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    Animal Nature Study by Various Animal Nature Study by Various    

Lesson 18: Bird Sounds

Performer: LibriVox - Jennifer Dorr


'The Last Party of the Season' from Among the Meadow People by Clara Dillingham Pierson

Summer had been a joyful time in the meadow. It had been a busy time, too, and from morning till night the chirping and humming of the happy people there had mingled with the rustle of the leaves, and the soft "swish, swish," of the tall grass, as the wind passed over it.

True, there had been a few quarrels, and some unpleasant things to remember, but these little people were wise enough to throw away all the sad memories and keep only the glad ones. And now the summer was over. The leaves of the forest trees were turning from green to scarlet, orange, and brown. The beech and hickory nuts were only waiting for a friendly frost to open their outer shells, and loosen their stems, so that they could fall to the earth.

The wind was cold now, and the meadow people knew that the time had come to get ready for winter. One chilly Caterpillar said to another, "Boo-oo! How cold it is! I must find a place for my cocoon. Suppose we sleep side by side this winter, swinging on the same bush?"

And his friend replied: "We must hurry then, or we shall be too old and stiff to spin good ones."

The Garter Snake felt sleepy all the time, and declared that in a few days he would doze off until spring.

The Tree Frog had chosen his winter home already, and the Bees were making the most of their time in visiting the last fall flowers, and gathering every bit of honey they could find for their cold-weather stock.

The last eggs had been laid, and the food had been placed beside many of them for the babies that would hatch out in the spring. Nothing was left but to say "Goodbye," and fall asleep. So a message was sent around the meadow for all to come to a farewell party under the elm tree.

Everybody came, and all who could sing did so, and the Crickets and Mosquitoes made music for the rest to dance by.

The Tree Frog led off with a black and yellow Spider, the Garter Snake followed with a Potato Bug, and all the other crawling people joined in the dance on the grass, while over their heads the Butterflies and other light-winged ones fluttered to and fro with airy grace.

The Snail and the fat, old Cricket had meant to look on, and really did so, for a time, from a warm corner by the tree, but the Cricket couldn't stand it to not join in the fun. First, his eyes gleamed, his feelers waved, and his feet kept time to the music, and, when a frisky young Ant beckoned to him, he gave a great leap and danced with the rest, balancing, jumping, and circling around in a most surprising way.

When it grew dark, the Fireflies' lights shone like tiny stars, and the dancing went on until all were tired and ready to sing together the last song of the summer, for on the morrow they would go to rest. And this was their song:

The autumn leaves lying, so thick on the ground,

The summer Birds flying, the meadow around,

Say, "Goodbye."



The Seed Babies dropping, down out of our sight,

The Dragonflies stopping, a moment in flight

Say, "Goodbye."



The red Squirrels bearing, their nuts to the tree,

The wild Rabbits caring, for babies so wee,

Say, "Goodbye."



The sunbeams now showing, are hazy and pale,

The warm breezes blowing, have changed to a gale,

So, "Goodbye."



The season for working, is passing away.

Both playing and shirking, are ended today,

So, "Goodbye."



The Garter Snake creeping, so softly to rest,

The fuzzy Worms sleeping, within their warm nest,

Say, "Goodbye."



The Honey Bees crawling, around the full comb,

The tiny Ants calling, each one to the home,

Say, "Goodbye."



We've ended our singing, our dancing, and play,

And Nature's voice ringing, now tells us to say

Our "Goodbye."

    Animal Nature Study by Various Animal Nature Study by Various    

Lesson 18: Bird Sounds

Performer: LibriVox - Jennifer Dorr

Directions

Study the lesson for one week.

Over the week:

  • Read the story.
  • Review the animal synopsis.
  • Study the vocabulary words.
  • Learn the concepts.
  • Complete the enrichment activities.
  • Study the review questions.

Synopsis

Is it possible to quantify the pleasure received from hearing birds chirping, calling, and singing? The sounds of the robin, red-winged blackbird, and Canadian goose bring cheer to thousands of people every year. Indeed, it would be difficult to find anyone, except perhaps in large cities, who does not notice the arrival of at least some spring birds - the chirping of robins on the lawn, the honk of the wild geese overhead, or the red-winged blackbird as they call from the top of a shrub. Birds are interesting to most people because of their mere presence, including their cheerful songs, their bright colors, their happy hopping, and their inspiring soaring.

Vocabulary

Chirp: Typically, a small bird or an insect uttering a short, sharp, high-pitched sound.
Sing: For birds, to make characteristic melodious whistling and twittering sounds.
Honk: The cry of a wild goose.

Concepts

Did you know that when it comes to singing songs, it is typically the male bird who sings?

  1. Male birds do most of their singing in the early mornings during the spring and early summer months.
  2. Male birds sing to attract their mates.
  3. Male birds also sing to defend their territory, which is a big enough area to enable them to gather food for their young.
  4. Some birds produce no songs, including storks and pelicans. However, those birds may make other sounds to communicate, such as the bill-clattering of the white stork and the rare squawking of the pelican.
  5. Birds can often be identified by their songs. Robins sing 'cheerily, cheer-up, cheerio'. The bright red cardinal sings, 'purdry, purdy, purdy.'
  6. Some birds mimic the songs of other birds, including the mockingbird. The mockingbird even copies the sounds of insects and amphibians.

Enrichment

Activity 1: Narrate the Story

  • After reading or listening to the story, narrate the story events aloud using your own words.

Activity 2: Mimic Bird Sounds

Listen to each bird song or call below, and practice imitating their sounds.

  • American Robin - sing along with a 'cheerily, cheer-up, cheerio'

  • Canadian Goose - sing along with a 'honk honk honk'

  • Common Loon - yodel along with their crazy laugh

  • Red-Winged Blackbird - sing along with a 'conk-la-ree'

  • Spotted Owl - sing along with a 'whoot, who who who

Activity 3: Classify the Animal

  • Birds are animals and vertebrates.
  • Trace which categories birds fit into on the classification chart.

Activity 4: Take a Nature Walk

Take a nature walk, locate a bird to observe, gather data and notes, and use that information to create a field book entry. You may wish to take a pencil and a small notebook to jot down sketches and observations.

Before you take the nature walk, review:

  • The field book template you'll later complete on page 39 of 'Science Field Book for Second Grade.'
  • The suggested list of observations below.

Behavioral observations include:

  • Which sounds does the bird make? Does it chirp, call, or sing?
  • How does the bird move?
  • How does the bird eat?
  • What does the bird eat?
  • How does the bird clean itself?

Habitat observations include:

  • In what areas of the world does the bird live?
  • Does the animal live in a forest, a field, a town, or near water?
  • Where is the bird's summer home and where is the bird's winter home? (Conduct online research to determine locations if needed.)
  • In what type of climate does the bird live (e.g. temperate, tropical, arid, arctic)?
  • In what type of house does the bird live?

Appearance observations include:

  • What colors are the bird's eyes?
  • What feathers does the bird wear?
  • What colors are the feathers?
  • What colors are the beak and feet?
  • What do the feet look like?

Activity 5: Complete a Field Book Entry   

  • Click the crayon above. After your nature walk, complete page 39 of 'Science Field Book for Second Grade.'

Review

Question 1

Are male or female birds more likely to sing songs?
1 / 7

Answer 1

Male birds are more likely to sing songs.
1 / 7

Question 2

During what time of day do male birds most often sing?
2 / 7

Answer 2

Male birds most often sing in the early morning.
2 / 7

Question 3

During what time of year do male birds most often sing?
3 / 7

Answer 3

Male birds most often sing during the spring and early summer months.
3 / 7

Question 4

Where do male birds sing?
4 / 7

Answer 4

Male birds usually sing from a certain perch or a narrowly defined territory.
4 / 7

Question 5

Why do male birds sing?
5 / 7

Answer 5

Male birds sing to attract mates and to mark or defend their hunting territory.
5 / 7

Question 6

Do all species of birds sing?
6 / 7

Answer 6

No, certain types of birds do not sing including storks and pelicans.
6 / 7

Question 7

You hear the robin's song, 'cheerily, cheer-up, cheerio,' but do not see the actual robin. Do you know for certain that the bird singing is a robin?
7 / 7

Answer 7

No, some types of birds, including the mockingbird, mimic the songs of other birds.
7 / 7

  1. Are male or female birds more likely to sing songs? Male birds are more likely to sing songs.
  2. During what time of day do male birds most often sing? Male birds most often sing in the early morning.
  3. During what time of year do male birds most often sing? Male birds most often sing during the spring and early summer months.
  4. Where do male birds sing? Male birds usually sing from a certain perch or a narrowly defined territory.
  5. Why do male birds sing? Male birds sing to attract mates and to mark or defend their hunting territory.
  6. Do all species of birds sing? No, certain types of birds do not sing including storks and pelicans.
  7. You hear the robin's song, 'cheerily, cheer-up, cheerio,' but do not see the actual robin. Do you know for certain that the bird singing is a robin? No, some types of birds, including the mockingbird, mimic the songs of other birds.

References

  1. Comstock, Anna Botsford. Handbook of nature-study (Twenty-fourth edition). Ithaca, New York Comstock Publishing Company, Inc, 1911.
  2. 'White Stork.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.
  3. 'Mockingbird.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.

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