Spring SAVY 2019, Day 3 – Wind and Wings: Beginner Biophysics (1st/2nd)
This Saturday we continued studying birds and flight. The students focused their research on how flight helped each bird survive along with features of wings or feathers that helped each bird fly. For example, owls fly very quietly to help them catch prey and have small feathers on the tips of their wings to muffle sound. Woodpeckers do not need to fly as far or as much, and they have tail feathers designed to help them perch in trees. It was so interesting to listen to the students as they shared their research with one another and made connections to what each person shared. As we listened to one another, we talked about how scientists share information with each other and how we benefit from this collective understanding in our class and in the scientific community.
Students also had an opportunity to make a model of a bird wing using cardstock, straws, and toothpick. The conversations that we had around how the students used materials to show their understanding were amazing! This is a great benefit of a small class size because I can talk with each student about his or her work and what they are trying to represent. For example, one student used the movement of a flexible straw to show how the wing looked in flight. Another student used toothpicks as feathers to show how the feathers move together in flight. They are excited to show you their designs at open house on the last day of SAVY!
Next week, we will look at insect flight and wings and compare this to what we know about bird flight.
Lara Webb
A Peek at This Week’s Activities
