Passenger pigeons: Nomads lost
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A lesson plan for grade 6 Science
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In this lesson, students explore the concept and implications of extinction using the example of the Passenger Pigeon, once an extremely abundant species that was completely eliminated by humans. Students also investigate how the technologies that were seemingly unrelated to the loss of the bird were actually central to its extinction. Developed by Drs. Penny Firth of the U.S. National Science Foundation, and David Blockstein of the National Council for Science and the Environment, as part of a set of interdisciplinary Science NetLinks, these lessons aim to improve understanding of environmental phenomena and events. Using resources provided by Science NetLinks, students construct historical timelines from when Passenger Pigeons still existed. While researching, students will be guided through the story of the Passenger Pigeon, including what the bird was like, how it migrated, how it raised its young, its strategies for survival, and finally the factors that led to its extinction. As a final activity, students work in pairs or teams to design and construct a Passenger Pigeon Totem Pole from styrofoam, cardboard, or similar lightweight materials. Science NetLinks provides detailed instructions for all part of this lesson, including links to other sites that contain information about the Passenger Pigeon.
North Carolina Curriculum Alignment
Science (2005)
Grade 6
- Goal 7: The learner will conduct investigations and use technologies and information systems to build an understanding of population dynamics.
- Objective 7.01: Describe ways in which organisms interact with each other and with non-living parts of the environment:
- Coexistence/Cooperation/Competition.
- Symbiosis.
- Mutual dependence.
- Objective 7.02: Investigate factors that determine the growth and survival of organisms including:
- Light.
- Temperature range.
- Mineral availability.
- Soil/rock type.
- Water.
- Energy.
- Objective 7.03: Explain how changes in habitat may affect organisms.
- Objective 7.04: Evaluate data related to human population growth, along with problems and solutions:
- Waste disposal.
- Food supplies.
- Resource availability.
- Transportation.
- Socio-economic patterns.
- Objective 7.05: Examine evidence that overpopulation by any species impacts the environment.
- Objective 7.06: Investigate processes which, operating over long periods of time, have resulted in the diversity of plant and animal life present today:
- Natural selection.
- Adaptation.
- Objective 7.01: Describe ways in which organisms interact with each other and with non-living parts of the environment:
