Science Projects for Seventh Grade: What Color Birdseed Birds like Best

Use this project when teaching about animal behavior.

Teach:

Have students share any knowledge they may have about birds. Tell students that we can learn a lot about animals and their preferences by observing them. Let the students know that they are going to perform an experiment to see if birds tend to prefer a certain color bird seed over another.

Materials:

Bird Seed Mix

Four Bowls

Three or Four Birds

Notebooks

Pencils

Procedure:

1. Have students separate the bird seed mix so that only one color is in each bowl. There should be at least four different colors of bird seed in a mixed bag.

2. Have students take some time to come up with a hypthesis as to which color bird seed the birds are going to like best and why. They should record their hypothesis in their notebooks.

3. Set out the different colors of birdseed in a row and bring out bird number one. Watch the bird to see which color bird seed it eats. Does it try all of them or does it keep coming back to one particular color. You should write down how many times the bird ate from each bowl.

4. Bring out bird number two after you have put bird number one away. Observe bird number two and write down how many times it ate from each bowl.

5. Finish with bird number three (or four if you have enough birds available to you). Again you will want to put the previous bird away and then observe how many times bird number three eats from each bowl.

Review:

Have the students discuss the findings. You can even create a chart on the blackboard to show how many times each color food was eaten. Ask the children to record their conclusions in their notebooks. Have some of the students share their hypothesis and discuss whether they were right or wrong.