Objectives

Students will:

1. Determine, in pounds and in meal frequency, their daily food consumption if it were comparable to a Hummingbird's.

Materials

Bathroom weighing scale

Food consumption handout (one per student)

Procedures

1. Ask students to share information in which they have already learned about the Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Determine if any students remember how much food a Hummingbird consumes in a day (twice its body weight); how often a Hummingbird must eat (every 15 minutes).

2. Using this information, tell the students that they will each determine how many pounds of food they would each consume in a day and also how many meals they would each consume in a day if their eating habits were comparable to those of a Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Distribute the food consumption handout to each student and give directions for completing it. A bathroom scale is necessary so that each student can measure her/his body weight and use this information to mathematically determine, in pounds, her/his daily food consumption. The clocks on the handout should be divided into quadrants first, and then the quadrants should be counted. By doing this, the students can determine the number of meals that would be necessary each day.