Brilliant Bird Beaks Experiment

Objective:
Identify and understand adaptations in birds. Through experimentation with
models of bird beak shapes and different types of bird “food” the student will
grasp the importance of physical adaptations to an organism’s survival.

Questions to consider:
How might the shape and structure of a bird’s beak affect how and what it eats?
Which birds are native to your area?
What are the shapes of their beaks?
How can I make a data table?
What is a bar graph?

Materials (per group of 3):

3 plastic cups per group
Water
10 marshmallows
10 sunflower seeds
Bowl of Nutrigrain (or similar sized cereal)
Timer
Needle and thread
Bird beaks: straw, peg and strainer.

Procedure:
Collect the straw, peg and strainer. These tools will represent the bird beaks.
Collect 3 cups, these will represent the bird stomachs.

Test 1: The object of this experiment is to find out which 'beak' will work best at
moving Nutrigrain from the bowl to the empty cup (stomach).
1. Empty a packet of Nutrigrain into a bowl
2. Set the timer for 30 seconds. Try to collect as many pieces of Nutrigrain from the
bowl and transfer it to the cup using a straw. Record results in a table.
3. Repeat step 4 with the peg and strainer 'beaks'.
Test 2: The object of this experiment is to see how many marshmallows you can
remove from the string and put into the cup (stomach) in 30 seconds.
1. Thread a needle with a long piece of thread. Push the needle through a
marshmallow. Repeat until there are several on the thread.
2. Set the timer for 30 seconds. Try to collect as many marshmallows from the
thread and transfer it to the cup using a straw. Record results in a table.
3. Repeat step 4 with the peg and strainer 'beaks'.

Test 3: The object of this experiment is to see how many sunflower seeds you
can crack open put into the cup (stomach) in 30 seconds.
1. Gather sunflower seeds.
2. Set the timer for 30 seconds. Try to crack open the seeds and transfer it to
the cup using a straw. Record results in a table.
3. Repeat step 4 with the peg and strainer 'beaks'.

Recording results:
Use the bird beaks investigation planner to record your data in a table.
Present this data as a bar graph

Discussion:
Which beak type collected the greatest number of marshmallows? Why? ·

Which beak collected the most food overall? Can you think of birds with
beaks similar to this design?