Allison Haynes/Social Studies/October 26, 2015

I. Topic: Pennsylvania State Bird Ruffed Grouse

II. Objectives/standards: After reviewing information about the Pennsylvania
state bird (ruffed grouse) 25/26 students will be able to correctly write one fact
about the ruffed grouse on an exit slip.
PA Environment and Ecology 4.1.4A: Explain how living things are dependent
upon other living and nonliving things for survival. Explain what happens to
an organism when its food supply, access to water, shelter or space (niche /
habitat) is changed.
PA Civics and Government 5.1.3.F: Identify state symbols, national symbols,
and national holidays.
III. Teaching Procedures:
3 mins

1. Introduction: Anticipatory set

a. Use the PowerPoint presentation. Show PowerPoint on the projector.
b. Class, look at these 6 birds. Dont shout out any answers, but think
quietly in your head. I want you to guess which one you think is the
Pennsylvania State Bird!
c. After you have given the students a minute to look at the birds and
choose which they think is the state bird, have them vote.
d. I am going to count down 3, 2, 1. When I say 1 I want you all to hold
up your hand with the number you think the State bird is.
e. Count down and see what the majority of the class thinks it is.
f. The state bird is number 4! Can anyone tell me what this bird is
called? the ruffed grouse
g. Today we are going to talk about characteristics of the ruffed grouse
like how it gets it name, what it likes to eat, where it lives, and other
interesting things. After we talk about the bird, we will be writing about
it in our flipbooks.

10 Mins

2. Development:
a. Use the PowerPoint of ruffed grouse pictures to show the students the
different characteristics of the ruffed grouse
b. Ruffed grouse gets its name from the tufts of black feathers on its
neck. Males raise them up into a ruff when they are trying to attract a
female bird
c. Ruffed grouse also do what is called drumming when they flap their
wings rapidly. This is also to attract female birds
i. Show the video clip starting at 2:00 minutes
d. Show the pictures of the female ruffed grouse. Talk about their feather
coloring. What are feathers used for?
i. To keep warm
ii. To help them camouflage
e. Where do ruffed grouse live?

i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
What
i.

5 Mins

2 Mins

Forests with lots of trees

They use nonliving things like rocks to help them build their nest
How do you think climate/season changes affects ruffed grouse?
What if the forests were all cut down?
f.
do ruffed grouse eat?
Seeds, buds, and fruit off of flowers. The babies (and sometimes
the adults) eat insects
3. Guided and Independent Practice
a. Have the students take out their flip books ask them to fill in their flip
book with facts about ruffed grouse
b. Examples
i. They eat seeds and buds
ii. They like to live in dense forests
iii. The males drum their wings to attract females
iv. They get their name from the tufts of feathers they ruffle on
their neck
v. The females are more red in color than the males
vi. Their tail feathers have unique patterns
vii. The babies can run around on their own about 2 hours after
hatching
viii. The babies can fly after about 10-12 days from when they
hatched
4. Closure:
a. Exit slip: take out a piece of paper. Do not look at your flip book! Write
one thing you learned about the PA state bird and hand it to the
teacher on the way out.
IV. Materials:

PowerPoint presentation, paper, video clip

V. Adaptations/Plan Modifications:
a) If you have extra time
a. Go through more of the differences between males and females.
b. Talk about the babies and when they are born they can run
after 2 hours of being hatched, they can fly after about 10-12
days
c. Discuss that the female birds raise the chicks on their own and
usually lay 9-14 egg
b) If you run out of time
a. Skip talking about the babies eating insects
b. Skip talking about what the nests are made out of

VI. Evaluation:

Formative: as we are talking and discussing, see if the students are

understanding and remembering what is being said; check their flip books to
see if they have correct info; exit slip checks their understanding
Summative: unit assessment given on day 6

VII. Reflection:

Write an assessment of the students performance and mastery in terms of

each stated objective. List each objectives evaluation separately
Write a self-evaluation including explanation for success or lack of it. Discuss:
what changes might have produced better results and could be used in
subsequent lessons.
Explain what specific changes were implemented from professor and teacher
suggestions and the results (if suggestions were not taken, explain your
rationale).