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Krampf #491 Building a Nest
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KRA-@aol.com
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Jun 25, 2007 07:58 PDT
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Robert Krampf's Experiment of the Week:
#492 Building a Nest
Home! No matter how wonder-filled a vacation trip is, it is always great to
get back home. Today, I unloaded the rocks and minerals (mostly quartz
crystals) that Nancy and I collected. After moving all the boxes, I estimate the
combined weight to be a bit over 700 pounds. Of course, by the time we give
specimens to all our friends, decorate the gardens at both the Garden House
and the Beach House, and fill the curio cabinets, we may have to go back to
collect more. If you have not seen all the fun we had, check it out on my blog:
http://www.thehappyscientist.com
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This week's experiment is one that we used for teaching about birds back when
I worked in the Education Department at the Memphis Pink Palace Museum. On
our trip, we went by to say Hi to old friends, which brought back tons of
great memories. This is one of the fun things my brain dredged up.
Look at some bird nests. You can either search your yard ( just look, don't
touch or bother the nest), visit your local Nature Center, or search the
Internet. A quick Google Image search for "bird nest" came up with over 175,000
images of bird nests. Look at the wide variety of nests, from huge Bald
Eagle nests that can weigh more than a ton, to the marvelous nests that
Hummingbirds build from spider webs. They truly are amazing, but how hard are they to
build. That is what we will find out.
To try this, you will need:
Tweezers
several marbles
sticks
grass
string
leaves
hair
other things you may find in your yard
OK, the task is simple. Collect your materials from the yard, and then try
to build a bird nest. You can select from anything in your yard that a bird
might use. Think about the different nests you have seen, and what they were
made of. Sounds like an easy project, right? Oh, one more thing. You
have to collect the materials and build the nest using the tweezers. Birds
don't have hands, and most of them make very little use of their feet in nest
building. For most birds, their single tool is their beak. You don't have a
beak, so you get to use the tweezers instead.
Your goal is to make a nest that would sit in a tree or a bush, and that
would hold several bird eggs, or in our case, glass marbles. Trees and bushes
are exposed to the wind, so the nest has to be sturdy enough so that it will
hold the marbles, even when you shake the nest to simulate wind blowing the bush.
You are limited to materials a bird would use. That rules out wrapping
your nest in Duct tape or using glue to hold it together. Some birds do use
their sticky saliva as a glue to hold the nest in place. In fact, nests made
from the saliva of certain cave swifts are used to make Birds Nest Soup, a
Chinese delicacy. Yum! I love Birds Nest Soup, even though I know it is made
of bird spit. Feel free to use spit on your nest, if you think that will
help.
When you are done with your nest, test it with the marbles and some gentle
shaking. If it holds together, congratulations! Take a photo and email it to
me. I will post the nests on my blog (http://www.thehappyscientist.com).
Be sure to send your name, age, and what materials you used, to post with your
nest photo.
When you are done, look back over the photos of the bird nests. You should
then have a true appreciation of the skill these amazing creatures have, to
build such elaborate structures with just their beak. Imagine trading in your
hands for a beak. Just imagine how much work it would be to eat an entire
bowl of ice cream with just a beak! Now that is something worth experimenting
with!
Have a wonder-filled week!
Robert Krampf
Robert Krampf's Science Education Company
www.krampf.com
The Happy Scientist Blog
http://web.mac.com/krampf/iWeb/Site/TheHappyScientist/TheHappyScientist.html
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