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Hawk in FlightLesson Plan
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Overview
In this lesson
students use information gathered by satellites to explore the migration of the
Swainson's hawk from the western border of Minnesota to the southern portion of
South America. Not only will
students study the migratory path of the hawk, they will also be able to
observe how the vegetation in a particular region of the Earth changes with the
seasons. When viewed from space,
seasonal vegetation change can be tracked across entire continents, and large
scale "green-up" or "brown-down" of regions can be explored over time. Specifically, students will explore the
path of the Swainson's hawk relative to time-lapsed satellite images that
reveal the relative "greenness" of North and South America over an 8-month
period of time. Students will use this imagery to investigate the connections
between migratory patterns of the hawk and seasonal climatic change.
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Suggested Lesson
Sequence |
Please see the Migration
del Mundo and Seasonal
Changes module descriptions. |
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Lesson Level |
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Mathematics Connections
(Keywords in BOLD) |
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Students
develop spatial visualization skills as they view satellite images of
the Earth. -
Students
use data to calculate photoperiod. |
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Science
Connections (Keywords in BOLD) |
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Students
will conjecture about prompts that may have initiated the hawk's migration; -
Students
will explore the green-up and brown-down phenomenon -
Students
will use satellite imagery to
observe the migratory path of a Swainson's hawk. |
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Technology Connections (Keywords in BOLD) |
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Students
will learn that animals can be located using satellite technology. |
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Lesson Assessment Tools |
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Assessment and Standards Table
(Word) -
Assessment Task Description (below) -
Authentic Assessment (below) |
Materials
- This lesson requires
Powerpoint Reader (Windows
/ Mac), Quicktime Player, and Adobe Reader.
- Crayons (dark
green, light green, brown, light brown, black, white)
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Computer (sound and projection device or large
screen TV recommended)
-
Hawk Migration Map
(Powerpoint)
- Hawk Data Table and Questions (PDF)
- Hawk in Flight Assessment (Powerpoint)
- Pixel the
Satellite "Hawk in
Flight" Animation (Quicktime)
- World map
- Optional: Tracking the Motion slideshow (Powerpoint), stored in the "Osprey Journey" folder
Vocabulary
- Green-up/Brown-down
phenomenon - changes in leaf color in a region
that take place as seasons change.
These changes can be tracked and observed over time through the use
of satellite imagery.
- Migration -
an animal movement that is triggered by some environmental change that
helps the animal survive and have young.
- Migratory
path - the route an animal (bird) takes
during migration
Procedure
1. Assessing
Prior Knowledge: Animal
migrations are among the most fascinating science topics for children. Some students may already be aware that
animals spend different parts of the year in different locations. Some of the best and well-known
examples of animal migration involve birds. Many birds spend the year in more than one location, often
flying for long periods of time in transition between winter and summer
locations. Begin this lesson by
assessing students' prior knowledge about bird migrations.
Initial questions
for discussion might include:
- What time of year do most birds build
their nests? (Springtime)
- Before building their nests in the
spring, where do you think the birds used
to live? (Motivate the idea that many kinds of
birds are moving into the area in the spring from some other location - hence, they must migrate.)
- Do you see more or fewer birds in the
winter, or in the summer?
Why? (Summer - in the winter, many birds fly
[migrate] to warmer climates.)
- What birds have you personally
observed migrating through (or in/out) of your state?
2. Contextual Preparation: Distribute the Did You Know? activity sheet. As a class or in small groups, students may discuss the various facts about bird migrations contained in the activity sheet. These questions are meant to heighten students' curiosity about bird migrations. During this discussion, it is very helpful to have a world map available, so that you may point out the geographic features listed on the Did You Know? activity sheet to emphasize some of the amazing facts about bird migrations.
Following this
discussion, show students the Pixel the Satellite animation as a bridge into
the lesson activity described below.
The animation transcript follows:
"1. In this
lesson, we'll explore the life of a very interesting bird called a hawk. 2. There are about 16 different kinds of hawks that live on our
continent of North America.
