Flap Like an Eagle
Pupils explore bird wing adaptations and how they relate to the different flight behaviors of various bird species. Pupils will draw connections between bird wing adaptations and their potential applications in human innovations and designs.
Age Group: 9-12 years
Duration: 30 minutes
Biomimicry Connection:
This activity explores bird wing adaptations and their connection to flight behaviors. It shows how birds, with different skeletons than human arms, are extremely fast at flapping their wings compared to us. Flapping speeds in birds offer valuable insights for human design in various ways, such as that it can inspire more efficient aircraft designs with improved aerodynamics and energy efficiency, and it can be applied to drone technology and bio-inspired robotics. Can you think of any application?
Activity Details:
Tools and Materials
- Diagram of a bird skeleton (for comparing bird wings to human arms; printed or online)
- Timer of stopwatch (one per pair of pupils)
- Paper/pens
Description
Although some birds soar for hours without much wing movement, others (such as hummingbirds) can flap their wings over 70 times a second as they fly. Larger eagles flap their wings more slowly (1-3 flaps per second), while smaller eagles flap their wings more rapidly (3-5 flaps per second). Can you beat the eagle?
- Instruct pupils hold their arms out like wings. Show a diagram of a bird skeleton to compare its wings to human arms.
- Divide pupils into pairs. One student keeps time while the other flaps. Then have them change roles.
- Which pupil is the fastest? Did they beat the eagle?
You may also want to compare the flapping speed of other common birds:
- Wood pigeon: 3-4 flaps per second
- Crow: 3-5 flaps per second
- Sparrow: 4-5 flaps per second
- Blue tit: 6-7 flaps per second
- Starling: 8-9 flaps per second
- Chickadee: 10 (average)-27 (max.) flaps per second
- Hummingbird: 50 (average)-200 (max.) flaps per second
Additional Information
Read more about how bones between species differ (here).