Wow!  If you’ve made it this far, congratulations are in order!  Perhaps some fireworks and a party!   It’s hard to believe that this is our last module…and wow! Does it cover a lot!  I really would love to explore the information in this Module further.  It would be great to have Exploring Creation with Zoology for High School, right?

Class Reptilia is one we encounter almost daily here in Florida.  You don’t need to go very far to come across members of this class….many are in your own backyard!  The larger can be found in almost any fresh water lake near you!   But be careful….sometimes they take their show on the road!  Check out these posts for a few examples:  Darling, There’s an Alligator at the Door, Python Bursts After Eating Alligator, and Girlfriend Hit with Alligator.

Lizards, Snakes, Turtles/Tortoises and of course Dinosaurs…but we’re going to focus on the birds.    Before we get to work, check out this trailer for Alford Hitchcock’s famous movie honoring Class Aves:

Experiment 16.1 Bird Embryology

I was perusing for pictures as replacements for the Chick Embryo slide (the one I purchased has a copyright on it), I found a couple of alternatives:

View Chick Embryo Images at: University of Guelph, Guelph Ontario…

You may also want to check out the NatGeo Wild series called In the Womb.   While there is some evolutionary content, there is also excellent photography and animation of fetal development featuring various animals.

Experiment 16.2 Bird Identification

I wish I would have looked ahead to this module months ago.  Because we are in the south, this experiment would have been even better had we rescheduled it for sometime in the Winter due to the many migratory species that visit here.

Here are some helpful links for you, as you get to know our feathered friends:

Audubon Guides – Absolute favorite!   If you have a smart phone, there is a wonderful app available.

Flight at Canadian Museum of Nature

Get a birds-eye view in flight aboard a Golden Eagle from Animal Planet

What a wonderful way to conclude this course; a field study.  But before, we set off on our bird watching expedition, I gathered some facts about the year-round residents at my favorite nature preserve.  It truly is a bird watchers paradise, if you’re not too scared of the gators!   I put together a list of year-round resident birds to use for our Bird Scavenger Hunt:

Module16 Bird List – Central Florida

Module16 Blank Bird Observation Worksheet

(Note:  The second page names several of the Orders within Class Aves, but it is by no means all-inclusive.)    I figured they would all need a clipboard to write on, so since this would be our last class, I put together a custom-made clipboard for each student.  🙂  It was really a fun and easy project….I may just have to make myself one!  My husband even said, “I don’t have a clipboard!”

As seen in the picture, we are also using A Pocket Naturalist Guide,  Florida Birds: An Introduction to Familiar Species, by Kavanagh/Leung.  The students will be breaking into teams of 2 – 3 students to complete the scavenger hunt.  Every team member will have a copy of the Module 16 Bird List.  Each team will have a pocket guide, binoculars, a camera, and trail map.  Each Species should be recorded, photographed, and noted by number on their map.  The team that finds the most of the 50 species listed, will win the grand prize….The Pocket Naturalist Guide!

Our field trip was rescheduled due to thunderstorms, so I’ll be back to post some pictures from the hunt!

Study Link:  Flashcards & Games at Quizlet.com

Congratulations on completing this course!  Woo Hoo! You did it! 🙂

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