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WATERPROOF BIRD FEATHERS Purpose: This Simple Demonstration Helps Students Understand the Waterproof Nature of Bird Features

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WATERPROOF BIRD FEATHERS Purpose: This Simple Demonstration Helps Students Understand the Waterproof Nature of Bird Features Animal Adaptations STEM at Home WATERPROOF BIRD FEATHERS Purpose: This simple demonstration helps students understand the waterproof nature of bird features. Materials: • Vegetable oil (spray oil works well) • Index card • 2 small containers with water ENGAGE: What happens to birds when it rains? How do ducks swim in the water without getting wet? What special adaptations to bird feathers provide for birds? When birds get wet, the water beads up on their feathers thanks to a special oil. This short video shows ducks swimming and preening their feathers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6B-8PG98NcA EXPLORE: Demonstrate the concept using index cards, oil, and water: • Fill 2 small containers with water. • Cut the index card in half, length-wise. • Coat one of the index cards with vegetable oil. • Dip both the oil-covered card and a non-oil-covered card into the containers of water. • Show how the water beads up on the oil-covered card and it doesn’t get wet. • Show how the non-oil-covered card is wet and soggy. EXPLAIN: Describe what you observed. What happened to the paper with the oil? What happened to the paper without the oil? Birds have a special gland positioned near their tails, called the preen gland. This gland produces an oil, which birds rub over their feathers with their beaks to maintain their waterproof effect. This oil creates a protective barrier that stops feathers becoming waterlogged. These waterproof feathers insulate birds from water and cold temperatures. Beneath the waterproof outer feathers is a fluffy, soft layer of down feathers, which keep birds warm. This protective barrier of waterproof feathers is a very effective system, but it requires constant maintenance, therefore birds spend a lot of time preening and washing. HOW BIRD BEAKS WORK Purpose: This simple demonstration helps students understand the different kinds of bird beaks and how they work. Materials: • For beaks: chopsticks, spoons, forks, tongs, pliers, tweezers, and/or clothespins • For food (a few of each): dry beans, pasta, oats, rice, cereal, marshmallows, gummy worms, rubber bands, or other small items you might have around the house ENGAGE: Did you ever wonder why there are so many types of bird beaks? Different bird species have differently shaped beaks because each species has evolved a beak design that suits its diet and lifestyle. Beaks function somewhat as human tools do, and they help the birds to access food. This short video will show you different kinds of bird beaks and how they are used: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEbRZs1L59E This web site has pictures of birds. When you point your mouse at a picture, you can learn more about the type of beak the bird has and the type of food it eats. http://www.vtaide.com/png/bird-adaptations3.htm EXPLORE: Try out how different kinds of bird beaks work. • The utensils represent different types of bird beaks. Think of the birds you have seen in your neighborhood, in the video, or on the bird adaptations web site. What utensils do their beaks resemble? • Set up the “food” items on a flat surface. Try to make a guess (or a hypothesis if you want to use scientific language) about which beaks will work best to pick up different foods. • Try out each beak. Make sure you’re only using the beak and not your fingers to pick up the food! • For extra fun, record your observations in a notebook like a scientist! You can even observe birds in your yard or neighborhood to see how they use their beaks! EXPLAIN: Describe what you observed. Which beaks were able to pick up which foods? Which foods do you have an easy time picking up? Which foods are harder? A beak is a type of mouth in which the jaws are covered by a layer of keratin (the same material you find in fingernails, horse hooves or the horn of a rhinoceros). Birds have no teeth at all! Typically, we think of beaks on birds however other animals like turtles also have beaks. Bird beaks are categorized according to their shape and the function. There are two types of birds: generalists, who use different methods to obtain food, whose beaks do not have specific shapes; and specialists, whose beaks are adapted for a single function, usually obtaining food. INVESTIGATING EXOSKELETONS Purpose: This simple demonstration helps students understand how an exoskeleton works. Materials: • Paper strips • Tape • Scissors ENGAGE: Why do bugs look and feel so different? Have you ever stepped on a bug? Why does it crunch if you accidentally step on it? It’s because they have an exoskeleton! Exoskeletons (exo – external) are rigid structures found on the outside of the body, commonly forming a hard shell around the animal. There are a variety of types of exoskeletons and they are made of different things. This short video will tell you about arthropods and their exoskeletons: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSvBYVjgtGs EXPLORE: Try to make and use an exoskeleton for your hand. 1. Refer to the photo below. Measure the lengths of the various parts of your finger and cut paper strips to these widths and about 10 cm long. 2. Repeat step 1 for each finger and your thumb. 