Herons Lesson Plans - LessonCorner

1. COAST - Marine & Aquatic Habitats Activities - Estuaries are for the Birds!
...inking straws. Explain that the straw is the Great Blue Heron's beak. Students must spear their food in order to eat. It has been recorded that Great Blues can thrust their beaks into the water so fast that it will blur a photograph taken at 1/1000 second shutter speed. 4. Tell the three Great Blue Herons (with beaks) to remove their shoes and place the straws in their mouths. 5. The Great Blue Herons (students) are to step into the plastic pool. They are wading birds so they should stay near the side, which represents the shallow edge of the estuary. 6. Next, place Gummie^® fish in the center of the...

2. Gould League - Food Webs - Secondary Activities
...glers (mosquito larvae), leeches, water striders, back swimmers, water boatmen, mayfly larvae, caddisfly larvae, mudeyes (dragonfly larvae), snails and algae. Generate a list that sorts the animals into carnivores, herbivores, producers and scavengers. Make sure bacteria and birds such as ducks and herons are included. Also discuss a code of conduct at the ponding venue. Students should understand that pond animals should be handled gently and must be returned to their environment once students have finished observing them. At the ponding venue students should work in pairs. Each pair should have a t...

3. Hinterland Who's Who - Get out in the Field
...entative of the whole shoreline. Record your observations using the Shoreline Habitat Report Card . Keep an eye out for signs of healthy habitat or problems, such as pollution and erosion. Try sitting quietly in a sheltered spot. List species you see, such as dragonflies, turtles, trout, great blue herons, and muskrats, as well as any food webs that exist among them. Take a deep breath. Enjoy the wonders of nature. You can also record observations in poetry, stories, journals, sketches, paintings, and photographs. Map the shoreline and surrounding area where potential projects could occur. Indicate s...

4. It's Not My Problem
...r rivers. Ask the students what would happen if each/drop of water were pollution added to the river. What will happen to this pollution that is deposited in the rivers? Teacher Information: o Animals along the river: otters, skunks, muskrat, opossums, bass, sunfish, trout, carp, catfish, pelicans, herons, ducks, geese, migratory birds. o Trees along the river: oak, maples, hickory, gum, cypress, cottonwood o Mississippi River facts: It is 2,348 miles along. Its depth ranges from 9 feet to 100 feet deep. Barges are used to move freight up and down it. Extensions: o Field trip: Your class may want to...

5. Curriculum Connections
...er (shelter), Gardening Questions and water, are rich with diverse wildlife species. Coastal and inland Our gardening marshes, for example, are the breeding, resting, and wintering habitats for experts will tackle thousands of migratory birds, including ducks, geese, swans, shorebirds, your growing herons, and other wading birds. Many species of fish and shellfish that have dilemmas. important commercial and recreational use reproduce and spend part or all of their life cycle in fertile wetlands. A wide variety of reptiles, Click here to amphibians, insects, and crustaceans also breed and live in wet...

6. Birds by inquiry
...let them try pushing a hand through the water with fingers spread, then with the ?webbed feet.? DAY THREE 1. Show the children a variety of bird pictures. Be sure to include some birds of prey, a hummingbird, and a parrot or other large beaked bird. Water birds such as ducks, pelicans and storks or herons also contribute well to this exercise. Ask them to think about what the birds eat, and what the body structures in the pictures tell about each bird's diet. These questions might be helpful in guiding their thinking: + When you want to drink something from a glass, what kind of tool might you put in...

7. Consuming History
...marketing strategies? Evaluation / Assessment: Students will be evaluated based on written journal responses, participation in group research and creation of a theme restaurant design (with a name, logo, and menu), and thoughtfully written reflective homework essays. Vocabulary: proletarian, vast, herons, lynx, improbably, hybrids, kitsch, patrons, indulging, province, giddy, supplanted, orthodoxy, shag, prosperous, crazes, opulent, propaganda, garb, liability, irresistible, tinge, vengeful, averred, endangered, adheres, catharsis, culinary, bygone Extension Activities: 1.Why do certain cultures or...

8. Wetlands Pave or Save
...her animals. Below is a rundown of some of the ways wildlife uses wetlands. Migration Vacations: If you visited a wetland in fall or spring, chances are you'd see many kinds of migrant birds. And depending on exactly where you were, you could see hundreds or even thousands of them: ducks and geese, herons and egrets, sandpipers and plovers; maybe even eagles and ospreys. These and other birds converge on wetlands en route to their winter or summer homes. Here they "refuel" on the rich food supply before getting on with their journeys. (Many birds nest and winter in wetland too- but the bird populatio...

9. Surviving the Race: a Sea Turtle Dilemma
...e on the beach; audio is "Hey Martin do you got the list?" Pause the tape when an olive ridley turtle is crawling on the beach. Audio is "They are taking the beach by storm." Looking at worksheet 3, . ask the students to name some predators of ridleys they saw in the video clip. (black crownd night herons, wood storks, raccoons, ghost crabs, coatis, frigate birds, and black vultures) Go on to ask what is an arribada. (the mass arrival of sea turtles to nest.) Fast forward the tape through to where the video is the title: Arribada I "The Sea Turtle Invasion". The background is waves crashing on the be...

10. A Journey To Japan Through Poetry
...ear to those of Japan. They will compare the similarities and differences in rhyme, pattern, wording and subject matter. Next, the class will be introduced to the tradition of Japanese haiku poetry. They will read poems by the famous haiku writer, Basho. Poems such as - Hidden by darkness, even old herons feel safe from the hungry hawk. (Behn, p. 11) and When a cuckoo sings on a hill, tea-pickers stand stock-still to listen. (Behn, p. 8) - will be compared. The students will discuss their interpretations of the poems. They will identify qualities and characteristics of haiku. For example, such poems...