Connect with your backyard feathered friends and experiment with some simple kitchen science while making observations about nature.

What You Need: 

• Unflavored gelatin mix (1 packet) 
• Bird seed (3/4 cup) 
• Plastic eggs 
• Cooking spray 
• Measuring cups 
• Twine, string, or ribbon 

What You Do: 

1. Bring water to a boil over medium heat. 
2. Add in packet of gelatin and stir for 1-2 min. until gelatin is dissolved. 
3. Remove from heat and let sit for a few minutes to begin to solidify. 
4. Stir in bird seed. 
5. Spray eggs with cooking spray and place twine in lower half of egg. 
6. Fill both sides with birdseed/gelatin mixture and let set in refrigerator for 2-3 hours. 
7. Remove birdseed from eggs and tie twine.  
8. Hang in trees, plants, topiaries, etc. for the birds to enjoy!

Words to Use: 

• Solid: Firm and usually hard, without spaces or holes. 
• Liquid: A substance such as water that is not a solid or a gas. 
• Gelatin: A clear substance that is used to make foods more solid. 
• Dissolve: If a substance dissolves in a liquid, it becomes part of the liquid and you cannot see it anymore. 
• 3-dimensional: Having length, depth, and height. 
• 2-dimensional: Flat, having length and height, but no depth.  
• Ovoid: Of a solid or a three-dimensional surface or egg-shaped.

What to Talk About: 

• What do you notice about the gelatin after you stir it into the boiling water? 
• Estimate how many eggs you think this mixture will fill. 
• What birds do you think these will attract?  
• What shape is the egg? How do you know that it is a ___________? 
• Is the shape 3-dimensional or 2-Dimensional? How do you know? 

Change It Up:

• Count the number of birds that you see on your homemade birdfeeders.  Keep a tally.  Does one type of bird like the bird feeders more than others? 
• How many different types of birds visit your feeder?  Keep a list or journal of the different types of birds, research their behavior, draw or paint them.   
• Use cookie cutters instead of egg molds by putting cookie cutters on parchment paper and filling them.  Use a straw to poke a hole in the top.  After it sets, add twine through the hole. 
• Use binoculars to observe the birds and their behavior more closely. 

Learning Connections:  

• Communication 
• Collaboration 
• STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) 
• Science 
• Nature Exploration 
• Using tools 

Curriculum Connections:
NC Standard Course of Study 

• Social Studies: 1.G.2.1, 2.G.2.2, 3.G.1.3, 3C&G.2.2 
• Mathematics: NC.K.MD.1, NC.K.G.1, NC.K.G.2, NC.K.G.3, NC.K.G.5, NC.1.G.1, NC.1.G.2,  
• Science: K.P.2.1, K.1.1.1, 1.L.2.2, 2.P.2.1, 1.L.1.3, 1.L.1.1, 3.P.2.3