In this learning module, students will learn about seasonal changes and the migration pattern of ruby-throated hummingbirds through a digital picture book, activities, coloring pages, and observations.
This module can stretch throughout the school year as students make outdoor observations in their journals and record changes in what they observe outside.
Teaching Tips
Positives
The picture book engages students and sets them up for success in the subsequent activities.
The many hands-on activities make learning fun and accessible, especially for kinesthetic learners.
Additional Prerequisites
Directions for accessing the ebook on an Apple device ask the reader to use the iBooks app, which does not seem to work the way the instructions would imply.
Students should be familiar with the five senses and the four seasons.
Students should understand class- and school-wide expectations for outdoor exploration.
Differentiation
Older students can discuss the impact that climate change has on the changing seasons and, in turn, animal migratory patterns.
Students can choose a research question to study throughout the season or year, just like the students in the book.
During an art period, allow students to exercise their creativity and create their interpretation of the hummingbird after constructing the scientifically accurate version.
The outdoor observation period is a natural opportunity for students to practice their measurement and data skills. They can measure plants and track their growth over time, create scaled drawings in their journals, and record data like the temperature, date, and time.
Scientist Notes
This resource is from the CLEAN collection. “The CLEAN collection is hand-picked and rigorously reviewed for scientific accuracy and classroom effectiveness.”
Standards
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
ESS2: Earth's Systems
2-ESS2-2 Develop a model to represent the shapes and kinds of land and bodies of water in an area.
3-ESS2-2 Obtain and combine information to describe climates in different regions of the world.
K-ESS2-1 Use and share observations of local weather conditions to describe patterns over time.
LS4: Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
3-LS4-4 Make a claim about the merit of a solution to a problem caused when the environment changes and the types of plants and animals that live there may change.
College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards
Dimension 2: Geography
D2.Geo.2.K-2 Use maps, graphs, photographs, and other representations to describe places and the relationships and interactions that shape them.
D2.Geo.4.K-2 Explain how weather, climate, and other environmental characteristics affect people's lives in a place or region.
D2.Geo.10.3-5 Explain why environmental characteristics vary among different world regions.
Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)
Reading: Informational Text (K-12)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.1.2 Identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 2 topic or subject area.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.5 Use text features and search tools (e.g., key words, sidebars, hyperlinks) to locate information relevant to a given topic efficiently.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.7 Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively (e.g., in charts, graphs, diagrams, time lines, animations, or interactive elements on Web pages) and explain how the information contributes to an understanding of the text in which it appears.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.9 Integrate information from two texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.
Reading: Literature (K-12)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.1 Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
Writing (K-12)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.1.2 Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the topic, and provide some sense of closure.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.7 Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., read a number of books on a single topic to produce a report; record science observations).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.10 Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Common Core Math Standards (CCSS.MATH)
Measurement & Data (K-5)
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.MD.A.1 Describe measurable attributes of objects, such as length or weight. Describe several measurable attributes of a single object.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.1.MD.A.2 Express the length of an object as a whole number of length units, by laying multiple copies of a shorter object (the length unit) end to end; understand that the length measurement of an object is the number of same-size length units that span it with no gaps or overlaps. Limit to contexts where the object being measured is spanned by a whole number of length units with no gaps or overlaps.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.MD.A.3 Estimate lengths using units of inches, feet, centimeters, and meters.
