LESSONS
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The classroom activity package Way of the Wedgie – Survival Lessons from a Seabird Preserve is available free online courtesy of Hawaii Audubon Society, Oikonos, Hawaii Pacific University, and other partners.
Wedge-tailed shearwaters are a special seabird impacted by human activities on land and at sea.
Learn about the birds and their amazing lives in this new Story by Martha Brown: Meet your Seabird Neighbors
These four lessons were updated in June 2020 and comprise activities that use inquiry-based science instruction, aligned to standards for grades 6 – 8 with suggested modifications for grades 9 – 12, to teach students about how biologists and artists work together to study and protect these native Hawaiian seabirds. The lessons are also correlated to the Next Generation Science Standards and the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts/Literacy and Mathematics.
Unique features:
Students will learn about the shearwater life cycle, and study their growing populations.
Students will use real data to monitor shearwater population trends and survivorship.
Students will experience the Shearwater Game of Survival.
Students will design and test different shearwater nesting shelters (new 2020).
Each lesson includes:
Lesson Plan and Key
Presentations with photos and notes to support the lessons - Engage
Student Worksheets and Handouts for computer work, photocopying, and/or projecting.
Lesson 1. Studying Seabirds on Land: Population Monitoring
Lesson 2. Restoring a Seabird Colony: Habitat Renovation
Lesson 3: Staying Alive: a Game of Survival
Lesson 4: Designing a Nest: Conservation Solutions
We appreciate feedback and questions. Please email hiaudsoc@gmail.com
Introduction - Meet a Seabird
This presentation introduces seabirds and the star of the lessons - the Wedge-tailed Shearwater.
The document lists the STEAM and literacy lesson package standards.
Lesson 1 - Studying Seabirds on Land: Population Monitoring
In this lesson, students will graph wedge-tailed shearwater egg and chick counts, examine how the population has changed since 2009, and evaluate population growth over time. Students will also investigate the wedge-tailed shearwater life cycle, and will calculate the reproductive success of the colony, using real monitoring data for eggs and chicks.
Teacher Resources
Engage Presentation (editable)
Student Handouts & Activities
1. Engage: Wedge-tailed Shearwater Life Cycle
2. Explore & Explain: Graphing Population Growth
4. Elaborate: Chick Dates & Weights
Lesson 2 - Restoring a Seabird Colony: Habitat Renovation
In this lesson, students will graph wedge-tailed shearwater reproductive success from different types of nests, and will examine how the number of nests has changed over time in the Preserve. Students will also evaluate the different nest types used at the Preserve, by rating their ability to mitigate different threats to shearwaters.
Teacher Resources
Engage Presentation (editable)
Keys for Explore, Explain, Elaborate
Student Handouts & Activities
1. Engage: If You Build it They Will Come
3. Explain & Evaluate: House Hunters
4. Elaborate: Extreme Makeover Habitat Edition
Lesson 3 - Staying Alive: A Game of Survival
In this lesson, students will experience the life of the wedge-tailed shearwater trying to stay alive and raise a chick. Students will use a simulation game to rate the impacts from the various threats faced by shearwater eggs, chicks and adults. They will use this information to design management actions to mitigate the most important threats to the shearwater population.
Teacher Resources
Engage Presentation (editable)
Keys for Elaborate
Student Handouts & Activities
2. Explore & Explain: The Shearwater Journey
3. Dice Game
Lesson 4 - Designing a Nest: Conservation Solutions
In this lesson, students will design a nest and construct a model applying what they know about nest preferences and threats. In addition students will test how well their model functions and elaborate by analyzing real air temperatures inside the shelters.
Teacher Resources
Engage Presentation (editable)
Keys for Elaborate
Student Handouts & Activities
