This bird is worthy of respect and admiration. Not only is the ostrich the tallest and heaviest bird in the world, but it also runs faster than a horse. And some people even manage to ride it like a breeze. I will say right away that ostriches do not bury their heads in the sand. This is just a myth.
When I found out what the word “ostrich” means, I was a little surprised. From Greek it is translated as “camel sparrow”, and from Azerbaijani as “camel bird”. But what does the camel have to do with it? After delving into the material, I managed to find the answer to this question.
We all know that ostriches run very fast. They can reach speeds of up to 50 km/h, and over short distances they can accelerate to 70 km/h. While running, these birds take huge steps, the length of which is 3.5-4 meters. No other bird can do this. The ostrich takes giant steps thanks to the special structure of its muscular legs, which end in just two powerful flattened toes. A similar structure of the limbs can be observed in many representatives of artiodactyls, and especially in camels. This is where the Latin name for the ostrich comes from - Struthio camelus.
2 powerful flattened toes
Huge ostrich steps
Another “similarity” between an ostrich and a camel is its ability to go without water for a long time and increase its body temperature by 3-4 C° during the hottest part of the day. This is necessary to reduce the evaporation of body moisture. And at night they use the heat “collected” during the day to warm themselves and lay eggs.
These “camels of the bird world” live in the arid areas of Africa. Previously, they were widespread in the Middle East, but due to the large-scale extermination of these birds for the sake of feathers, skin and meat, since 1966 the Middle Eastern subspecies of the African ostrich is considered extinct.
The African ostrich is distributed throughout almost the entire African continent. Several subspecies live here: the Somali ostrich (S. c. molybdophanes), which is found in Somalia, Ethiopia and northern Kenya; S. c. australis - in southwestern Africa; Masai ostrich (S. c. massaicus) with red neck and legs during mating season. The subspecies S. c. lives in northern Africa. сamelus.
The main external difference between these subspecies is the coloration of the neck and legs. In some they are bluish-gray, while in others they have a reddish tint.
Red necks and legs
Everyone, young and old, knows what an ostrich looks like. Its height is about 2.5-2.7 meters, has a dense build and a long neck with a small head at the end. Because of its underdeveloped wings, the ostrich cannot fly, but it runs so fast that even a horse cannot catch it. But this bird amazes not only with its powerful legs, but also with its huge eyes, decorated with thick upper eyelashes. Each of them is the size of a bird's brain.
Purpose of the event: To develop cognitive interest in the subject, the ability to analyze and compare. Develop group work skills. Cultivate a caring attitude towards birds
Equipment: pictures depicting various birds, birdhouses
students in the class are divided into 4 teams, each team presents its name and motto
Teams take turns answering questions and completing assigned tasks.
1) Who will be born twice? ( Bird)
2) Was the hut built without hands, without an axe? (Bird's nest)
3) You can lift it, but you can’t throw it over the hut? (down, bird feather)
4) Is the house on a stick, is the owner sitting on the porch? (starling and birdhouse)
5) Not a woodcutter, not a carpenter, but the first worker in the forest? (woodpecker)
6) Cries in the swamp, but doesn’t come out of the swamp? (sandpiper, lapwing)
7) There is an awl in front, a fork in the back, a white towel on the chest. ( Martin)
8) A boy in a gray army jacket, snooping around the yards, picking up crumbs, spending the night in the fields, stealing hemp? (sparrow)
9) In the summer he follows the plowman, and in the winter he leaves screaming. (Rook)
10) Whiter than snow, blacker than soot, higher than the house, lower than the grass. (Magpie)
11) Sleeps during the day, flies at night, scares passers-by. (Owl)
12) Did you bathe in water but remain dry? (goose)
13) He walks around in a colorful outfit as if on parade, doesn’t have a watch, but knows the time. ( Rooster)
14) White as snow, puffed up like fur, walks with shovels and eats with a horn. ( Goose)
15) Who is this bird? He never builds nests for himself, leaves eggs for neighbors and does not remember the chicks. (Cuckoo)
16) And he doesn’t sing and doesn’t fly, why then is he considered a bird? (Ostrich)
17) It can break, it can cook, if you want, it can turn into a bird. (Egg)
18) All day on the water, but you can’t get enough water. ( Duck)
19) The fidgety motley bird is long-tailed, a talkative bird, the most talkative. (Magpie)
