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House Finch Study at the Park Pergola

Use a city park investigation to explain how differences in house finch traits can help birds get food, find mates, and reproduce.

Grade 3ScienceInteractive · Printable

Aligned to3-LS4-2

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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, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

Students use feeding data to explain how beak differences may help members of one species survive.
Students use observations to explain how feather color differences may help birds find mates and reproduce.
Students distinguish evidence about groups from predictions about individual birds.

How to use

Read the investigation steps together, then have students compare the results independently. Discuss why a helpful trait does not guarantee success.

Curriculum

NGSS standard covered

3-LS4-2

Explain how differences in traits can help some members of a species survive, find mates and reproduce.

Preview

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Name Date

House Finch Study at the Park Pergola

Use investigation results to explain how traits can help birds.

Investigate Feeding

Read the investigation and both graphs. Use the results to answer the questions.

Watching Finches at the Rose Pergola

A class visits a city park's rose pergola, a shaded walkway with climbing roses. House finches feed nearby. These birds belong to the same species, but their traits differ. A trait is a feature of a living thing. Some house finches have deeper beaks, which are thicker from top to bottom. Others have shallower beaks. Birds need food to stay alive.

The class follows these steps with a park scientist. Step 1: The scientist identifies 10 adult male finches with deeper beaks and 10 with shallower beaks. Small leg bands help the scientist recognize each bird from a distance. Step 2: Park staff place equal amounts of hard sunflower seeds in matching feeding trays. Students watch without approaching the birds. They record whether each bird opens a seed during its five-minute visit.

Step 3: Staff repeat the observations with soft sunflower seeds that have had their shells removed. The same birds, trays, food amounts, and watching times are used. The food changes; the birds' beaks are not changed. Students record whether each bird eats a soft seed. The graphs show made-up class results for practice.