Worksheet

Flocks at the Reservoir Sandbar

Use pelican feeding data and goose observations to predict and explain how animal groups can help members get food and avoid danger.

Grade 3ScienceInteractive · Printable

Aligned to3-LS2-1

Play online Play as a game

PrintLetter-size worksheet Answer keyPrintable answers

Assign to classAssign to your classes, or get a join code

What’s included

Single worksheet
Auto-graded online
1 NGSS standard
Printable answer key
13 questions
Classroom-ready

Details

Format: Interactive · Printable
Grade: Grade 3
Subject: Science
Question types: Fill in the blank, Multiple choice, Circle the answer, Sorting, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

Students use observations to argue that animal groups can help members find food and avoid danger.
Students predict how changes in group behavior may affect members' survival.
Students distinguish supported claims about animal groups from claims that go beyond the evidence.

How to use

Read the field notes together and clarify that each bar represents one pelican. Have students use specific observations and numbers to support their predictions.

Curriculum

NGSS standard covered

3-LS2-1

Argue that some animals live in groups that help the members survive.

Preview

OwlSheets.com

Name Date

Flocks at the Reservoir Sandbar

Use animal observations to predict how groups may help their members survive.

A Feeding Watch

Read the field notes and graph. Use the evidence to answer each question.

Field Notes from a River-Fed Lake

A river flows into a large lake called a reservoir. A broad sandbar rises above the water near a viewing deck. An animal-watching team observes from the deck without feeding, touching, or moving the wildlife.

American white pelicans feed in the shallow water. Some fish alone. Others swim side by side in a curved line. The team sees small fish gather between the line of birds and the shallow edge. The pelicans dip their bills into this smaller space and scoop up fish.

The team counts fish caught by four individual pelicans. Each bird is watched for ten minutes. Pelicans A and B fish alone. Pelicans C and D each fish as part of a group. The watches take place in similar shallow areas during the morning. The graph shows each bird's catches, not the catches of its whole group. The team cannot tell whether the same number of fish was nearby during every watch.

Canada geese also visit the sandbar. Several geese lower their heads to eat plants. One nearby goose holds its head up and looks around. When a fox walks toward the feeding geese, the head-up goose gives loud honks. The other geese lift their heads, stop feeding, and swim away from the sandbar. The fox stays on the dry sand. The team records the order of these events.

Which comparison is supported by the graph?

A. Both birds fishing alone caught more than either bird in a group.
B. Both birds fishing in groups caught more than either bird alone.
C. One bird fishing alone caught the same number as a bird in a group.
D. All four birds caught the same number during their watches.

How many more fish did Pelican D catch than Pelican B? fish

Why might swimming in a curved line help the pelicans catch fish?

A. It gives the fish more room to spread apart.
B. It makes more fish grow in the shallow water.
C. It keeps each bird far from the other birds.
D. It gathers fish into a smaller feeding space.

Eli says, “The bar for Pelican C means its whole group caught only six fish.” What should Eli change?

A. The six fish were caught by C, not by its whole group.
B. The six fish were caught in six minutes, not ten.
C. The six fish were caught by all four watched birds.
D. The six fish were caught by a bird fishing alone.

Tomorrow, fish gather near the shallow edge again. Several pelicans form another curved line. What is the best prediction?

A. Each bird will catch exactly six fish in ten minutes.
B. The fish will spread out because birds are close together.
C. The line may gather fish where the birds can scoop them up.
D. The birds must stop feeding because they are in a group.

A Warning at the Sandbar

Use the goose observations in the field notes. Think about what may happen next and why.

Suppose every goose has its head down eating, and none looks around or honks. What might happen when a fox approaches?

A. The fox may stop moving because the geese are eating.
B. The geese may notice the approaching fox later.
C. The geese may hear a warning from the silent flock.
D. The fox may become easier to see with heads down.

Select the TWO observations that, together, best support the idea that one goose warned the others.

Several geese ate plants with their heads down.The head-up goose honked when the fox approached.The fox remained on the dry sand.After the honks, the other geese raised their heads and swam away.

In this observation, how did swimming away from the sandbar help the geese?

A. It moved them farther from the fox that stayed on sand.
B. It let them keep eating the plants on the sandbar.
C. It brought them closer to the fox on the sandbar.
D. It made the fox unable to approach any birds again.

Make a claim about how being in this goose group could help a member survive. Use two details from the field notes to explain your claim.

Check the Argument

Use both kinds of animals as evidence. Decide what the observations support and what else scientists could investigate.

10.

Sort each claim by whether the field notes and graph support it.

Working together can help pelicans gather food.Every pelican in a group catches the same number of fish.A goose's warning can help other geese notice danger.Pelicans cannot catch any fish when they are alone.

Supported by this evidence	Not supported by this evidence

11.

The team wants stronger evidence about whether group feeding helps individual pelicans catch fish. Which plan is best?

A. Watch only one group bird again and compare its catches with yesterday.
B. Watch group birds for twenty minutes but lone birds for ten minutes.
C. Count the birds near the sandbar without recording their fish catches.
D. Watch more lone and group birds for equal times in similar feeding areas.

12.

Why should the team avoid promising that a group bird will catch more fish on every future watch?

A. The graph compares whole flocks instead of individual birds.
B. The amount of fish nearby could differ on another watch.
C. The birds fishing alone caught no fish during these watches.
D. The group birds were watched longer than the lone birds.

13.

Someone says, “Being in a group only helps animals get food.” Use evidence about both pelicans and geese to answer this claim. Then predict one way a goose feeding alone might be at a disadvantage.