Teacher Notes
This page lists all teacher notes for this lesson. Individual notes can be accessed on the main Teacher Notes page.
Introduction (15 minutes)
In this activity, students will explore pictures and text designed to capture their interest in studying endangered animals. After students have completed the activity, facilitate a class discussion about the interactive feature. Confirm what it is that all of the featured animals have in common: They are all extinct. Ask your students what they already know about extinction.
Threatened, Endangered and Extinct (15 minutes)
Students will learn the definitions for the words species, threatened, endangered and extinct in this activity. Let your class know that they will be studying endangered species, and make sure they understand the new vocabulary.
Standards Addressed:
MS.ESS3.C
Endangered Animals Research (1 hour)
In this activity, students will explore several online resources designed to build their understanding of endangered animals. Before students begin, ask them to turn to page 1 of their Engineering Portfolios. This page contains the Endangered Animal Graphic Organizer. Ask students to work independently to explore the suggested resources and take notes. Afterwards, ask students to share their findings with the class. Make sure they have a basic understanding of each of the key points on the graphic organizer. Students should have listed at least one bird under the "What kind of animals are endangered?" heading. If they have not, make sure they are aware that birds are among our country's endangered species.
> Endangered Animals Graphic Organizer Answer Key (PDF)
After students have shared information from their graphic organizers, discuss the causes of animal endangerment and extinction. Ask them how many causes they found involve humans. The last resource they explored—the slideshow—should make it clear that human-caused habitat loss and habitat degradation are responsible for a significant percentage of the animal extinctions in recent history.
Standards Addressed:
MS.ESS3-3,
SSOP4,
MTLSS5
Endangered Birds (30 minutes)
This activity is designed to focus students' attention on endangered birds. After students have watched the video clip, go over the reasons presented in the video for birds' decline. Invite your students to talk about their experiences with birds—perhaps seeing nests, watching birds affected by oil spills on television, or putting up bird feeders at home.
Also, be sure to go over the concept of habitat with students. Reinforce the idea that improving a bird's habitat (by making sure that birds have food, water, shelter and space to build nests and raise young) can help endangered birds survive.
Standards Addressed:
MS.ESS3.C
Helping Our Endangered Birds (45 minutes)
In this activity, students will familiarize themselves with three birds that are endangered either at the federal or state level. Begin this activity by asking students to turn to page 2 in their Engineering Portfolios. This page contains the Endangered Bird Graphic Organizer. After students have read through the bird descriptions, ask them to look at the resources listed on the next page in the website to learn a little more about each bird. They should take notes as they proceed.
If students are confused about the difference between the federal and state lists of endangered species, explain to them that to be listed as a federally endangered species, an animal has to be in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. To be listed as endangered at the state level, an animal has to be in danger of disappearing from that state. Even animals that are not in imminent danger of becoming extinct across the entire country are worth protecting in individual states.
After students have completed the activity, lead a discussion about how to protect endangered birds from extinction. You can do this as an entire class or in small groups. As students brainstorm, consider asking them to keep track of their ideas with this brainstorming tool:
https://bubbl.us
As a part of this discussion, encourage the class to evaluate the ideas for protecting birds and identify which are most practical. Your students may discuss creating a new habitat as a way to help endangered birds. Habitat restoration is possible, but it is an enormous undertaking. Encourage your students to think about more feasible solutions. If you ask them about which of the birds' needs are going unmet in their current habitats, you may be able to lead them to the practical solution of building nest boxes to replace nesting sites that have been lost. Let your students know that there are scientists and conservationists involved in real-world projects to build nest boxes for endangered birds across the country.
Standards Addressed:
MS.ESS3.C,
EST1.A,
SSOP4,
MTLSS5
Resources About Endangered Birds (45 minutes)
If students are confused about the difference between the federal and state lists of endangered species, explain to them that to be listed as a federally endangered species, an animal has to be in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. To be listed as endangered at the state level, an animal has to be in danger of disappearing from that state. Even animals that are not in imminent danger of becoming extinct across the entire country are worth protecting in individual states.
For teachers who are differentiating for reading levels, the first link on the Resources page (from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources) is a much higher reading level than the other two.
