Skip to main content

Learning About Birds: Feather Investigation

All birds have feathers, and birds are the only animals on Earth that have them. Feathers play many important roles in a birds life. They provide insulation and protection from the elements, and provide camouflage to protect birds from predators. They also play a role in flight. Feathers are pretty fascinating! In this post I share some simple activities and resources for learning about feathers with your kids.
#thebarefootmom

Feather Anatomy:
Feathers are made of keratin, the same protein that gives our fingernails strength. All feathers have a central shaft called a rachis. Small filaments called barbs extend off the rachis, and even smaller filaments called barbules extend off of those. Barbules have hooklets which hook the barbules together like a zipper, creating a surface capable of withstanding the pressures of flight.

Make A Feather Photo Collection:
Take pictures of different types of feathers you find in your yard, neighborhood, and while on nature hikes. Compare the different sizes, shapes, and colors of different feathers.

 If your really ambitious, try identifying what type of bird they came from and what type of feather (flight, wing, body, or down). You can find more information about types of feathers here.

Sketch A Feather:

Have your child find a feather to observe or photograph and then try sketching it. Add color if you want with colored pencils or pastels.

Look At A Feather Under A Microscope:

Some of the neatest parts of a feather are too small to be seen clearly with the naked eye. Ask a friend or neighbor with chickens or ducks if you can have a feather and then look at a small piece under a microscope.

 Have your child sketch what they see.

Learn About Feather Anatomy:



Learn about the parts of a feather and then label your feather sketch or grab the free worksheet below:


Resources and Links:
Here's a few of my favorite sites and videos about feathers:

-YouTube Video:  Look Closely At Feathers from Nat Geo Kids

-Feather Facts from Kiddle



If you enjoyed this post, check out my All About Birds printable unit study and the rest of the posts in my Learning About Birds series.

Labels:

Comments

  1. Joanne June 28, 2018 at 1:39 PM

    Great ideas! We love looking at things like that under our microscope. Pinned.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brandy NicoleJune 28, 2018 at 6:42 PM

      Thanks! Playing with the microscope is always fun :-)

      Delete
  2. kewkewJune 28, 2018 at 5:05 PM

    I absolutely love the amazingness of feathers, and my kids love finding them. Great post. Would love for you to stop by and share this one on Littles Learning Link Up if you have a chance.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brandy NicoleJune 28, 2018 at 6:43 PM

      Thanks! Feathers are so neat! Popped in and shared on your link up :-)

      Delete
    2. kewkewJuly 3, 2018 at 7:53 PM

      Thanks for stopping by and linking up with Littles Learning Link Up. I pinned you post.

      Delete
  3. UnknownJune 29, 2018 at 3:00 AM

    What a fun nature study!

    ReplyDelete
  4. queenofourcastleJune 29, 2018 at 11:20 AM

    This is fabulous I will definitely be doing this , thus weekend with my to children.

    ReplyDelete
  5. MlittlewildlifeJune 29, 2018 at 11:39 AM

    I love this my kiddos love collecting things like rocks, pinecones, and feathers. Will have to try this!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brandy NicoleJuly 2, 2018 at 9:20 AM

      My kiddos love to collect things too, feathers are a favorite :-)

      Delete
  6. Lynn ArmstrongJuly 1, 2018 at 10:53 PM

    We find a lot of feathers here with all the birds! Thanks for the fun idea so we can learn more!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sarah and FamJuly 3, 2018 at 10:20 AM

    We find feathers all over our yard! this would be awesome to do with my daughter. Now just to find a good microscope..