20) Greenish on the back, yellowish on the belly, black hat and stripe of scarf. (Tit)
21) Scarlet cap, non-woven vest, pockmarked caftan. (Chicken)
Task No. 2 Comic questions
1) Which bird’s name is associated with the color of the sky in good weather? (Blue Tit)
2) Which tit bears the name of a part of each car? (Gadget)
3) What bird can fly tail first? (Hummingbird)
4) Which bird has a tail shaped like a musical instrument? (Lyrebird)
5) What bird is popularly called a thief? (Soroka)
6) What bird bears the name of the great Russian writer? (Gogol)
7) What bird’s name has forty letters “A”? (Magpie)
8) Which city flies? ( Eagle)
9) Which mushroom flies and swims? (Grebe)
10) What bird has strings? (Vulture)
11) Which bird is named after the dance? (Tap dance)
12) When is the sparrow’s body temperature lower: in winter or summer? (Same)
13) Which bird is the stupidest? ( Silly you)
14) When does a rhinoceros fly? (When it's a bird)
15) What bird bears the name of the ship? (Frigate)
16) Which birds have wings covered not with feathers, but with scales? (In penguins)
17) What is the largest bird in the world? (African ostrich)
18) What are the smallest birds in the world? (Sunbirds and hummingbirds)
19) Which bird has two toes? (In the African ostrich)
20) Do our migratory birds build nests in the south? ( No)
21) Which bird flies the fastest? (Swift)
22) Bird singing with its tail? (snipe)
23) A bird that has a sac-like structure under its beak? (pelican)
24) Large flightless bird? (ostrich)
25) A black bird with a shiny metallic tint - a harbinger of spring? (starling)
26) A red-breasted bird that feeds in winter on the fruits of rowan, ash and other plants? (bullfinch)
27) Night bird of prey? (owl)
28) Forest drummer? (woodpecker)
29) Live alarm clock? (rooster)
30) A bird that forages under the ice? (dipper)
31) A bird that spends the night in the snow in winter? (grouse)
32) Bird domesticated by humans? (chicken)
33) A bird with a long neck and long legs? (heron)
The presentation was published 2 years ago by Vitaliy Poletylo
1 Quiz “How do we know birds?”
3 1. Which birds fly to us from the south first?
4 2. Where do starlings nest, besides birdhouses?
5 3. Where do the shells of broken eggs go from birdhouses?
6 4. What do our swallows make their nests from?
7 5. What bird does not build nests and hatch chicks?
8 6. Which of our birds do not land on the ground, on the water, or on the branches?
9 7. What is the largest bird in the world?
10 8. Name the smallest bird in the world?
11 9. Which birds have wings covered not with feathers, but with scales?
12 10. Do our migratory birds build nests in the south?
13 11. Who arrives earlier in the spring - swallows or swifts?
14 12. Which bird uses its beak to hollow out a hollow in a tree for its nest?
15 13. Which bird is the smallest in Russia?
16 Questions of medium difficulty:
17 1. What birds hatch chicks in winter?
18 2. Which bird's chicks hiss like snakes?
19 3. Which bird has only two toes?
20 4. Which bird sings with its tail?
21 5. What birds seem to fly over water?
22 6. What birds are used to catch fish?
23 7. Which of our birds flies the fastest?
24 8. Which birds have males and females that sing?
25 9. Which birds are the first to know about the approach of severe frosts and insulate their nests with down and feathers?
27 1. What birds come to us in the spring from Siberia?
28 2. Which bird plasters its nest with rotten stuff?
29 3. Which bird makes its nest from fish bones?
30 4. Which bird makes its nest out of resin?
31 5. For which ducks are birdhouses installed in the north?
32 6. What ducks nest in burrows?
33 7. In which birds is the female larger and stronger than the male?
34 8. Which bird has three different colors throughout the year?
35 9. Which bird has a fluffy collar in the spring?
36 10. Which bird was considered sacred in Ancient Rome?
37 11. What birds are called rodent animals?
38 12. What is the smallest bird that feeds its chicks with fish?
39 13. What kind of bird is the mezhnik?
40 14. Which birds have a floating nest?
42 1. Who was born twice?
43 2. The hut was built without hands, without an axe.
44 3. It flew through the forest, fell into the water and did not gurgle.
45 4. You can catch him, but you can’t throw him over a mountain.
46 5. The house stands on a stick, the owner sits on the porch.
47 6. Not a woodcutter, not a carpenter, but the first worker in the forest.
48 7. She cries in the swamp, but does not come out of the swamp.
49 8. In the summer he follows the plowman, and in the winter he leaves screaming.
50 9. Whiter than snow, blacker than soot, higher than the house, lower than the grass.
51 10. White as snow, puffed up like fur, walks with shovels and eats with a horn.
53 1. Who are the burgomaster and the secretary?
