Curated OER
Week 7: Animal Adaptations - Bird Beaks
Learners use tools to represent bird beaks and pick up different types of food with them in order to discover which beak would help the bird survive depending on their food type.
Biology Junction
Birds
Birds adapted to almost every climate on the planet, from the Arctic to the rain forests. A presentation focused on birds covers their similarities and differences. It starts with their evolution from reptiles, their many physical...
Curated OER
Beans, Beaks and Bears
Students explore evolution. After watching a video on evolution, students perform a variety of experiments using beans which illustrate the concept of evolution.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Evolution in Action: Data Analysis
An environmental factor, such as a drought, sometimes speeds up the rate of natural selection. Scholars analyze data on the beaks of birds around the time of the drought. They compare those that survived to those that perished and find...
ARKive
Biodiversity and Evolution – Darwin’s Finches
Teens experience natural selection firsthand (or first beak) in an activity that has them act as finches foraging for food. Using different household items to act as different beak styles, your little finches will collect as much food...
Curated OER
Regents High School Exam: Living Environment 2008
Tne New York Regents High School Examinations are comprehensive and include various styles of questions, includingmultiple choice and the analysis of graphs. This particular version, the 2008 Living Environment exam surveys a variety of...
Curated OER
Regents High School Examination: Living Environment 2005
The 2005 version of the Regents High School Examination in the area of ecology is as comprehensive as previous years' exams. It consists of 40 multiple choice questions on everything from the structure of DNA to the interactions within...
Curated OER
Regents High School Examination: Living Environment 2003
The living environment, from the interior of a cell to the complex relationships among populations, are queried in this final examination. Learners look at air pollution maps, diagrams of cells, population graphs, and drawing of cells....
Curated OER
Activity: Bird Beak Buffet
Middle schoolers study the functions of bird beaks. For this animal evolution lesson, students compare and contrast different types of bird beaks focusing on how the beaks are adapted to the foods the birds eat. Middle schoolers record...
Curated OER
The Beaks of the Finches
Learners become birds and are given "beak-types". After completing the simulation, students relate results to adaptations and natural selection. Extensions of the simulation allow for comparative results and include population genetics.
Curated OER
Exploring the Uses of Beaks
Students explore the uses of bird beaks in the wild by participating in experiment stations. In this bird adaptation lesson, students work in groups and complete experiment stations that represent different types of bird beaks. Students...
Curated OER
Bird Land
Young scholars role-playing the concept of evolution through naturally occurring mutations. Working in pairs, they model how birds have adapted to the food sources in their environment through changes in their beak size and shapes....
Curated OER
Compare Human-made Objects with Natural Objects
Students examine and observe how many human-made objects get their basic design from things in nature. They listen to the book "Nature Got There First," compare/contrast hollow bones with drinking straws, bird beaks and tool pliers, and...
Curated OER
Introduction to Adaptation
Tenth graders observe collections of specimens and discuss their answers to provided questions. They explore common ancestry, homology, analogy, adaptive radiation, and evolution, while formulating creative answers based on their...
ARKive
Biodiversity and Evolution
Why is diversity in biology so important for an ecosystem? Explore biodiversity, evolution, and natural selection with a presentation for your biology class. It features clear information, activities for further understanding, and...
Curated OER
Battle of the Beaks
Students explore adaptive advantage, based on beak function, by simulating birds competing for various foods.
Curated OER
Birds Learning Cycle Lesson Plan
Ninth graders explore the various adaptations of birds and compare differences and similarities of different birds.
Curated OER
The Birds and the Beaks
Students explore the adaptations that birds have. In this adaptations lesson students view a video and create a concept map of birds and their adaptive traits.
Curated OER
Clipbirds
Students attempt to pick up various objects with a wide variety of beaks, including scissors, spoons, etc.
Field Museum
The Case of Darwin's Finches
One of the most striking pieces of evidence for Darwin's Evolution of Species was his observations of finches and how their beaks differed from island to island, depending on their primary food sources. So what would happen to the theory...
Curated OER
Natural Selection and the Peppered Moth
Students study natural selection and its process in the peppered moth. In this evolution lesson plan, students read about the concept of natural selection as suggested by Charles Darwin. Students then complete a natural selection...
Berkeley Engineering and Mentors
Darwin's Finches
Try a twist on the old finch beak and chopsticks activity by using M&Ms on a Twister mat. Spoons, knives, forks, and chopsticks represent beaks and are randomly assigned to your little birds, who must collect as much food as possible...
Curated OER
Fossils and Natural Selection
In this fossils and natural selection worksheet, students will read a cause related to fossils and natural selection. Students will write in the effect of each of these causes. This worksheet has two questions.
Curated OER
Explorations Through Time
In this earth history worksheet, high schoolers visit a website and complete 15 fill in the blank and 8 short answer questions based on what they read. Topics include biodiversity, animal kingdoms, evolution, fossils, and extinction.