Nest Boxes

Haven High Academy kindly donated some bird boxes that their students had made to our class. The children loved decorating them in colours they think the birds will like, and after they have been varnished, we will put them in the grounds and watch closely to see if any birds use them. Many thanks to the Haven High students who gave us their woodworking pieces.

Bird Bath

This week, the children have been determined to help the birds that visit our garden. After reading some information on the RSPB's website about how to help birds, they were determined to add water to the garden for them.

I brought in an old bird bath from my garden to help with this. The children decided where to put it (outside of our door so that we can see the birds from the classroom), and they then created a list of their names showing who would be responsible for filling it each day, as the website said we have to keep it clean.

Fat Ball Project

One of the children made fat balls at home for the birds and shared this on Tapestry. This made the rest of us want to make some in school as well. We went onto ASDA's website, completed an order which included prices, and took this to Mr. Hawkins and presented our idea. He was very impressed with the children's explanation and agreed to let us order the lard and seeds that we needed, so next week we will start to make the fat balls. We used the images from the amazing observation to create a set of instructions that we could use to make our fat balls.

Amazing Bird Art

The children have been working with and adult and independently this week to develop their painting and drawing skills. Look at the amazing progress they have made!

Fat Balls

The children's project of creating fat balls has continued this week. They used their own written instructions to help them create the fat balls, and after they were left to set in the fridge, we put them out on our new bird table. The children have been keenly watching the bird table to check if the birds are eating them. At the moment they have not; this is because the birds are not used to the table being in that place yet.
I have been so impressed with the determination the children have shown with this project. Well done, Hedgehogs.

Fruit Investigation Continued

The children's investigation into which fruits are liked by our garden birds continued this week with pineapple. All week we have been keeping an eye on the watermelon, and again we have only seen little black slugs on it. The children were fascinated when the watermelon froze during a very cold spell. When we looked at the watermelon on Friday, we saw no evidence that birds had been eating it.
We all tried pineapple on Friday morning and decided if we liked it. We then tried to predict if the birds would like it. We had lots of comments, such as, "I think they will because it's sweet like an apple and they like apples", "I like it so I think the birds will too.", "It's not red and I think the birds only like red things so they won't like the pineapple."

We have placed half a pineapple near our bird feeder, and we will watch it all week to see if they like it.

Which is the smallest bird that visits our garden?

All week we have been researching which is the smallest bird that visits our gardens. To help the children visualise the sizes of the birds, we demonstrated using a ruler to measure and cut lengths of ribbon to the same length as the bird. We labelled them and then worked as a team to organise them by length. We discovered that the wren is the smallest bird that we have visiting our garden.

The Den

In phonics this week, the children learned about the word "den," and after 'googling' some images of dens, they were inspired to go outside and build their own. They started with a huge tarpaulin, which they wanted to attach to the climbing frame. After some unsuccessful attempts using rope, I demonstrated the giant pegs. They then happily pegged the tarp onto the frame and onto some crates. "I think we need 3 pegs...maybe one more because that bits falling down...look 5 did it!" However, the crates kept falling over. They tried a few ideas to keep the crates upright (leaning poles against them, having somebody stand and hold them), but requested help to improve their system. I showed them how a heavy weight on the bottom edge of the crate would hold it in place. They then searched the garden for the biggest wooden blocks, testing them "with my big muscles" to see if they were heavy or light. "That's a really heavy one...that's too light, it will fall over." They placed these on the bottom of the crates to hold them up successfully. The next challenge was a sagging middle. They found a pole to hold this up, enjoying how it swayed about. 

After a short time of adding home comforts (such as seats), there came an attack from the Big Bad Wolf! The children realised their den was not secure and required doors, which they quickly fashioned and then role-played some wolf attack stories. wn. They started with a huge tarpaulin, which they wanted to attach to the climbing frame. After some unsuccessful attempts using rope, I demonstrated the giant pegs. They then happily pegged the tarp onto the frame and onto some crates. "I think we need 3 pegs...maybe one more because that bits falling down...look 5 did it!" However, the crates kept falling over. They tried a few ideas to keep the crates upright (leaning poles against them, having somebody stand and hold them), but requested help to improve their system. I showed them how a heavy weight on the bottom edge of the crate would hold it in place. They then searched the garden for the biggest wooden blocks, testing them "with my big muscles" to see if they were heavy or light. "That's a really heavy one...that's too light, it will fall over." They placed these on the bottom of the crates to hold them up successfully. The next challenge was a sagging middle. They found a pole to hold this up, enjoying how it swayed about. 
After a short time of adding home comforts (such as seats), there came an attack from the Big Bad Wolf! The children realised their den was not secure and required doors, which they quickly fashioned and then role-played some wolf attack stories.

When we returned to the classroom, we shared the den with the rest of the class, and I posed the question: What might happen to the den if it snows tonight?
One child commented, "It will be like an igloo."
Very few children knew what an igloo was, so we googled images and spoke about their construction, finding an image of a person creating one by cutting huge blocks of snow with a big knife. "They are snow bricks," the children declared. They then decided that if it snowed, they would try to cut snow bricks to build an igloo for themselves. 

The birds we see on the way home

This week, we started to create a list of birds that one of the children shared that they saw on the way home. As a whole group, we worked to pull the names of the birds apart, using our elastic band trick from phonics, and then write them. The children took turns writing each letter. When they came to a sound that we have not yet learned (such as the ue sound in blue), I explained how the sound was written using letter names, and the children wrote it. What a brilliant team effort with our writing!

Strawberries

This week we discovered that the birds do not like pineapple. We have seen some birds visiting our feeding area, but they have shown no interest in eating the pineapple. This week we tried strawberries; most of us liked them, and we have put some out for the birds to see if they like them, too.
Some of the children predicted they would eat them because their parents or grandparents grow strawberries and they have to put covers over them to stop the birds from eating them.

Budgies

This week we had a visit from one of the children's relatives, who brought in some budgies for them to look at. Before we opened the cage's cover, the children were encouraged to guess what was inside from the noises they were hearing. One child guessed it was a pheasant, but after comparing our pheasant ribbon (showing the length of a pheasant), we decided the box would be too small for this. After hearing that it was a bird, they were encouraged to share what we would definitely see; they accurately recalled things like feathers, beaks, wings, tails, bodies, and heads.
The children tried to use their ID guides to find the birds, but we learned that they are not British garden birds and instead are found in Australia. The children loved learning about the budgies and asked lots of great questions.

What is the biggest bird that visits our gardens?

This week we have been using our maths skills to help us answer our enquiry question. Some of our cuddly toys sent the children letters sharing which bird they thought was the biggest and inviting the children to investigate. They all knew that we should use the RSPB's website for this and were able to explain that this is a safe website for them to be accessing at home as well.
We used the bird a-z page to complete graphic organisers for a pheasant, crow, and woodpigeon and discovered that the pheasant was the biggest. The children did comment that woodpigeons are very healthy because they like to eat cabbage and sprouts!