Collect different bird feathers and use hand lenses to observe their shape, texture and size. Sort them into groups, eg. tail, feather and down. Talk about how birds have feathers to:

• keep the bird warm.

• act as a brake when flying.

• give the bird "lift" so it can fly.

Observe how birds fly, take off and land. Draw and colour these flight patterns. Compare how different sized birds flap their wings.

Students to draw and label the features of a bird and one of the flying machines from the TV program, eg. hot air balloon, paper dart, glider, helicopter or jet plane. Compare them, noting how they are alike and how they are different, eg. the undercarriage folds up like the feet of a bird when it is flying.

Bird Race Activity

• This race will help the children understand that air can provide lift.

You will need: paper, scissors, rolled up newspaper, bread tags, felt-tipped pen, string.

Ask the children to draw a bird shape on a sheet of paper and then cut it out. Each child can number their bird and write this number on a bread tag. Taking it in turns, place the birds on the string. Using the rolled up newspaper, flap air behind the bird shape for 30 seconds. Place a bread tag on the floor to show where each bird lands. Repeat the exercise until all the children have raced their birds. Compare, measure and graph the distances. Talk about how this principle applies to aeroplanes.