This article discusses misconceptions about birds (and penguins in particular). It provides tools for formative assessment and ideas for teaching correct scientific concepts.

This activity is a field investigation where students gather population data on bird species. The students will create bar graphs and interpret their findings. Based on their experiences and data, they will write an answer to the guiding question.

This project is a science based unit that incorporates using a makerspace. Students work together to research a local bird species and design and build a birdhouse to meet the specific needs of their species.

This activity is a class lab activity in which students will observe unknown rocks and learn about how they fit into the rock cycle.

This Web article is part of OLogy, where kids can collect virtual trading cards and create projects with them. Here they meet Deena Soris, who interviews the fossil of a Protoceratops. The more-than-20 questions answered by this dinosaur fossil include: You look fabulous. How old are you?How do scientists guess an extinct dinosaur's speed?Is it a thrill to have a frill?So what happened?One day you're happily munching away on thick, tough plants, the next you're history?How did you go from being a "Gobi sandwich" to becoming a fossil?Your bones were underground for 80 million years. How did the paleontologists find you?Once you got to the Museum, what happened? Are there any secrets you'd like to share with the folks at home?

Almost everyone has wished at one time or another to be able to fly like a bird. Just the thought of soaring above your city or town without any mechanical device gives us a reason to envy these feathered animals. Also in: French | Spanish

We have a problem to solve in our school community – litter on our school grounds. We know that this litter can have negative effects on our local bird populations. Sometimes problem-solvers, such as engineers, study natural phenomena to figure out solutions to problems.

This activity is a classroom and field activity in which students record observations of birds in their natural habitat and make connections between the structure and function of the bird feet.

This article provides links to lessons and units about birds, bird characteristics, and penguins. Ideas for literacy integration are included, and all lessons are aligned to national standards.

This article discusses the physical and behavioral adaptations that allow birds to survive in cold climates such as the polar regions.

The purpose of this lesson is to show learners how to keep a nature journal. How to reflect, respond, and question the observations they see in the world.

This article provides an overview of scientific inquiry and how citizen science programs run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology provide opportunities for inquiry about birds.

This activity is a classroom introduction to bird migration. Students will acquire new vocabulary, sharpen their map skills, and discover the scientific reasons some birds migrate.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Microscopic changes occurring inside newborns may have a huge effect on how they develop. Microbes residing inside the developing newborn – gut microbiota – are influenced by their delivery, diet, environment, and parenting, and the species within a developing newborn can influence host health, fitness, and behavior. However, exactly how microbes are passed to newborn birds remains unclear. A recent study examined this phenomenon in zebra finch chicks. Zebra finches are sometimes reared by their biological parents, but they can also parasitize the nests of a different society finch species – procuring “foster parents” for their chicks. Using DNA sequencing, researchers compared the gut microbiota of chicks reared by these two types of parents along with hand-reared chicks. They found that chicks’ gut microbiota mirrored those of the parents that reared them..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

Carla Dove is the program manager at the Feather Identification Lab at the Smithsonian. Learn how she deciphered the mystery of an airplane striking a deer - at 1500 feet in the air.

Last month, paleontologists from Canada, the U.S., and Japan announced an exciting discovery: feathered dinosaur fossils in North America. When Ornithomimus edmontonicus was first studied in the 1930s, its ostrich-like skeleton earned it a name that translates to "bird mimic." Now new fossils and a re-evaluation of old ones have revealed that its body covering also fits the moniker. A newly unearthed, year-old juvenile specimen is covered in downy, hair-like feathers, and re-examination of an adult specimen turned up traces of standard feathers with a central shaft. While most popular reporting has focused on the idea that these shafted feathers may have been used to attract mates, the real news in this research lies elsewhere

This Ology website for kids focuses on Biodiversity. It includes activities, things to make, quizzes, interviews with working scientists, and more to help kids learn about Biodiversity.