Special Feature Lesson:

Colorful Clues

Overview:
Students color a duck using the color-by-number method, then write their own tips for identifying the duck based on its appearance.

Curriculum Focus:
• science
• art

Materials:

• Shoveler printout
• drawing utensils

Activity:
Make enough copies of the Shoveler printout for each child. Review Special Feature as a class. Ask children to share examples of waterfowl (or even other birds) they are familiar with, and to give examples of field marks or behaviors that help to identify each example. Tell students they are going to color a duck and decide which of its characteristics might help identify it.

Pass out copies of the Shoveler printout. Review the directions with students. Students should describe two facts about the duck's coloration and two facts about its shape. Display finished pictures and discuss how children chose to fill out the information about field marks.

Extension Idea:
Make a classroom field guide to birds. You may choose to highlight just one group, such as waterfowl or songbirds. Or, you may highlight the most familiar birds in your area. Choose about one dozen species. Divide children into pairs and assign each pair one species to research. Tell children they must find a picture of their bird and write a field guide entry for it, which contains information about field marks, behavior, range and habitat. Assemble children's pages into a field guide.

(click here to download a .pdf file of the shoveler printout.)