54 2. The name of which bird contains 40 letters “A”?
55 3. Which cities fly?
56 4. Which bird is named after the writer’s surname?
57 5. Which mushroom flies and swims?
58 6. What bird is called as part of a stringed musical instrument?
59 7. Which bird is named after the dance?
60 8. Which birds have leaves in their names?
61 9. Who are fifi, dodo, gaga?
62 10. What kind of bird can be called a frog?
63 11. When is a sparrow’s body temperature lower in winter or summer?
64 12. When do birds have a tooth?
65 13. Which bird is the stupidest?
66 14. When does a rhinoceros fly?
67 15. What bird bears the name of the ship?
68 16. Which bird calls itself: “Fool!”?
69 Why did such sayings about birds develop?
70 1. The wagtail breaks the ice with its tail.
71 2. White wagtail is a honey extractor bird.
72 3. Gray-haired like a harrier.
73 4. Deaf grouse.
74 5. Got along like a woodpecker.
75 6. Huddled like an owl.
76 7. Water is off a duck's back. Came out of the water dry.
Humans have five fingers and toes because that's how many fingers the apes, from whom we descended, had, and apes inherited five-fingered limbs from their ancestors, and so on, all the way back to the ancient amphibians that lived more than 300 million years ago. Apparently, the common ancestor of all modern land vertebrates had five-fingered limbs. In other words, the five-fingered limb is the primitive, original limb structure for all terrestrial vertebrates. In most species, including humans, this structure has been preserved to this day.
Some vertebrates experienced a decrease in the number of fingers or even their complete loss, sometimes along with the limbs themselves. This usually happened in those animals for which, for some reason, some fingers began to interfere and became “superfluous.” For example, the ancestors of horses developed a large hoof on the middle toe, the toe itself grew greatly, and the remaining toes became unnecessary, they only interfered with the growth of the middle toe, and gradually disappeared. Among human ancestors, apparently, situations such as this did not arise for some fingers to become “superfluous.” That's why they were all preserved.
The question, therefore, comes down to why the common ancestor of all modern terrestrial vertebrates had a five-fingered limb. Scientists today believe that there were no special reasons for this. A five-fingered limb does not have any fundamental design advantages compared to a four- or six-fingered one. Apparently, five-fingered fingers became established in the evolution of vertebrates purely by chance.
Among the oldest fossil tetrapods, as paleontologists have found, there were forms with a different number of toes: for example, Ichthyostega had seven toes on the hind legs (the front ones were not preserved), Acanthostega had eight toes on the front legs and at least the same number on the hind legs . The legs originated from the fins of fish, the fingers - from the rays of these fins, and the number of fin rays in those fish from which land vertebrates originated was variable.
Apparently, among the most ancient terrestrial tetrapods, the number of toes also varied. It happened by chance that it was the five-fingered forms that gave rise to the entire diversity of modern quadrupeds, while animals with a different number of fingers became extinct. But they died out, most likely, not because they had the wrong number of fingers, but for some completely different reasons, in connection with some other, more significant “shortcomings” of their structure. In principle, it might well have been “lucky” not for the five-toed ancient amphibians, but, say, for the seven-toed ones. And then, perhaps, people would now have seven fingers on their hands.
Tests for testing knowledge in the course "Biology. Animals. Grade 7" on the topic: "Birds Class" are compiled in accordance with the requirements of the state educational standard and can be used for thematic control of students' knowledge. Includes two options of eighteen questions. There can only be one answer in Part A. The correct answers are provided at the end.
Test on the topic “Poultry class”
A1. Sign of birds' adaptation to flight
1) the appearance of a four-chambered heart 2) horny scutes on the legs
3) the presence of hollow bones 4) the presence of the coccygeal gland
A2. A trait that a pigeon has but a crocodile lacks is
1) four-chambered heart 2) warm-blooded
3) an egg with egg membranes 4) the presence of a cloaca
A3. Which of the following is characteristic not only of birds, but also of most reptiles?
1) double breathing 2) keel-outgrowth of the sternum
3) warm-blooded 4) lay eggs
A4. Name the section of the bird's body in which the tarsus is located.
1) hind limb girdle 2) chest
3) forelimb 4) hindlimb
A5. Due to its adaptation to flight, the skeleton of birds is distinguished by its lightness, which is ensured by
1) fusion of many bones
2) the presence of air cavities in the bones
3) transformation of the forelimbs into wings
4) the small size of many birds
A6. In birds, unlike reptiles, in the process of evolution
1) body temperature has become unstable
2) a cover of horny substance has formed
3) a four-chambered heart has formed
4) reproduction began to occur using eggs
A7. In birds, arterial blood does not mix with venous blood, since their heart
1) has no valves between the atria and ventricles
2) does not have a septum in the ventricle
3) consists of three chambers
4) divided completely into right and left halves
A8. The organs of gas exchange in birds are:
1) lungs 2) air sacs
3) air sacs and lungs 4) trachea and bronchi
A9. This is NOT a sign that birds are adapted to flight.