    ReplyDelete
  8. yvonneJuly 7, 2018 at 10:43 AM

    I so need to get a microscope for our homeschooling!! Seeing this was so cool and thanks for the great ideas :)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Water Relay Races For Kids

I don't know about your kids, but mine absolutely love games involving water and getting wet in the summer time. In  this post I share 5 of our favorite water relay races to play with friends. These are perfect for birthday parties, homeschool get togethers, and other group events. Sponge Relay: For this relay you will need: - 2 teams of several kids each -2 large sponges -4 small buckets or containers of some sort Divide your participants into 2 teams and have each team line up single file at a predetermined starting place.  Hand out a sponge to the first participant in each line. Set a bucket of water by each team. Set an empty bucket about 20 ft away from each team.  The two empty buckets should be the same size and should have a "fill line" marked half way up. On a count of 3 (or ready set go) the first participant in each line should dip their sponge in the bucket of water, run to the empty bucket, squeeze the water from their spo
2 comments
Read more

STEM Art: 21 STEAM Project Ideas

My kids love STEM projects and we're always looking for ways to add more art to our homeschool days, so I decided I am going to try to dedicate one morning a week this year to STEM art activities. In this post I share some of the ideas we're planning to try, plus a few favorites we've done in the past. What is STEM Education? STEM education is a blended and often hands on approach to teaching science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, which are some of today's fastest growing industries. STEM education offers students the opportunity to problem solve and work on real world problems and questions. Sometimes the acronym STEAM is used, to include the arts. Adding art to STEM education encourages creative thinking and problem solving skills. It can also help make the other included subjects more appealing to some students. STEM Art Projects  Penny Spinners-   Learn about centrifugal force and make your own spinning tops with this fun post from Teach Beside Me. Explo
Post a Comment
Read more

Make Your Own Mineral Identification Kit

One of my family's favorite hobbies is rock hounding. We love collecting and trying to identify neat rock and mineral specimens that we come across. You can put together your own simple kit for identifying rocks and minerals with materials you likely already have around your home. In this post I will explain how to put together your own mineral identification kit and how to use it to identify rocks and minerals you find on your adventures. Making a Rock and Mineral ID Kit Grab yourself a printable Rock and Mineral Journal for recording your observations here:  Printable Rock and Mineral Journal ,  and then gather the following supplies: -A pencil -A coin -An iron nail -A piece of glass (an old pocket mirror works well) -A ceramic tile -A small watertight bottle or container -Some vinegar -A magnet  -A magnifying glass -A dropper (optional)  -Rock and mineral guide (optional)  -A small container or bag to keep it all in Fill the small watertight
1 comment
Read more

Learning About Thailand: Activities and Resources

Thailand ended up being a really fun country to study. There are so many amazing Thai recipes to try and lots of neat buildings and monuments to learn about. My family's favorite part of this unit study was learning about Asian elephants, they are such interesting and intelligent animals!  Basic Information  Thailand is a country in southern Asia. It is boarderd by Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and the Andaman Sea. The northern region is mountainous while the southern region is hilly and forested. Capital- Bangkok Population- 69.6 million Size- 198,115 square miles Currency- Baht   Type of Government- Constitutional Monarchy National Anthem-  Phleng Chat Thai National Animal- elephant Flag Famous Places The Grand Palace- The Grand Palace in Bangkok was used as the official royal residence of Thailand from 1782 to 1925. It is still used today for ceremonies and state functions. The palace sits on the banks of the Chao Phraya River. It consists of many buildings and pavilions set around a
Post a Comment
Read more

Learning About The Human Body Part 1: The Skeletal And Muscular Systems

At the end of each school year, I sit down with my daughter to discuss what topics she wants to learn about the next year. One of her science topics she picked to study this year was the human body. Instead of ordering a boxed curriculum set, I decided to put together my own human body unit. In this post I share some of the resources we used for learning about the human skeletal and muscular systems, plus instructions for a couple hands on learning activities. You can find my post about the human respiratory and circulatory systems  here , and my post about the human digestive and nervous systems  here . The Human Skeletal System Our skeletons are the frame of our body. They give us structure, without them our bodies would be limp like noodles. They also provide places for muscles to attach so our bodies can move. Why Does Your Body Need Calcium? Experiment: This is a simple experiment you can do to explore why calcium is important for our bones. You will need: -several clean
5 comments
Read more