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  • Please Join Us for Dinner: Tropical Birds and Their Temporary Guests
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Please Join Us for Dinner: Tropical Birds and Their Temporary Guests

  • Article
  • Middle School
  • 1 Classroom Period
  • Wildlife
  • Adaptation
  • Birds
  • Conservation
  • Food Web
  • Migratory Birds
A black and white drawing of birds flying and hunting worms.
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Pine forests are common in the tropical Caribbean. Usually, these pine forests also have an understory of broad-leafed trees. Broad-leafed trees are trees with flat leaves. The pine forests are the home of many different kinds of birds. The scientists in this study wanted to learn what kind of food the resident birds and migratory birds eat during the winter months.

Please Join Us for Dinner: Tropical Birds and Their Temporary Guests

Part Of

Tropical Forest - Vol. 3 No. 1

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  • In this FACTivity, you will answer the question: What kinds of physical characteristics might different birds have to help them capture their food? You will answer this question by designing...

    FACTivity – Please Join Us for Dinner

    • Activity
    • Middle School
    • 1 Classroom Period
    • Wildlife
    • Art Activity
    • Birds
    • Feeding
    In this FACTivity, you will answer the question: What kinds of physical characteristics might different birds have to help them capture their food? You will answer this question by designing...
    Explore Activity Download FACTivity (PDF)
    Explore Activity Download FACTivity (PDF)

    Part Of

    Please Join Us for Dinner: Tropical Birds and Their Temporary Guests

  • Test your knowledge on ecology, migratory, and adaptation.

    Word Search – Please Join Us for Dinner

    • Activity
    • Middle School
    • Less than 30 minutes
    • Wildlife
    • Adaptation
    • Diversity
    • Ecology
    • Migratory
    • Species
    • Understory
    • Vocabulary
    Test your knowledge on ecology, migratory, and adaptation.
    Explore Activity Download Word Search (PDF) Answer Key (PDF)
    Explore Activity Download Word Search (PDF) Answer Key (PDF)

    Part Of

    Please Join Us for Dinner: Tropical Birds and Their Temporary Guests

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Glossary

View All Glossary
  • adapt

    (ǝ dapt): To change so as to fit a new or specific use or situation.

  • analyze

    (a nǝ līz): To study or find out the nature and relationship of the parts of something.

  • classify

    (kla sǝ fī): To arrange in a group, set, or kind that shares common attributes.

  • diversity

    (dǝ vǝr si tē): The condition of having or being composed of differing elements; variety.

  • ecology

    (i kä lǝ gē): A branch of science concerned with the relationships between living things and their environment.

  • forage

    (fȯr ij): (noun) Food for browsing or grazing animals.

    (verb) To wander in search of forage or food.

  • mature

    (mǝ chu̇r ): Having completed natural growth and development.

  • migratory

    (mī grǝ tȯr ē): Of, relating to, or characterized by moving, usually periodically, from one region or climate to another for feeding or breeding.

  • perch

    (pǝrch): A support, like a branch, on which a bird rests.

  • population

    (pä pyǝ lā shǝn): The total of individuals occupying an area.

  • species

    (spē sēz or spē shēz): A category of living things that ranks below a genus, is made up of related individuals able to produce fertile offspring, and is identified by a two-part scientific name.

  • summarize

    (sǝ mǝ rīz): To tell in or reduce to a short statement of the main points.

  • tropical

    (trä pi kǝl): Of, relating to, occurring in, or used in the tropics, which is the area between two parallels of the earth’s latitude that are approximately 23½ degrees north of the equator and approximately 23½ degrees south of the equator.

  • understory

    (ǝn dǝr stȯr ē): The plant layer, especially the trees and shrubs, between the forest canopy and the ground cover.

  • Dr. Latta is seen sitting in a circle with 3 other students outside in a field. They are holding books and papers.

    Steven Latta

    Ecology | Ornithologist

    I like being a scientist because of the adventure of working in wild places and the challenge of trying to understand the ecology of birds. I think it is important...
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Jump To

  • Education Standards
  • Educator Guide
  • Education Files

Standards addressed in this Article:

Social Studies Standards

Social Studies Standards are educational guidelines outlining the essential knowledge, skills, and concepts students should learn in subjects such as history, geography, civics, and economics, aiming to provide a comprehensive understanding of societal structures, historical events, and global perspectives.
  • People, Places, and Environments
  • Science, Technology, and Society
  • Time, Continuity, and Change

Note To Educators

The Forest Service's Mission

The Forest Service’s mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the Nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. For more than 100 years, our motto has been “caring for the land and serving people.” The Forest Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), recognizes its responsibility to be engaged in efforts to connect youth to nature and to promote the development of science-based conservation education programs and materials nationwide.

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What Is the Natural Inquirer?

Natural Inquirer is a science education resource journal to be used by students in grade 6 and up. Natural Inquirer contains articles describing environmental and natural resource research conducted by Forest Service scientists and their cooperators. These scientific journal articles have been reformatted to meet the needs of middle school students. The articles are easy to understand, are aesthetically pleasing to the eye, contain glossaries, and include hands-on activities. The goal of Natural Inquirer is to stimulate critical reading and thinking about scientific inquiry and investigation while teaching about ecology, the natural environment, and natural resources.

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  • Meet the Scientists

    Introduces students to the scientists who did the research. This section may be used in a discussion about careers in science.

  • What Kinds of Scientist Did This Research?

    Introduces students to the scientific disciplines of the scientists who conducted the research.

  • Thinking About Science

    Introduces something new about the scientific process, such as a scientific habit of mind or procedures used in scientific studies.

  • Thinking About the Environment

    Introduces the environmental topic being addressed in the research.

  • Introduction

    Introduces the problem or question that the research addresses.

  • Method

    Describes the method the scientists used to collect and analyze their data.

  • Findings & Discussion

    Describes the results of the analysis. Addresses the findings and places them into the context of the original problem or question.

  • Reflection Section

    Presents questions aimed at stimulating critical thinking about what has been read or predicting what might be presented in the next section. These questions are placed at the end of each of the main article sections.

  • Number Crunches

    Presents an easy math problem related to the research.

  • Glossary

    Defines potentially new scientific or other terms to students. The first occurrence of a glossary word is bold in the text.

  • Citation

    Gives the original article citation with an internet link to the original article.

  • FACTivity

    Presents a hands-on activity that emphasizes something presented in the article.


Science Education Standards

You will find a listing of education standards which are addressed by each article at the back of each publication and on our website.


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