After students have completed the activity, lead a discussion about how to protect endangered birds from extinction. You can do this as an entire class or in small groups. As students brainstorm, consider asking them to keep track of their ideas with this brainstorming tool:
https://bubbl.us
As a part of this discussion, encourage the class to evaluate the ideas for protecting birds and identify which are most practical. Your students may discuss creating a new habitat as a way to help endangered birds. Habitat restoration is possible, but it is an enormous undertaking. Encourage your students to think about more feasible solutions. If you ask them about which of the birds' needs are going unmet in their current habitats, you may be able to lead them to the practical solution of building nest boxes to replace nesting sites that have been lost. Let your students know that there are scientists and conservationists involved in real-world projects to build nest boxes for endangered birds across the country.
Standards Addressed:
MS.ESS3.C,
EST1.A,
SSOP4,
MTLSS5
Your Challenge: Design a Nest Box (1 hour)
Now that your students have considered how nest boxes can help endangered birds, introduce their engineering design project—the construction of a nest box—in this activity. Before the activity begins, organize students into STEM teams of 3-4 students. (See Appendix C for more information on forming STEM teams.) When students are in their STEM teams, have them refer to the graphic of the engineering design process on page 3 in their Engineering Portfolios (see Appendix B), and make sure they understand that they will be using this process to plan and design a nest box for their chosen bird species. Go over the steps briefly on your own or with the help of a video like this one from the PBS KIDS engineering series Design Squad. Be sure to click on each step of the design process to see the entire series of videos.
> The Design Process
(from PBS LearningMedia)
Afterwards, ask students to turn to page 4 of their Engineering Portfolios. This page will guide students through the first three steps in the engineering design process: defining the problem, brainstorming, and researching and generating ideas.
You may also wish to share the assessment rubric with students at this time (see
Appendix D).
Standards Addressed:
SSOP1,
SSOP6,
Engineering Design Process,
MS.ESS3-3,
ETS1.B,
MTLSS3
Building a Nest Box (30 minutes)
In this activity, students will learn more about the specific features of a nest box and important things to consider when building a nest box for their specific birds. Encourage students to take notes using the notes pages at the end of their Engineering Portfolios.
Standards Addressed:
MS.ESS3-3,
SSOP4,
MTLSS5
Identify Constraints (1 hour)
Direct students to turn to page 5 of their Engineering Portfolios before this activity begins. Be available for questions as students consider their bird's nest box requirements, their budget and the materials they have available. Students do not need to make any decisions at this time, but should familiarize themselves with some of the project constraints. They should be able to gather all the information they need from the readings.
Standards Addressed:
MS.ESS3.3,
EST1.A,
ETS1.B,
RST.6-8.7
Identify Criteria (15 minutes)
In this activity, students will consider different design considerations and decide which are most important. Assist STEM groups as they work in their teams to make decisions. In reality, they will have to consider nearly all of the criteria as they design nest boxes. The least important is decoration: for the most part, birds do not care how the outside of the birdhouse is decorated. Birds will also use nest boxes of many different colors—but it is a good idea not to paint birdhouses dark colors if they will be placed in direct sunlight.
Standards Addressed:
MS.ESS3.3,
EST1.A,
ETS1.B
Select an Approach and Develop Your Design (2 hours)
In this activity, students will use what they have learned and conduct any additional research necessary to gather details on dimension, materials and location of successful nest boxes. Continue to be available for questions as students research and plan out their nest box designs. They should write up their approach and design proposal on pages 6-10 in their Engineering Portfolios.
The next activity, Design a Model, will give students the opportunity to use the Nest Box Builder tool to create an orthographic drawing—a two-dimensional drawing that represents a three-dimensional object. Students should first identify their bird from the list of three birds. Next, they will be prompted to drag materials to the workspace and resize them for their bird. Students can also create ventilation and drainage holes, and choose an appropriately sized hole for their bird to enter the nest box. Assist students as they work in groups to complete the activity. Note that this activity may take up to an hour to complete, so you may want to begin it on a new day.
