Schlitz Audubon Nature Center 1111 E. Brown Deer Rd, Bayside, WI

An environmental focus Six miles of hiking trails Dorothy K. Vallier Environmental Learning Center is a “green” building: Use of natural light Geothermal heating system Solar power system Low-flow plumbing

Schlitz is located along Lake Michigan and contains woodlands, wetlands, and prairies. This map shows the many miles of trails for nature lovers.

Ideal Field Trip Locale Can observe animals in natural habitat Focus on education Emphasis on ecosystem & environment

Driving Questions What do living things need to survive in the natural world? How do living things depend on each other? How do different animals find their food?

Lesson Objectives Students will be able to describe habitat of a raptor and the raptor’s role in this habitat. Students will identify several animals consumed as prey by the raptor. Students will explain how a raptor’s physical adaptations help it to hunt.

Outcomes Students will dissect raptor pellets separating, bones, teeth, fur, and feathers. Students will reconstruct skeletons of small animals found in the raptor pellet. * Students will observe live raptors, as well as, artifacts of skins, feathers, and talons. Students will describe how physical adaptations help raptors to hunt.

VOCABULARY TERMS Raptor Prey Talon Food chain Ecosystem Habitat Pellet

Raptor – a bird of prey, such as an eagle, hawk, or owl Raptor – a bird of prey, such as an eagle, hawk, or owl. It hunts what it eats. rapio – Latin “to sieze” Prey – an animal that is hunted for food. Talon – the claw, usually that of a bird of prey or raptor. Used to “sieze” its prey. Food chain – a hierarchal series of organisms, each dependent on the next as a source of food. Ecosystem – a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment Habitat – the natural home or environment of an organism Pellet – a small mass of bones, feathers, etc. regurgitated by a bird of prey, such as an owl

How to learn these Fieldtrip will provide the opportunity for outdoor field studies (habitat). Fieldtrip will allow students to experience raptor hunting. (raptor, prey, talon) Pellet dissection will open up discussion of where raptors fit into the food chain and how they are an important part of the ecosystem.

Why learn these Birds of prey reflect positively on the health of the environment. Learning these terms and their relevance can educate students on how care for raptors is important for the environment that affects us all.

Logistics of fieldtrip Grades 3-8 Cost: $7.25 per students, or total cost of $145 for 60 students total. Students bring bag lunch Chaperones recommended. Number varies depending on grade. Duration of fieldtrip: 4 1/2 hours. Mode of transportation: school bus.

Permission Slip (parent information) Teacher Grade level Trip date Trip destination Trip purpose Transportation Time of departure and return Cost of trip and when money is due Whether additional money is necessary Whether bag lunch is necessary

Permission Slip (for teacher’s files) Blank for parent/guardian signature Does child need to take any medication? If so, what and when? Does child have any health conditions? Allergies? If so, please explain. Blanks for primary and back-up phone numbers where a parent or guardian can be reached

Before the field trip students had been studying the concept of habitat in science. We have read about and discussed the habitats of animals in rainforests, coral reefs and swamps. The field trip allows the class to focus on the habitat of one animal through a hands-on experience. Upon returning from our fieldtrip we would use the experience to focus on raptors’ habitat a little more in depth. We would brainstorm what we learned about the raptors habitat from the field trip. We will also do some reading find out more about raptor habitat. Students will then be asked to create a drawing and a write a paragraph describing the habitat of a raptor. Students must include essential living and non-living elements.

We will explore food sources of the raptors more carefully We will explore food sources of the raptors more carefully. We will recall what we learned from the raptors’ pellets about their prey. Students will then brainstorm about what these prey ate. We will use this information to create food chains from paper links. Each link will represent an energy source.

Assessment Checklist Raptor Habitat Drawing and Paragraph Drawing contains the following: ____ A source of food ____ A source of water ____ Shelter ____ A place to raise young Paragraph contains the following: ___ Description of food source ___ Description of water source ___ Description of animal shelter ___ Description of place to raise young. ( Harcourt Science, 2002)

Assessment Checklist (cont.) Food Chains The food chain contains the following: ____ At least one producer, and two consumers. _____ Food chains are linked in proper order. _____ Students can accurately explain why they connected the links as they did.

Field Trip Focus: Raptors Prior and During: literature and internet Cross-curricular: writing = language arts/ math = owl pellet activity

Literature needed: • Eyewitness Juniors – Amazing Birds of Prey (non-fiction) • Guardians of Ga’hoole: Book One : The Capture by Kathryn Lasky (fiction) • Ripley’s: Birds of Prey • http://raptorsinthecity.homestead.com/ The books will provide information and entertainment for the students about raptors. The website is an interactive site that allows students to follow such birds that are present in the cities.

Cross-Curricular Connections: • After visiting the Audubon Center, we would have the students write about a raptor of choice and its characteristics. • The students could also write about what it could have been like when those raptors were living in that area and what their role was in the community. If students chose to write about the latter, history would also become an added curricular connection. We also talked performing an owl pellet activity. Once dissected, we could have the students count the types of bones, classifying them, and having them figure out what was eaten. This not only applies to math but nutrition or health as well.

Misconceptions: Raptors were not a well-known subject to us as we quickly realized this after reading through the pamphlet. We realized that much of our ideas about these birds were formed due to false information or other outside factors. Because of this, we thought that students at such young ages are more vulnerable to misconceptions. Students may find themselves questioning things and perhaps may be the receivers of unclear or false information. Misconceptions can be “misunderstanding factual information or being given conflicting information from credible sources” which is extremely difficult to change (Logue and Thompson, 2006). These misconceptions can be categorized into a number of different categories: preconceived notions, nonscientific beliefs, conceptual misunderstandings, vernacular misunderstandings, and factual misconceptions (National Academy of Sciences, 2000) National Academy of Science. (2000). Fiona Thompson and Sue Logue. (2006). School of Education – University of Adelaide