Pajaros
del Desierto (Birds of the Desert) |
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| Objective: | |
Students will observe birds in their natural habitat and understand how birds are adapted to survive in a desert environment. They will also learn how Pueblo Indians classify birds and learn various bird designs found in Pueblo artwork.
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| General Information: | |
Grade: 4-7
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| Materials: | |
| Clipboards, sketch paper, pencils, pictures or drawings of bird petroglyph designs, pictures or drawings of various birds found locally.
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| Background: | |
| Birds
of many varieties have been depicted in Puebloan art. Identifiable birds
such as turkeys, cranes, swallows, and parrots have been found in petroglyphs,
kiva murals and on pottery. Because of their gift of flight, birds are
considered messengers to the Sky People. Birds are also prized for their
feathers, which are used for adornment and decoration.
Prehistoric Puebloan people domesticated the turkey, and some prehistoric people kept aviaries of parrots. Kiva murals at Pottery Mound, New Mexico containted over 300 paintings of birds. Of those paintings, over 200 were identifiable as parrots. Even today, modern birds are sacred to American Indians.
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| Procedure: | |
| 1. Hand out pictures
of birds to students. Take a few minutes to discuss each bird and its
characteristics. 2. Discuss how each bird is adapted to its environment. A bird with a short, stubby beak, such as a sparrow, would have a very difficult time sipping nectar from the long throat of a flower. Likewise, a bird with a long, slender beak, such as a hummingbird would have a hard time cracking seeds and nuts. 3. Ask students what uses they can think of for birds. We can eat them (some of them), we can use their feathers for stuffing, we can listen to them…what else are they good for? After they have exhausted all answers, discuss the story and talk about how Americans Indians believed everything was sacred, and how birds were so important that they became popular symbols on ancient petroglyph panels and on American Indians pottery and artwork. 4. Show the class pictures of bird designs on prehistoric and modern Native American artwork. Discuss what each bird symbol depicts. 5. Take the class outside to a place where there is bird activity or hang differnet types of bird feeders outside the classroom window. (This is best done in the early part of the day, when birds are most active. It is also best done in the spring). Have them sit quietly for 5-10 minutes and just observe birds and their songs. Have them count how many birds they see and how many different birdsongs they hear. Have them take notes on the size, color and shape of each bird they observe and what that bird was doing. Discuss how birds have warning calls that alert other birds and animals that intruders are near…did the student hear any warning calls when they approached the birds? 6. Have the students sketch a bird that they see or one they may be familiar with. |
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