Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Tune In: Puzzle picture

25 minutes

Find Out: Life cycle sequence

20 minutes

Take Action: What can we do to STOP the DROP?

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions:

Students will...

learn about the lifecycle of a shearwater
recognise some of the human behaviours that affect the health of all seabirds, including shearwaters.

Success criteria:

Students can...

identify up to three features of a shearwater
identify three different things a shearwater needs to live
create an action to help shearwaters by taking part in a ‘STOP the DROP’ action.

Preparation

Prior to this lesson, print the Flesh-footed Shearwater Picture and collect an A4 piece of paper and Blu-tack.

Picture puzzle

To make a puzzle picture simply lay an A4 piece of paper over the shearwater photograph. Cut the piece of paper to reveal specific parts of the bird: beak, body, head, wings etc. Stick each of the puzzle pieces carefully onto the photo with blue-tack so they can be easily removed.

Tune In: Puzzle picture

Step 1

Begin the lesson by demonstrating the already prepared puzzle picture to students. Use the puzzle picture to reveal the different parts of a shearwater to students. The technique of the slow reveal allows the students to focus on key features of birds. You can use this to highlight the way science groups certain animals together; for example, by grouping birds based on the following observable features:

Feathers - Colour and patterns.
Beak - Shape and size.
Wing - Size and shape.
Feet - Size and shape.

Step 2

Explain to students that this is a picture of one type of shearwater: the Flesh-footed Shearwater. This shearwater lives mainly in New Zealand but takes migration journeys to other parts of the world (to find out more about the Flesh-footed Shearwater, download the Flesh-footed Shearwater Factsheet). There are many different types of shearwaters around the world. These birds all look similar but have differences that scientists use to categorise them into different species, such as their colour or size.

Find Out: Life cycle sequence

Step 1

Now, explain to the students that all living things - including shearwaters - have a life cycle. A life cycle is the series of changes in the life of an animal, in this case a shearwater. The changes in the life of a shearwater include being inside an egg, hatching out of an egg (becoming a hatchling), learning to fly, and breeding.

Explain to students that they will now be learning about the stages of a shearwater's life cycle by performing movements to accompany each stage of the life cycle. Read out the stages (below) to the students and give hints about what movements they can do (suggestions in the brackets):

Stages of a shearwater's life cycle:

A shearwater starts its life in an egg (crouching down in a egg shape ball).
The shearwater chick hatches from the egg after about 50 days of incubation. It is now a hatchling (slowly pecking and stretching out).
The shearwater hatchling grows into a fledgling, meaning it starts to fly (flapping their wings as fluffy features turn to flying feather).
The shearwater matures into adult (between ages of 4-6 years; grows bigger and stronger, able to fly long distances and dive into the sea for food).
The shearwater finds a mate for life (teams up with a partner).
The shearwater lay one single egg (digs a burrow and lays egg deep down in the burrow).
The shearwaters fly a migration journey each year in search of food to the coast of Korea or Japan (wings stretched out flying slowly and steadily).
The shearwater pair return to the same burrow each year and have a lifespan of up to 30 years of age (nesting gain in the burrow).

Step 2

Once complete, invite the students to form a discussion circle to think about life cycle questions that might still be unanswered. Consider the following questions in your discussion:

Where do Flesh-footed Shearwaters live? Do they live in a burrow or in the air? (Shearwaters spend most of their time flying above the ocean.)
Where do they nest? (In a burrow on land. They don't nest in trees.)
What do they eat? (Shearwaters eat fish, squid, crustaceans, molluscs and plankton.)
How many chicks do they have each breeding season? (Just one!)
Do you know of threats that could harm these birds?

Step 3

Explain to students that they will now be watching a clip about seabirds. In this clip they will see some shearwaters (pause the clip at 1:13 to see a Flesh-footed Shearwater in a burrow). The other thing they will see in this clip are some of the threats facing all seabirds, including shearwaters.

As they watch, invite students to make notes of things they think are interesting or important in this clip:

Ode to seabirds (https://vimeo.com/1056609559/4415169959)

Once complete, engage students in a discussion around the clip and their thoughts about it. Consider the following questions:

What did you see in this clip?
What things did you find interesting or important and why?
What new information did you find out about the shearwater's life cycle?
What things in this clip might harm or hurt shearwaters?
What does this clip make you think about?
What questions does this clip leave you with?

Tip: You could record students thoughts and use some of these ideas to guide further discussion or inquiry.

Step 4

Break students into pairs and give each pair a copy of the Flesh-footed Shearwaters Life Cycle Challenge Sheet and explain that their task now is to cut out and organise the stages of the shearwater life cycle and draw what they associate with the life cycle descriptions listed.

Note: The flesh-footed shearwaters life cycle challenge sheet should be enlarged and printed on A3 sized paper

Once complete, invite pairs to team up with another pair to share their ideas and drawings. You could also invite student volunteers to share their answers with the class.

Take Action: What can we do to STOP the DROP?

Step 1

Remind students that in the clip above (Ode to seabirds), the impact of plastic waste in the sea on seabirds was raised. Invite students to think about how plastic waste might get into the sea by engaging students in a class discussion around the following questions:

What are some types of plastic waste? (E.g. plastic bottles, food wrappers and packaging, nappies, straws, toothbrushes, etc).
What types of plastic waste have you seen in our environment or at the beach?
How does plastic waste get into the sea?

Through your discussion, lead students to the idea that if litter is left lying around it can be blown away causing pollution in natural places. Litter in our environment can get washed or blown into creeks and rivers, and since many creeks and rivers end up flowing into the ocean, then this litter will also end up in the ocean.

Step 2

Discuss with students that shearwaters (and all seabirds) need our help to stop plastic litter entering into the oceans. Invite students to suggest ways to help reduce litter getting into our sea by posing the following question to students:

How can we stop the drop of litter in our schoolyard or our local area?

Hot tip: Record student suggestions and use these in the Social Action lesson: Ocean Guardians Saving the Shearwater Birds - Social Action - Year 3 & 4.

Reflection

Invite students to work independently to answer the following questions (also available on the Student Worksheet):

Write three things you found interesting about shearwaters
Share two ways we can all help shearwaters
Write one question you still have about what you looked at in this lesson

Assessment

Teachers can use the following items as part of their formative assessment:

Watched a video clip for understanding.
Sequenced shearwater life cycle.
Suggestions made for ‘stop the drop’.

For summative assessment, visit the Drawing Conclusions lesson - Blue: Ripples of Change - Years 3 & 4.

Blue - Secret Life of Shearwaters

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Summary

Learning intentions:

Students will...

Success criteria:

Students can...

Lesson guides and printables

Lesson Details

Skills

Curriculum Mapping

Resources Required

UN Sustainable Development Goals

Additional Info

Related Professional Learning

In this lesson