Following this weekend’s Great Garden Birdwatch and with Spring just around the corner (I’ve always been an optimist), it might be opportune to set up a bird table or bird feeder(s) within sight of a classroom window to do a bit of statistical analysis on the avian visitors.

The most interesting investigations are those which seek to test an hypothesis or which aim to answer a question (preferably posed by the children). For example, does the type of food we put out affect the species of birds which visit? If a bird has to eat its own weight in food each day, how many visits does a blue tit have to make? Does the weather affect the number of types of visitor? Do different species feed at different times of day? Are there some combinations of visitors which are less likely than others (eg do blackbirds never visit at the same time as thrushes?).

Once the children start gathering data, they may start speculating on other questions or hypotheses.