3. Roll a paper strip around each finger section and tape snugly but not too tight. You may need another person to help as this can be difficult. 4. Leave the joints free so that your fingers can bend. 5. Compare your paper exoskeleton hand with your other, normal hand. Try some basic tasks such as picking up small objects or writing your name. EXPLAIN: Describe what you observed. What types of things are more difficult to do with your exoskeleton hand? Can you think of something that might be made easier (or better) by having a hand like this? For more fun, think about the following: in this simulation, your joints are bare. What would you need to do to give them an exoskeleton and still make them moveable? There are lots of examples of creatures with exoskeletons! Thinks about the differences among grasshoppers, crabs, turtles, and snails. Some of these creatures like grasshoppers and crabs have joints built into their exoskeleton to allow for specialized movement. When you tried to do everyday tasks with your exoskeleton hand, you probably realized that fine movement can be difficult. Maybe an exoskeleton could help you if you lived someplace with a harsh environment like in outer space! SURVIVING IN THE COLD Purpose: This simple demonstration helps students understand how animals like polar bears, penguins, seals, whales, and walruses have adapted to live in some of the harshest conditions on the planet. Materials: • Ice and water in a small container • Vegetable shortening • Digital thermometer (optional) ENGAGE: What kind of animals live in the arctic? (polar bears, penguins, seals, whales, and walruses) Can humans survive in the arctic climate? (not without heavy coats, shelter) How do artic animals survive and thrive in the cold climate? How can they swim in the icy cold waters of the Arctic Ocean? (fur, blubber) EXPLORE: Put the ice and water into the container a few minutes ahead of the demonstration so it can cool to near freezing temperature. Put the thermometer into the icy water to demonstrate the cold temperature. Remove the thermometer and stick it into a lump of vegetable shortening. Ensure that the tip of the thermometer is completely covered by the material. Put the shortening-covered thermometer back into the ice water and observe the temperature. If you don’t have a digital thermometer, you can use your fingers! Place your hand into the icy water and time how long you can leave it there (usually around 15-30 seconds). Then coat one finger in a thick layer of shortening and place it into the icy water. Time how long you are able to keep your finger in the water when it is coated in shortening (usually several minutes). EXPLAIN: Describe what you observed. What happened when the thermometer was covered with shortening? Why did the shortening keep the thermometer from getting cold? Shortening is a type of solid fat that is made from vegetable oils, such as soybean and cottonseed oil. It is used in cooking. In our demonstration, the shortening is acting as insulation for the thermometer. Blubber is a thick layer of fat directly under the skin of all marine mammals. Blubber covers the entire body of animals such as seals, whales, and walruses—except for their fins, flippers, and flukes. Blubber an important part of a marine mammal's anatomy. It stores energy, insulates heat, and increases buoyancy. Blubber is different than most types of fat. Blubber is much thicker and contains many more blood vessels than the fat found in land animals, including humans. Blubber is so unique that many marine biologists don't refer to blubber as fat at all. To them, blubber is a unique type of connective tissue between the animal's skin and its internal organs. Insulation Blubber insulates marine mammals, or helps keep them warm in icy waters. This insulation is necessary. Mammals are warm-blooded, meaning their body temperature stays about the same no matter what the temperature outside is. Keeping a warm body temperature in cold water requires more energy than keeping a warm body temperature in warm water. Some marine mammals, such as sea otters, have a thick fur coat, as well as blubber, to insulate them. To insulate the marine mammal, blood vessels in blubber constrict, or get smaller, in cold water. Constricted blood vessels reduce the flow of blood, thus reducing the energy required to heat the body.
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