1) warm-blooded 2) lack of teeth
3) presence of a carina on the sternum 4) absence of a bladder
A10. Feathers help retain heat in a bird's body because:
1) consist of a trunk and a fan
2) the air that is between them has high thermal conductivity
3) the air that is between them has low thermal conductivity
4) they are lubricated by an oily fluid that is formed in the coccygeal gland
A11. What structural feature of the circulatory organs of birds that ensures a high level of metabolism appeared in the process of evolution?
1) the presence of two circles of blood circulation,
2) complete separation of arterial and venous blood,
3) rhythmic work of the heart,
4) the presence of valves between the atria and ventricles.
A12. Bird migrations arose due to:
1) with a lack or absence of food in the autumn-winter period;
2) sub-zero air temperature in winter;
3) on short days in winter.
A13. Nestling birds differ from brood birds:
1) the number of chicks in the brood,
2) the fact that their chicks are born sighted, pubescent, can run and find food on their own,
3) laying of eggs extended over time, the chicks of which appear almost simultaneously,
4) the fact that their chicks hatch blind, almost naked, parents must feed and protect them.
A14. The balance of a bird sleeping on a branch is regulated by:
1) tense tendons of the tarsus 2) cerebellum
3) flapping of wings 4) even distribution of weight
IN 1. Complete the diagram of the pulmonary circulation, insert in place of the gaps the necessary words (left ventricle, right ventricle, left atrium, right atrium, gas exchange, pulmonary artery, pulmonary vein)
Right ventricle > ………………> Pulmonary capillaries >……………… > Pulmonary vein > …………………..
AT 2. Establish a correspondence between the structural features of the respiratory system and the classes for which these features are characteristic.
Features of the structure of the respiratory system
A) there are air bags
B) the lungs have a spongy structure
C) ratio of skin surface to lung surface 2:3
D) the lungs are represented by hollow sacs
D) double breathing
E) partially cutaneous breathing
AT 3. Find the extra bird in the row and explain your choice:
Search by keyword
A play by the ancient Greek poet and comedian Aristophanes.
A novel by Norwegian writer Tarjeja Vesos.
This boxer said: “The grass grows, the birds fly, the waves hit the beach, and I hit people.”
The ferocious karkadanna unicorns even attacked elephants, but they themselves were food for this bird.
The voice of this bird is a ringing “tiilli-tili” and various songs based on the sounds “tsivi-tivi-tsivi-tivi-keee”.
In what geological period did birds appear?
A hunter luring an animal or bird by imitating his voice.
This poultry has the highest calorie meat.
An outdated name for the bird crow in the Kursk, Belgorod and Voronezh regions.
The Egyptian god Thoth was depicted with the head of which bird?
Due to the fact that the arrival of this bird coincided with the flood of the Nile, it was considered sacred in ancient Egypt.
What crested bird was Akh (the afterlife incarnation of man) depicted in Egyptian mythology?
In East Slavic mythology, the southern regions, where birds fly in winter, are a fairyland.
In Rus', it had the shape of a boat with one highly raised handle or two in the form of the head and tail of a bird.
What does a repeat offender, a writer, a bird, an onion have?
The egg of this bird was carelessly broken by the companions of Sinbad the Sailor.
A stew made from meat, poultry, goose liver, and sausage prepared in two steps (with a break of half an hour to two).
The name of this bird comes from the expression: “the one that sticks into the water.”
One of the stars of Bird of Paradise bears this name in honor of the heroine Kira Bulychev.
A meat dish of oriental cuisine, in appearance reminiscent of a puree soup made from boiled wheat and poultry.
Tunisian cuisine has crispy pies filled with young lamb or poultry, vegetables, aromatic herbs and spices.
“Birds sat on the page, they know true and fable” (riddle).
The time of year when “tram calls ring out like birds.”
In East Slavic mythology, paradise is where birds and the souls of the dead live.
The tail part of the bird's body and the anus.
Varieties of this bird include the dodo and the desert bird.
The name of this bird is related to the old Russian word “chisel”.
The original meaning of the name of this bird is Indian rooster, but what do we call it now?
Hind ham of wild boar, roe deer, as well as ham of poultry and veal.
