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Phone: 803-737-3545

Wh0-o-o-o's Out There? (Grade 5)

Master Teacher

Beth Thomas

Time Allotment

Three 50-minute class periods

Overview

Owls are birds of prey characterized by large heads, flat faces, hooked beaks, and roaming eyes. They appeared in North America about 45 million years ago. These nocturnal birds are covered with special feathers that don’t make the swishing sounds most birds make as they fly. This adaptation allows owls to hunt and swoop down on prey unheard. Using video and the Internet, students will discover “who-o-o-o’s really out there in the world of animals.”

Subject Matter

Science

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to:

Describe the physical features of an owl;
Identify survival adaptations of an owl;
Investigate an owl’s niche in an ecosystem.

South Carolina Standards

(These Standards are available online at http://www.myscschools.com/offices/cso/)

Fifth Grade

Life Science

(Enriches and reviews Grade 4 South Carolina Science Standards)

II. Characteristics of Organisms

3.a. identify and describe characteristics and behaviors that are inherited. (e.g., color of flowers and animal instincts)

I.A. Process Skills

1.a. Use senses and simple tools to gather information about objects or events such as size, shape, color, texture, sound, position, and change (qualitative observations).

4.a. Use drawings, tables, graphs, written, and oral language to describe objects and explain ideas and actions.

5.a. Explain or interpret an observation based on data and prior knowledge.

I.B. Inquiry

1.c. Plan and conduct a simple investigation. Use appropriate tools and techniques to gather, analyze, and interpret data.

1.f. Plan and conduct a simple investigation. Communicate outcomes and explanations.

Media Components

Video

World of Nature, Lesson 9: “Owls, Hunters of the Skies.” This 14-minute program describes nine different species of owls and how they have adapted to nature. Students see the unique features and behaviors of owls as they are described by the narrator.

Web Sites

The Ultimate Guide: Birds of Prey
This Web site answers frequently asked questions about birds of prey.

The Owl Pages: Information about Owls
This Web site shows a photo gallery of owls from around the world. Audio connections provide actual owl calls and sounds.

Owl Fact Sheet
This Web site labels and describes various body parts of owls. Directions for building an owl nest box are also posted.

Owl Jigsaw Puzzle
This Web site provides interactive jigsaw puzzles of owls. Puzzles vary in difficulty levels and in choices of edges of the puzzles.

Materials

Guided Reading Books:

Owls: Whoo Are They? by Kila Jarvis and Denver Holt (Mountain Press Publishing Company, 1996).This book is ideal for ages eight and above. There are scientifically accurate photos of various species of owls found in the United States and Canada.

Barn Owls by Wolfgang Epple (Lerner Publishing Group, 1992) This is the story of barn owls living near a village in Europe. Photos show the loft of the barn where a pair of owls raise five chicks. Pictures show details of the parents feeding, protecting, and caring for their chicks. As the young owlets learn to fly, they develop feathers and learn to become hunters themselves.

Adopted by an Owl by Robbyn Smith Van Frankenhuyzen (Sleeping Bear Press, 2002) This book describes the true life adventures of Jackson, an orphaned baby owl who comes to live with the author’s family. Every page contains color photos illustrating various stages in Jackson’s life.

Owls by Michael George (School and Library Binding, 1998) This book is highly recommended for children ages six and older. It contains simple questions and answers which introduce physical characteristics, behaviors, habitats, and life cycles of owls.

Vampire Bats and Other Creatures of the Night by Phillip Steele (Houghton Mifflin, 1995) This book features facts about mysterious nocturnal animals. Quizzes are included at the end of each chapter. A glossary defines words associated with various animals.

Per student:

crayons, markers, or colored pencils
pencils
Activity Sheets

Equipment

TV
VCR
computer with Internet connection
Digital camera
3 ½ inch floppy disk

Prep for Teachers

Collect various fiction and nonfiction books about owls for the reading baskets and read alouds. (Note to Teacher: See Guided Reading books under Materials.)
Collect and display posters showing different owls from around the world.
Collect and display diagrams or posters which label an owl’s body parts.
Preview the video, World of Nature, Lesson 9: “Owls, Hunters of the Skies.” Note the Focus for Media Interaction points in the Learning Activities section.
Bookmark all the Web sites used in the lesson on each computer in your classroom. Load necessary plug-ins on each computer in the classroom.
Cue the video to the point of where the speaker says, “Tengmalm Owls sleep in the day and hunt at night except in the extreme north of Finland.” The frame on the video will then rotate and the next segment begins to describe features of all owls.
Copy all Activity Sheets, one per student.
Prior to the lesson, check all equipment.
When using media, provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction, a specific task to complete and/or information to identify during or after viewing of video segments, Web sites, or other multimedia elements.