3. Did you know that some
hawks, like the Swainson's Hawk (gesturing towards the Swainson's Hawk on the
blackboard), don't spend the whole year in North America? 4. Instead, they migrate thousands of miles to the southern
part of South America and back every year! (shows map on the blackboard) 5. Of course, these hawks can't buy a ticket on an airplane-they have to fly all this way by themselves! 6. Why do you think
a bird would want to fly so far to spend several months of the year thousands
of miles away from its nest in North America? 7. And, what
clues do you think we might be able to gather in order to understand a hawk's
migration? 8. Well, I just heard the news that our
fine feathered friends are soon to be on the move, so your teacher will take it
from here. 9. See you soo-oon!!!!"
3. Student Activities
Background
information. The focal point for this lesson is a sequence
of slides that show vegetation changes in North and South America over an
8-month period of time. Imposed
onto these images is the actual migrational path of a Swainson's Hawk as it
travels from Minnesota to the southern tip of South America. Students might be interested to know
that two separate satellites gathered the information seen in these
images. First, a satellite imaging
system called the "Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer" gathered the
global greenness images. Second,
scientists at the University of Minnesota tracked the position of the hawk by
attaching a small collar to the bird that sent a signal to a different
satellite (called the Argos satellite).
The position of the bird was therefore transmitted to scientists.
1)
Project the images of the Hawk Migration Map for the class to
observe. (Alternatively, students
may view the slides at independent computer work stations.) You may wish to show the slide show
several times to help students recognize and comprehend the data it
contains. After viewing the
satellite images, the following questions may be used to stimulate conversation
and prepare students for later activities:
What
types of patterns or changes in vegetation do you see?
Different color changes on the images show
changes in vegetation growth according to seasonal change. A "green-up" occurs when plants are
actively growing during warmer seasons with adequate rainfall. A "brown-down" occurs when plants are
dormant during cold or dry seasons.
Some places, like the tropics, remain green all year; whereas other
places like deserts have a brown color all year.
Where
does the hawk spend the "summer"?
Where does the hawk spend the "winter"? Why do you think the hawk stays
in these places?
The hawk spends the northern hemisphere
summer in Minnesota. The hawk
spends the "winter" in South America, although this is actually summer in the
southern hemisphere. The hawk
stays in these places because the climate is warm and the food supply is
abundant. This species of hawk
preys upon insects and small rodents that require green vegetation for their
own survival.
During
what times of the year does the hawk migrate? Why do you think the hawk migrates during these times?
The hawk migrates in the fall and spring
because of seasonal changes in climate.
The hawk migrates to warmer, moist climates where there is green
vegetation to support the hawk's food supply.
2) After engaging in discussion of the
previous questions, students should be given the Hawk Data Table activity
sheet, as well as a collection of crayons. The intent of this lesson is to get students thinking about
the connection between seasonal changes and animal migration. Specifically, an important goal for
this lesson is to help students recognize that the hawk's migration follows the
green-up of the Earth.
A
way to highlight this is for students to be mindful not only of the
surroundings in which the hawk finds itself at any given moment, but also what
is happening to the Earth (climate changes) in locations where it used to be. In particular,
students should focus their attention on the original nesting site of
the hawk in northern Minnesota, as well as the present location of the bird
along its migration. To help achieve these objectives, the Hawk Data Table
activity sheet asks students to observe the slides again, this time with
directions to record and recognize connections between the migrational path of
the hawk and the color of ground vegetation.
To
do so, students are asked to select a crayon that best represents colors they
see at various locations on the slide on several selected dates. In particular, students record
the color of vegetation where the hawk is on a given date, as well as
color of the region from which the hawk began its journey south. The data table thus provides
visual cues to help students compare vegetation and migrational data.
3) After completing this exercise, students
may work in small groups or with the teacher in whole class discussion to
answer the Hawk Data Table Questions.
Possible answers to these questions appear below.
Hawk
Data Table Questions and Answers
1.
What are the colors of the areas where the hawk flies along its path of
migration? Why do you think the hawk follows these colors?
The hawk follow green colors
because these are places where the vegetation is green and the food supply is
abundant.
2.
Where does the hawk spend the "summer"? Where does the hawk spend the "winter"? Why do you think the hawk stays in these places?
The hawk spends the "summer"
in Minnesota and the winter in South America because the climate is warm and
the food supply is abundant.
3.
During what times of the year does the hawk migrate? Why do you think
the hawk migrates during these times?
The
hawk migrates in the fall and spring because of seasonal changes in
climate. The hawk migrates to
warmer, moist climates where there is green vegetation to support the hawk's
food supply.