Duck Decoy Lab - Learn how to use Binoculars

I made this booklet for my high school Ornithology class. We do a field experience to allow students to start learning about how to use the binoculars and start to focus on colors, patterns, and body markings to help in species identification.

In this activity, students used the binoculars to look at 4 different duck decoys across a field. Students took notes and did sketches of colors and body markings. Then students went inside, away from the decoys, and used their field guides to identify each species based on their own observations and notes. At that point students answered some questions about that particular species from their field guides.

This is a great activity even if you don't have duck decoys or a class set of binoculars. Students could still take descriptive notes from pictures or real animals and then use their field guides to identify them. There are even free field guides available online students could use.

You will be downloading a 10 page booklet in Word, so you may edit as needed to fit your class. There is a cover page and then pages to take notes & sketches on four different ducks.