Introductory Activity

Step 1: Tell your students that today they will be learning about the physical features and habits of owls. Remind students that physical features include those body parts that can be seen. Point to the posters on the wall. Tell students that some of these posters are labeled with scientifically accurate terms which they will use during the remainder of these lessons.

Step 2: Read the story called Adopted by an Owl by Robbyn Smith Van Frankenhuyzen. Before reading the story, tell students that the author of this story is going to tell you how Jackson, a baby owl, came to be an orphan who lives with her family. Let’s listen carefully to find out why Jackson is an orphan and why he lives with the Frankenhuyzen family.

Learning Activity 1

Step 1: Introduce the video. Explain to your students that they will be learning about the physical features and eating habits of owls.

Step 2: INSERT the video, World of Nature, Lesson 9: “Owls, Hunters of the Skies,” into your VCR. CUE the tape to where the speaker says, “Tengmalm owls sleep in the day and hunt at night except in extreme north of Finland.” The frame on the video will then rotate and the next segment begins to describe features of all owls.

Step 3: Provide your students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking your students to name four types of prey that owls eat.

Step 4: PLAY the tape until the speaker says, “Owls are excellent hunters.” PAUSE the video. Check for student comprehension. (Owls eat small birds, insects, mice, and moles.)

Step 5: Ask your students if they have ever seen an owl fly as it moved from tree to tree. (Several students may say that they have seen an owl fly.) Then ask students if they have ever “heard” an owl fly as it moved from tree to tree. (Responses may vary.)

Step 6: Provide your students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking them to find out why you cannot hear an owl as it flies from place to place.

Step 7: PLAY the tape until the speaker finishes the sentence which says, “They can swoop down suddenly like hawks.” PAUSE the video. Check for student comprehension. (An owl cannot be heard as it flies because their large wings have smooth feathers that end in a loose fringe so that they make no sound when they fly and small animals can’t hear them.)

Step 8: Tell your students that they will now have an opportunity to see an owl’s physical features up close in the next few video clips. Provide your students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking them to name a synonym for claws, and an unusual feature of the owl’s claws.

Step 9: PLAY the tape until the speaker finishes saying, “Their claws, or talons, are sharp and reversible allowing them to grab rodents from any direction.” PAUSE the video.

Step 10: Check for student comprehension. (A synonym for claws is talons. The unusual feature of the talons is that they are reversible.)

Step 11: Turn to the poster on your wall, which illustrates the features of an owl’s face, and point directly to the beak. Tell students that the beak is sharp and hooked, which allows an owl to grab and tear its food apart.

Step 12: Ask your students if they can tell you a unique fact about an owl’s eyes. Listen to all responses. (Possible responses: Owls have very bright colored eyes. An owl’s eyes are very large compared to the size of other facial features. Advanced students may say that an owl cannot move its eyes.)

Step 13: Provide your students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking them to find out how an owl catches its food if it cannot move its eyes.

Step 14: PLAY the tape until the speaker says, “They can catch live mice in total darkness.” PAUSE the video. Check for student comprehension. (Their large eyes allow them to see at night. They can't move their eyes, but they can turn their heads at least 180 degrees. They can catch live mice in total darkness.)

Step 15: Again, turn to the poster on your wall which illustrates the features of an owl’s face, and point to the eyes. Tell your students that the owl has ears and that they are located right beside its eyes, under their feathers. Point to the tufts on the owl’s head. Tell your students that these body parts may look like ears, but they are actually fluffy, hairy, feathers that gather together and appear to be the owl’s ears.

Step 16: Ask your students if they know why an owl’s face often appears to be so round. Listen to all responses. (Possible responses: It is round because it needs to be that shape to fit in the round holes where it has a nest in a tree. Another response may be that it has inherited this trait from its parents and looks like its parents.)

Step 17: Provide your students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking them to find out the significance of the owl’s round face.

Step 18: PLAY the tape until the speaker says, “A mouse’s tiniest sniffle is enough to make him an owl’s dinner.” PAUSE the video.

Step 19: Check for student comprehension. (Right beside its eyes, under its feathers, are the owl’s ears. The large, round face of this Great Gray Owl acts like a satellite dish, trapping the sounds of the forest and redirecting them into its ears. A mouse’s tiniest sniffle is enough to make him an owl’s dinner.)

Learning Activity 2
Day 2

Step 1: Remind your students that they are studying about owls, their habitats, and behaviors. Tell your students that they will now have an opportunity to see and hear sounds made by various species of owls by viewing a Web site. This Web site describes actual owl calls. Have students log on to the Owl Pages at
http://www.owlpages.com/species/tyto/alba/Default.htm.

