Duck's Feather Experiment

  Ducks are birds that can fly and swim.  Observe the duck's feet. Don't they appear to be different from other birds? The shape of the duck's feet that are called webbed feet they looked like flippers, which make swimming in the water much easier for the bird. 
Ever notice a duck swimming in a river while her feathers appear to be dry? It takes a while for your hair to dry after taking a shower or swimming isn't it?  

The feathers of a duck, however, do not get wet when it is swimming. Check out this experiment to find out.

Objectives:

The students will be able to:

• Learn the animal body part, it's importance and uses
• Talk about how ducks stay dry.
• Predict and talk about results

Time Frame: 45 minutes

Supplies: 

2 strips of white paper

Oil

Water

2 glasses of water

Dropper

 Instructions:

1. The students  will have a discussion about birds, their body parts, its uses and importance.

2. They will be asked how ducks stay dry when they swim in the water.

3. Ask the students to get their 2 strips of paper as their feather. They will dip one strip of paper in oil and the other strip of paper in water.

4. Then, they will drop a little blue colored water on each strip of paper and observe what happens. 

Report Sheet A. Observation Table  shows the student's prediction and result before and after the experiment

     Encircle your prediction and the result after you performed the experiment.

 Discussion Questions

1. What happened when you dropped water on the plain paper strip?  The plain paper gets wet. 

2. What happened when you dropped water on paper with oil ? The blue water stayed on top or was not absorbed in the paper. The water slides on the paper.

3 Drop water on real feather . What does this experiment tell about duck's feather?  It tells about the duck's feather 

4. What is special about their feather?     If you've observed the ducks, you may have observed that they consistently have the habit of nibbling at their feathers with their beaks. This is what we called Preening. She is spreading over her top layers of feathers, when a duck preen. When she puts the oil to her feathers, it makes her feather waterproof because it comes from a particular location called a gland near her tail. Since the water cannot pass through the first layer of oily feathers, the fluffy, dry feathers beneath her stay dry and keep her warm all throughout.  

That's really smart.It seems Like ducks have their own coats.