Bird feet and beaks

Bird feet and beaks

Pencil and paperOnline interactive
Overview
Connecting to the Curriculum
Marking Student Responses
Working with Students
Further Resources
This task is about how birds' feet and beaks help them to live and eat in their particular habitat.

Question 1Change answer

Read the chart below and complete the last two columns.
Describe the foot
Where would this bird most likely be found? 
Why do you think this?
What would it be likely to eat?

Why do you think this?
What do you think its beak would look like?

How would this beak help it catch and eat its food?
bird-foot-A.png
Long toes, long legs
On mudflats, by the sea. 
Long toes would stop it sinking in the mud or sand.
bird-foot-B.png
Webbed feet
In or near water. 
Webbed feet make swimming easier.
bird-foot-C.png
Long talons, curved claws
In open farmland. 
Talons are for catching and holding prey, and sometimes killing it.
Level:
3
Curriculum info: 
Science, Investigating in science, Living World
Keywords: 
adaptation, birds, feet, beaks, pattern seeking
Description of task: 
Task: Complete chart to show how birds' feet and beaks are suitably adapted for their particular food and environment. Assessment focus: inference.
Curriculum Links: 
Science capabilities
The capabilities focus is brought about by the conversations you have and the questions you ask. 

Capability: Gather and interpret data
This resource provides opportunities to discuss how using provided information and diagrams helps make inferences. 
 
Science capability: Gather and interpret data (TKI)
 
 

Science capabilities: 
Gather and interpret data
Making Better Sense: 
Birds
Answers/responses: 

 

1.

2. 


3.

What would it be likely to eat and why?

Explanation shows an understanding of the type of food likely to be found in that particular habitat.

Bird 1   [easy]
Fish, shell fish, crabs … because they live on mudflats.

Bird 2   [easy]
Little water insects/creatures, pond weed … because they live in water. 

or

Fish …because they live in water.

Bird 3   [moderate]
Smaller birds or animals like mice … because the talons will allow them to catch small prey. 

 

 

1. 
2.


 

3.

 

What do you think its beak would look like?

How would this help it catch and eat its food?

  1. Answers must show consistency between food and shape of beak.
  2. Explanation shows an understanding of how the beak the student described is suitable for the type of food eaten.

Bird 1  [moderate]

  • Straight and pointy (a heron is an example)
  • To dig into the sand or mud or catch fish/shellfish.

Bird 2  [difficult]

  • Flat and rounded (if student has said water creatures or pond weed - a duck is an example)
  • To scoop food out of the water.

or

  • Pointy (if student has said fish is what it is likely to eat – a shag is an example)
  • To catch fish.

Bird 3   [moderate]

  • Shorter and curved at the end
  • Will help it tear up its prey for eating.
Results are based on a trial set of 178 Year 6 students in November 2005.
Diagnostic and formative information: 

The most common difficulties were:

  • making links between where the bird lived and what sort of food would most likely be in that habitat, for example, the first bird, "living by the sea", would be unlikely to eat berries or nectar;
  • explaining how certain types of beaks made it easier to eat particular types of food.
Several students made statements like "because birds like to eat these things" when attempting to justify what a bird would eat. Other students appeared to use information they knew about the feeding habits of a particular sort of bird and then generalised it to all birds, for example, "It would eat worms because that is what birds eat." Students commonly suggested bread as the food of some birds, implying birds were dependent on humans for food. Some students thought the beaks were specially adapted to eat bread.

Next steps

  • If students identify that birds eat bread, further discussion is needed about what birds eat when there is no human intervention, and how their beaks and feet suit the type of food eaten in the natural habitat in which they live. Structural adaptations evolve over very long periods of time. However, animals will sometimes adapt their behaviour to take advantage of a changing situation. In this case, this means that some birds are able to take advantage of co-existing with humans, but this has not resulted in changes to their beaks.
  • Ask questions/lead discussions to help students realise that all the features of an animal work together to allow it to behave in a particular way.
Nature of Science
This resource lends itself to a discussion about a nature of science theme: Scientists make inferences based on close observations and prior knowledge. In this task students are behaving like scientists as they make inferences from the evidence provided. To read more, go to the Nature of Science.
NOS is further unpacked as Science Capabilities.
The capabilities focus is brought about by the conversations you have and the questions you ask.
Capability: Gather and interpret data
This resource provides opportunities to discuss using clues from both the features of an animal and the environment it lives in to make inferences.
Science capability: Gather and interpret data (TKI)
 
Ministry of Education (2000). Building Science Concepts Book 3, Birds. Wellington: Learning Media. This book focuses on structure, function, and adaptation.
Ministry of Education (2001). Making better sense of the Living World. The chapter on Structure and Function includes activities and investigations about birds.
 
The following Level 3 ARB items can be used to support and scaffold students in their understanding of birds' features and how they help them to survive.