In STEM week, Class 4 Eagles have been exploring bird hides and were asked to create a prototype. The children went for a walk along the weir in Ickham to investigate the best place for a bird hide to be placed. They had to think of positioning, camouflage and what shape our bird hides would be, to best suit the environment. Along the way they collected samples of grass, flowers, leaves and even some bark rubbings, to provide inspiration for mood boards. The children also took their sketch books to draw the environment around them.
Once back to the classroom, the mood boards started to come to life.
These mood boards provided a place for the children to have a look at the items they had collected on their walk and to see which materials would best suit their bird hide prototype. Following on from their mood boards, the children then created their designs. They had to include dimensions, measurements, what materials they would use for the frame and what they would cover it with. The children could choose from wooden dowels, paper straws and cardboard for the structure and could cover their hides in cardboard, lolly sticks or cloth, which they could then paint or colour to create a camouflage.
The construction process came with some difficulties, which the children had to overcome. Some realised their choice of frame material didn’t work as well, or that the adhesive they had chosen to stabilise the frame, took too long to dry and therefore couldn’t complete their hide. The end results of a busy week were some rather wonderful bird hides.