The Make a Prototype section of the tool may be tricky for students. Students will print out their orthographic drawings, cut out the pieces and use tape to assemble the parts. Provide support for students as they create their prototypes, and help them find solutions to problems they encounter. They may return to the first part of the tool and repeat the steps if they need to refine their designs. Once students are happy with their paper prototypes, they should move on to the next part of the tool.
In the next part of the tool, Make Your Nest Box, students will drag and drop parts of their orthographic drawing to assemble the nest box. Next, they will choose a place to install their nest box and determine how high to place it off the ground. Finally, students will test the nest box to see if their designs are appropriate. They will click "test" in the tool, and the tool will automatically rate students' designs and let them know if the nest box is successful in attracting a bird. If their nest box was not successful, students will be prompted to try again. They will receive three tries before an appropriate model will be presented.
Standards Addressed:
MS.ESS3-3,
ETS1.B,
SSOP2, SSOP5, SSOP7,
MTLSS6,
7.G.1,
6.RP.3.d
Evaluate Your Nest Box (30 minutes)
If a group's design fails, they may need your help to figure out what went wrong. In general, successful nest boxes will adhere to the following measurements, which students should have been able to find in the slideshow.
Bewick’s Wren’s Nest Box
Bewick's wrens prefer a nest box that is at least 4 inches wide, 4 inches deep, and 6 to 10 inches in height. The nest box can be of several different shapes but the entrance hole should be about 1 1/8 to 1 ¼ inches in diameter—any bigger, and larger birds may invade and take over, destroying any eggs or hatchlings they find inside.
A nest box for a Bewick's wren should have a pitched roof with overhanging eaves to allow rain to slide off. Drainage holes in the bottom, a recessed floor and ventilation holes near the top will ensure that the box is not too hot or damp. One thing the nest box should not have is a perch outside the entrance hole. The wrens do not need it, and predators could use it to reach inside and grab baby birds. Some people install a predator guard on the mounting pole to deter climbing predators.
Bewick's wrens prefer nest boxes in shrubby areas about 5 to 10 feet off the ground.
Red-Cockaded Woodpecker’s Nest Box
Red-cockaded woodpeckers prefer a nest box that is about 8 to 12 inches in height and 3 to 5 inches wide and deep. Their nest boxes do not need ventilation holes, drainage holes or sloped roofs. That is because nest boxes are installed directly in holes that have been chiseled out of trees. This allows the boxes to more closely mimic natural cavities.
The entrance hole should be no larger than two inches in diameter. It should also be reinforced with a metal plate or PVC tube so that other birds and animals cannot make the hole bigger. If the hole is enlarged, red-cockaded woodpeckers will not use the nest box anymore.
Nest boxes for red-cockaded woodpeckers should be nestled in longleaf pine trees about 25 feet off the ground.
Barn Owl’s Nest Box
Nest boxes used by barn owls are at least 10 inches wide and 18 inches deep, and sometimes up to 24 inches wide and 36 inches deep. The height of the box should be 15 to 24 inches. The entrance hole can be square or round, with at least 6 inches in diameter.
Nest boxes for barn owls should be made of ¾-inch-thick untreated wood, and should include drainage and ventilation holes. Including a ledge or small perching area on the nest box will allow young owlets a place to roost. It is also not as important that the roof be pitched, since owl nest boxes are often placed inside barns, and rain is not as much of an issue. However, if the nest box is placed in an open field, a pitched roof would be beneficial.
Nest boxes for barn owls should be placed in a barn, among tree branches or near an open field about 12-25 feet off the ground.
Standards Addressed:
MS.ESS3-3,
ETS1.B, EST1.C
Communicate Your Design (1 hour)
Begin this final activity by leading a class discussion in which students share their experiences with their peers. Next, give the students their last assignment: writing a news article that describes their experiences and what they have learned. Students should follow the guidelines described in the given link to write their feature article. You may also use the rubric in Appendix D to assess their article. Feel free to share the rubric with students ahead of time so they know what is expected of them.
If you would like the students to assess their own work over the course of the entire lesson, you may hand out the Assessment Rubric at this time.
Standards Addressed:
SSOP3,
WHST.6-8.2
