Backyard Birds
60 Minute Life Science Lesson
Classroom and Gallery Program
Grades: PreK-Kindergarten
TEACHER GUIDE
Backyard Birds
Description
Objectives
Find out about the feathered friends living in
our Ohio backyards. Touch their feathers
and hear their songs. Students will become
introduced to the life cycle of birds and
discover how birds are related to dinosaurs!
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Learn the characteristics all birds
share.
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Discover the bird’s life cycle.
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Meet some of the common birds in
our area.
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Understand the similarities between
birds and dinosaurs.
Ohio’s Learning Standards
Pre-Kindergarten: Inquiry – Science Inquiry and Application
 Make careful observations.
 Engage in simple investigations.
Pre-Kindergarten: Life Science – Exploration of Living Things
 Identify characteristics and simple behaviors of living things
 Explore the relationship between living things and their environment
 Demonstrate knowledge of body parts and bodily processes in humans and other
animals
 Demonstrate that living things change over time (e.g., life cycle)
 Living things have physical traits and behaviors which influence their survival
Produced and published by the Education Division
1 Wade Oval Dr., University Circle, Cleveland, OH 44106 7/20/16
Before Your Museum Visit
If this will be your first trip to the Museum for your students, you may want to review the following:
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What is a Museum?
What is our purpose for visiting The Cleveland Museum of Natural History?
How should we handle objects at the Museum?
Introduce the vocabulary and additional resources provided below.
Vocabulary
beak – a bill; the hard end part of a bird’s mouth
bird – an egg-laying animal with warm blood and feathers
claw- a sharp nail on a bird’s toe
chirp – a sound that birds make
down – the soft, underneath feathers
egg – an oval-shaped case, laid by a mother bird, containing a baby bird
feather – the outer covering of birds and some dinosaurs
molt – to lose feathers
nest – a structure birds make for their eggs and babies
ornithologist – a scientist who studies birds
perch – a place for birds to rest or the act of resting
preen – to clean the feathers with a beak
quill – a large wing or tail feather
Extension Activities
1. Use the environment outside your classroom to explore a variety of birds.
2. Some teachers may want to have a pet bird in the classroom.
3. Discuss birds in different parts of the world. Why can some live in a certain place but
others cannot?
Produced and published by the Education Division
1 Wade Oval Dr., University Circle, Cleveland, OH 44106 7/20/16
Online Resources for Teachers and Students
Click the link below to find additional online resources for teachers and students. These websites
are recommended by our Museum Educators and provide additional content information and
some fun, interactive activities to share with your class.
CMNH Educators regularly review these links for quality. Web addresses often change so please
notify us if any links have issues.
Cleveland Museum of Natural History https://cmnh.org/edlinks
Educator Resource Center (ERC)
Materials for Loan
The Educator Resource Center offers
educator workshops, thematic teaching
kits, animal dioramas, and more for loan to
area teachers.
Contact the ERC at 216-231-2075 for
information on individual or school
membership.
Visit the Museum’s ERC website for more
information on workshops
https://www.cmnh.org/ERC
Hours
If you’re interested in additional resources
be sure to check out the following ERC
materials or browse ERC materials online at
http://cmnh.hosting.l4u.com
Related ERC kits for this topic include:
Birds of Prey: Learn more about our
national bird. Background information
includes the role of CMNH has had on the
recovery of this amazing bird from
extinction. Skull and talon are included.
Ohio Birds: Thirty taxidermied Ohio birds in
clear tubes for study, plus an audio CD
birdsong guidebook set.
o Monday through Friday, 1 to 5 PM
o Wednesday, 1 to 6 PM
o Saturday, 9 AM to 2 PM
Produced and published by the Education Division
1 Wade Oval Dr., University Circle, Cleveland, OH 44106 7/20/16