Step 2: Provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking them to listen carefully to the calls of the owl and sounds in the forests.

(Note to Teacher: There are six different owl calls on this Web site.)

Step 3: Tell your students that they will now review the owl’s body parts which they learned about in the lesson yesterday by viewing a Web site. Have students log on to the site Owl Fact Sheet at http://www.conservation.state.mo.us/nathis/birds/owls/owlfact.htm.

Step 4: Provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking them to tell what specific body parts do. (Example: What is the significance of the owl’s round face?)

Learning Activity 3
Day 3

Step 1: Tell your students that they are going to put together a jigsaw puzzle on the computer. Have students log on to the site with the Owl Jigsaw Puzzle at http://www.jigzone.com/ms/z.php?zi=4B9000034428&z=48_piece_classic.

Step 2: Provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking them to connect the 48 pieces of the puzzle to form one of the types of owls they have been studying.

Step 3: Remind your students that they have been studying about owls, their habitats, and behaviors. Tell your students that they will watch the remaining part of the video.

Step 4: Provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking them to describe how baby owlets receive the nourishment they need in order to grow and survive in
the forest. Finish watching the video until the end. STOP the tape.

Step 5: Check for comprehension. (The father does all the hunting for the owl chicks. The mother rips their food into small pieces for them. She holds the food with her claws and uses her beak to tear the food apart. In a few weeks the chicks will be eating whole mice.)

Culminating Activity

Step 1: Give each student copies of Activity Sheets 1-A and 1-B. Tell the students that they are going to be making an owl glyph. Ask the class if anyone can define the word glyph.

(Note to Teacher: Students may predict that a glyph is another body part which they have not yet identified.)

Step 2: Allow for student responses. Then define the word for all students. Tell students that a glyph is an interesting, nonstandard way to display collected information in the form of a picture. Explain that a glyph is also a way students can tell a story about themselves using the legend on the activity sheet. Define the word legend. A legend is like the map key on a map. It helps someone read a map or graph.

Step 3: Tell students that they will be working independently as they color their owls according to how they answer the questions on the Activity Sheet 1-B. Explain to students that they may not have their owls colored the same as the student who sits next to them. Remind students that they should read the questions and answer them accurately. Students will use the legend next to each question and color the named body part accordingly. Students will also color the tree limb using the same legend that was used for coloring the owl.

Step 4: After students have completed their glyphs, allow students to share them with their classmates by standing up and telling the story of their glyph. (Information in their stories will come from answers used in each student’s legend.)

Step 5: These glyphs can be hung and displayed in the hall to show what we have been learning in our classroom.

Assessment

As a final assessment, give students Activity Sheet 2. Students will use the Word Bank of terms associated with this owl unit at the top of the page to complete each sentence.

Cross-Curricular Extensions

Language Arts: Students will design an owl flip book entitled, “All about Owls.” Each of four “flips” will allow students space to write about kinds of owls, what owls eat, where owls live, and more facts about owls. The back cover of the book can be designed to look like an owl’s face. The bottom edges of the “flips” can be scalloped with scissors to resemble the feathers on the front of the owl’s body.

Math: Students will make a pictograph using their glyphs to gather information about the owls which they colored. The words identifying body parts of the owl are written on sentence strips. These are placed in a pocket chart. Students are asked questions about their glyph. Example: How many students like strawberry ice cream? Look at your owl’s talons. If the talons are colored orange, then you do like strawberry ice cream. Counting sticks can be used as tally marks in the pocket chart to show the number of students who liked strawberry ice cream. Continue this questioning series with various owl parts.

Bulletin Board Theme: “We Give a Hoot about Ourselves.” As the students hold up the owl glyphs that they colored in the Culminating Activity and tell their own personal stories, use a digital camera to take their photos. Print these photos and post them on a bulletin board using the theme, “We Give a Hoot about Ourselves.” Students are proud to see their work displayed and will gladly share stories after completing this unit of study.

Community Connections

Invite a local Department of Natural Resources Officer into your classroom to discuss habitats of owls native to your community.
Visit the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, S.C. and tour the bird cages.
Take a family field trip to Sesquicentennial State Park in Columbia to discover the secret lives of owls and their nocturnal habits while on a family hike. This hike is called “Owl Prowl.”

(Note to Teacher: Contact Sesquicentennial State Park prior to teaching this unit to make sure this field trip is still available and that the costs are applicable. The cost is $3.00 per participant. The telephone number is 803-788-8332 or you can e-mail: http://www.sesquicentennial_sp@scprt.com.)