FF-09: California Condor
Overview: An introduction to the California Condor, its adaptations,
and the efforts to help bird recover from its endangered status
An activity from the
Environmental Volunteers
Program Area:
Foothills Ecology
Grade Levels:
1-4
MATERIALS LIST
California condor costume
Photos
Radio tag
EV Learning Objectives:
1. Students know the basic
lifestyle and adaptations
of the California Condor
2. Students know the condor
is an endangered species
and the efforts we have
taken to help save the
birds.
EV Sustainability
Principals:
B. Restoring our environment,
wherever possible, from
human impact, and assisting
with the recovery of the
species that live there.
E. Understanding the beauty
of our planet, the elegance of
natural systems, and the
interconnectedness of all its
parts.
CALIFORNIA EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS
All standards are for science unless otherwise noted. 1
First Grade
• 2.a. Students know different plants and animals inhabit
different kinds of environments and have external features
that help them thrive in different kinds of places.
EEI Learning Objectives
• 2.a-2. Provide examples of the external features of plants
and animals that help them live in a particular environment
and obtain the resources they need to survive there.
• 2.c-1. Identify the different type of food that animals eat
and categorize the sources of those foods as plants or
animals.
• 2.c-2. Recognize that natural systems produce all the food
that animals eat.
Second Grade
EEI Learning Objectives
• 2.a-1. Recognize that reproduction is essential to the
survival of a species.
• 2.a-2. Identify reproduction as a process that maintains
plant and animal populations in natural systems.
Third Grade
• 3.a. Students know plants and animals have structures that
serve different functions in growth, survival, and
reproduction.
1
Note about EEI Learning Objectives: this learning station supports these objectives of the Education
and the Environment Initiative’s Environmental Principles and Concepts. As the learning objectives do
not have their own numbering convention, the one used here show the number of the standard before the
dash and the number after the dash is the bullet point from the list of objectives for that standard.
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3.d. Students know when the environment changes, some plants and animals survive and
reproduce; others die or move to new locations.
EEI Learning Objectives
• 3.a-2. Recognize that growth, survival, and reproduction are necessary for the survival of
plants and animals, as well as the survival of humans and human communities.
• 3.d-3. Provide examples of animals or plants that have not survived as the result of a
change to their environment.
• 3.e-1. Define the term extinction.
•
Fourth Grade
EEI Learning Objectives
• 2.b-1. Recognize that plants and animals, including humans, can be classified by the
sources of energy and matter (food) they consume.
• 2.b-2. Classify organisms from a terrestrial, freshwater, coastal or marine ecosystem as
producers and consumers and explain their roles in that system.
• 2.c-1. Give examples of organisms that are decomposers.
ACTIVITY
(Time required:10-15 minutes)
Ask: What is the largest flying bird in California?
The largest flying land bird in California and the second largest in the world is the
California Condor.
Have 2-3 kids get inside the costume, depending on how big they are. This will
demonstrate the enormous wingspan.
Ask: This is a life size costume. How big is a condor’s wingspan (this distance
from wingtip to wingtip when the wings are outstretched)?
The California Condor's wingspan is 8 to 9.5 feet. For comparison the Turkey
Vulture's wingspread is about 6 feet, and the Golden Eagle gets to 7.5 feet.
Condors weigh 20 to 25 pounds, an enormous amount to still be able to fly.
Condors are about as big as a bird can be and still fly.
Ask: What do you notice about a condor’s wings?
The large wings help them soar through the air at great heights searching large
areas of land for food to eat. They also have long outer primary feathers. These
feathers separate when soaring, so each acts like a long and slender small wing.
Ask: If Condors wings allow them to soar over the sky looking for food, what do
you think they eat?
Condors eat only dead animals. They never hunt or kill their prey. They are
scavengers. Their very sharp eyesight helps Condors see their prey from very high
up. They play a very similar role to decomposers in the food chain because they
help clean up the dead animals.
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Ask: What other adaptations does the Condor have?
The Condor has a hooked beak for tearing flesh. In order to survive, Condors
need to find carcasses of very large animals. Because they are large birds they
need to eat lots of meat from other large animals.
Bare head, neck and legs are essential for sanitation. If the head had feathers,
when the vulture stuck it into a carcass they would get dirty and be impossible to
keep clean. All vultures everywhere have evolved bare heads and necks. The sun
on the bare skin helps sanitize them.
Ask: The Condor is an endangered species…what does that mean for the Condor?
Endangered species means that the number of Condors in the wild got so low they
were in danger of going extinct, meaning they will disappear forever. In 1982,
there were 23 California Condors in the wild because humans had hunted them,
and destroyed their habitat.
Ask: How are California Condors doing now?
Condors are doing much, much better today. In 2009, there were 322 condors,
172 of which were in the wild. These numbers are still very low, but a whole lot
better than 23! Scientists started a captive breeding program for the condors
where the wild birds were placed in zoos in San Diego and Los Angeles. This way
they were able to help the condors reproduce more quickly, in the safety of
captivity and increase the number of Condors. Beginning in 1994 some of the
strongest birds were released in the mountains north of Los Angeles in southern
California, later north of the Grand Canyon in Arizona and into northern Baja
Mexico.
Ask: When we release condors back into the wild, how do we track how they are
doing?
Scientists attach radio transmitters to the bird’s wing. This way they can track
where the birds are and occasionally go find them in the wild to watch them. This
way they know if the birds are finding plenty of food, building nests, and having
more baby condors.
Pass around the radio tag and the photos of the birds wearing them.
Ask: Do any of you know how you can help wild birds and endangered Condors
every day?
You can help the condors by keeping the environment as clean as possible.
Keeping garbage off of the ground and the air as clean as we can help Condors
and all endangered species. Also, keeping some land undeveloped will give
Condors places to inhabit where humans will not interfere as much with their lives.
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TWO-MINUTE WARNING
(Time required: 2 minutes)
As an introduction, introduce the other EVs and their learning stations. Have the teacher divide
the class into the necessary number of groups.
ALTERNATE SCRIPTS
HELPFUL HINTS
For younger grades (1st and 2nd) spend most of your time on the adaptations of
condors. For the older grades (3rd and 4th) you can spend more time on the
endangered species concept and the work that humans have done to help save
them.
GLOSSARY
Adaptation – a change in a structure that helps an animal survive in a given
environment
Extinction – When all members of a particular species die out.
Wingspan – The distance from the tip of the left wing to the tip of the right wing
when both wings are fully extended.
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SCIENCE BACKROUND
See the “Animal Bytes” from the San Diego Zoo’s website.
EV SUGGESTS- TIPS, TRICKS, AND NEWS
• San Diego Zoo Animal Bytes: http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/tcondor.html
• Ventana Wildlife Society: http://ventanaws.org/condors.htm
• California Condor Conservation Program: http://cacondorconservation.org
REFERENCE
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