Science – Flight and Feathers

 

Birds are finely tuned flying machines, with the wing and flight style suited perfectly to the environment in which they live. View albatross and other seabirds breeding at Taiaroa Head and look at how the shape of the wing is related to how the bird flies. Discuss how flight mode is related to the feeding, breeding and range of the bird. Demonstrations will illustrate how birds stay up in the air and compare the principals of flight in birds and airplanes.

Time: 2 hours
Age Focus: Years 4-8
Curriculum Area: Science (Level 2-4, LW – Achievement Objectives 1-4)
Cost: $4/person

Time:	Activity:
	Arrive, meet guide at reception – please arrive 10 minutes early
0 min	Education Room (30 min) – What is a bird? (comparison of bird to cat) – How do they fly? (flapping, soaring, gliding) – Mechanisms of flight with demonstration – Where do they go? (different wings for different jobs)
30 min	Observatory (30 min) – Viewing of flight (Albatross, gulls, shags) – Identification of species and wing types with silhouettes – Toroa – flight path – Weighted birds – difficulties of flight
1 hour	Cliff Viewing (30 min) – shag viewing – gull viewing – act out gliding & flapping flight
1.5 hours	Education Rm (30 min) – series of activity stations to look at mechanisms of flight and how the birds are adapted for flight. – DVD penguin and shag flight (display area)
2 hrs	Wrap up (5 min) – Reviewing learning objectivesDepart