On the territory of Russia there are three species of this bird: spruce, pine and white-winged.
Latvian writer, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Latvian SSR since 1946, author of the trilogy “Wingless Birds”, novels “Storm”, “Son of a Fisherman”, “To a New Shore”, “Lost Homeland”, “Village by the Sea”, “The Zitarov Family” ", "After the storm."
On the hoods of cars of this Japanese company you can see an emblem similar to the silhouette of a flying bird.
A character from the opera “Lost Birds” by Lithuanian composer Vytautas Laurusas.
Bulgarian poet of the 20th century, author of the collections “Seagulls Resting on the Waves”, “Accumulated Silences”, “Birds Slow Their Flight”, “I am Tormented by Beauty”.
Which bird lacks a bursa of Fabricius?
Few people have seen a basilisk, but rumor attributes it to the legs of this particular bird.
The fairy-tale monster basilisk has the body of a dragon and the head of this particular bird.
Selected document for viewing : How We Know Birds.doc
Zoological quiz “How do we know birds?”
1. Which birds fly to us from the south first? (Rooks).
2. What bird does not build nests and hatch eggs? ( Cuckoo).
3. Name the smallest bird in the world? (Hummingbird).
4. Which bird is the smallest in Russia? (Korolek ).
5. What bird gets food for itself by diving under water and running under water? (Dipper).
6. Which of our large forest birds, with the onset of spring, mutters as if saying: “I’ll buy a robe, sell a fur coat,” and with the onset of autumn, “I’ll sell a robe, buy a fur coat”? (Grouse - Kosach).
7. The male of what small bird on a lek seems to say: “It’s time to sleep, it’s time to sleep”? (Quail).
8. What birds hatch chicks in winter? (Crossbills ).
9. Do our migratory birds build nests in the south? ( In the south, our migratory birds do not build nests).
10. Which bird builds the largest nest? (Eagle).
11. Why are there swallows hovering in the meadow near a herd of cows? ( Cows scare out midges and mosquitoes from the grass - the prey of swallows).
12. Where do starlings nest, besides birdhouses? (In the hollow).
13. Which birds take first place in exterminating locusts? ( Rosy starling ).
14. What predator is called the “bird wolf”? (Hawk).
15. What birds are called “companions” of people? (Skvortsov).
16. What bird turns white for the winter? (Ptarmigan).
17. What birds spend the night in winter buried in the snow? (grouse, hazel grouse).
18. Which birds have wings covered not with feathers, but with scales? (In penguins ).
19. What is the largest bird in the world? (African ostrich. Its height reaches 2.8 m. The ostrich’s wings are large, but not suitable for flight).
20. “Hidden ” birds. Each of these phrases (or words) contains the name of the bird. Find them.
1) Don and Volga are connected by a canal (oriole);
2) a powerful crane carried about one hundred thousand tons of metal (falcon);
3) an ax chops a Christmas tree (eagle);
4) in the lower grades there is a physical education lesson (duck);
5) more than forty hectares of land (forty) were allocated for the school team;
6) this type of rose has long been bred in Romania (thrush).
21. What bird flies from the north? (Bullfinch).
22. What should be done to help birds in winter? ( Feeders are winter canteens for birds).
23. Which bird destroys the most agricultural pests, such as locusts? ( Rosy starling. It can eat about 200 pests in one day.)
24. What small bird makes a nest for itself, digging a hole in a steep bank, sometimes up to a meter long? (Kingfisher).
25. The chicks of which birds, on the first day, as soon as they hatch, follow their mother from the nest, and on the third day they already know how to flutter? (Pheasants).
26. Which chicks hunt collectively? Dividing into two groups, they block the river and move in a line towards each other, driving the fish to the shallows.
27. What useful bird is one of the most beautiful in our forests ? (Oriole).
28. What bird can be found in winter hanging upside down on a spruce cone with seeds? (Titmouse - chickadee).
29. What taiga bird stores seeds and nuts for the winter in holes, in the ground, between stones? (Kedrovka).
30. Which bird has a beak so strong that it can crack nuts? ( Nuthatch).
31. Which bird owns a nest that looks like a downy mitten, since it is woven from the silky hairs of willow seeds? (Tit – remez).
32. Which birds are the first to know about the approach of severe frosts and insulate their nests with down and feathers ? (Sparrows).
33. An interesting bird, the quetzal, lives in the equatorial part of America. She is no bigger than a dove, very beautiful and loves freedom. Dies in captivity. The ancient people of this area considered the bird sacred and priests and tribal leaders were decorated with its feathers. In which country is this bird depicted on the flag and the country's money is named after it?