Pelicans Lesson Plans - LessonCorner

1. The Consequences of Extinction
...erstand and appreciate the reasons why each type of organism, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, can be important in the functioning of an ecosystem. INTRODUCTION: Our students often have a markedly egocentric view of the world which leads them to ask us hard questions. "Why do we need pelicans anyhow? So what if they all died; what difference would it make?" A question of this type verges on being unanswerable but it does deserve an answer. After all, if dandelions do make a difference (or snail darters or pelicans) then we should be able to explain why. In fact, not until we can give a r...

2. Brown Pelicans
+ + -+ BROWN PELICANS - OIL SPILL VICTIMS MASTER TEACHER: Helen Mebane GRADES: 6 ?8 TIME ALLOTMENT: 3 fifty-minute class sessions OVERVIEW: In this lesson, students will view the devastating effects oil spills have on shore birds. Flo Tseng, the veterinarian, who works at the International Bird Rescue Center in Berkeley,...

3. Gould League - Food Webs - Secondary Activities
...lls all water plants. What animals would be affected? Imagine that a mass release of phosphate into waterways causes a massive algal bloom. Ask students to find out about algal blooms and discuss the consequences for food webs. Students could refer to the Internet for information. Why do herons and pelicans fly to many ponds to feed? Extension If the school has or can hire a video flex microscope, store some of the pond animals in jars and return to the classroom to observe them. Avoid keeping the pond creatures for more than 12 hours and make sure they are returned to the wetland/pond where they were...

4. Ecological impact of GalÃ¡pagos oil spill
...ls are in such a hurry to clean up the oil spill? 4. Allow students to arrange themselves in groups of four to five classmates and to research the Internet for the effects of oil spills on the ecological balance. Direct them to sites below and ask them to apply these effects to populations of brown pelicans and other wildlife endangered by spills. Assessment Based on their findings about the effects of oil spills on the ecological balance, have students explain natural processes encountered within healthy ecological systems and the disruptions they experience when confronted with a man-made disaster. D...

5. It's Not My Problem
...with other 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...

6. Hypoxia or Not?
...where the screen says "The Laguna Madre is a series of hypersaline lagoons." It includes the Upper Laguna Madre and Baffin Bay, the Lower Laguna Madre and Laguna Tamaulipas in Mexico. Ask, "What other forms of life depend on the health of the Laguna Madre, other than fish?" (Birds such a skimmers, pelicans, cranes and ducks.) Ask, "Why do these birds stop here?" (The birds stop to rest and feed on the animals found in the seagrass beds.) Fast forward tape to the screen with the house over the water to the beach view. The narrator is saying, "Right now, scientists are evaluating the affects of an unpre...

7. Birds by inquiry
...basin with water, and 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...

8. Marine Birds
...cormorants have bills with curved projections at the tips that help to direct fish towards the esophagus. The different lengths and curvatures of shorebird bills determine which prey they can reach by probing in the sand. Differences in bill dimensions influence the rate at which food can be eaten. Pelicans, cormorants and frigate birds have a distensible pouch between the branches of the lower mandible that they use to capture fish. Pelicans dive and scoop fish up in their pouched bills and drain the water before swallowing their catch. Cormorants pursue fish under water, seizing their prey with their...

9. Progression's Price 1999
...life in developing and industrialized countries. It also brings disease and destruction to land, air, water, and living things - spurring the environmental movement. This lesson focuses on a program segment about mercury poisoning in Minamata Bay, Japan; the discovery of the toxic effects of DDT on pelicans; and the 1962 publication of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, which called public attention in the United States to the environmental costs of progress. In this program, environmental activists, former industry employees and Minamata Bay citizens describe how their lives were changed by these events....

10. A Place for the Birds
...s do you know that live in other places on the map? What do you know about them? After five minutes for journal writing, invite students to share what they know about birds in North America and add specific information to the map. For example, students may know that many bald eagles live in Alaska, pelicans are common in Florida and southern California, black-capped chickadees stay in Connecticut all winter or that peregrine falcons can be sighted on the Brooklyn Bridge. Explain that different species of birds are common to different areas at different times of the year depending on their range, habita...