collect the materials : wood , silicone and yarn , build the house with the predetermined materials , decide the types of food ( seeds , vegetables and fruits ), design the chart ( like in the bottom part ), make the chart , weight the food in measuring cups and take their weight out , put the food in the house in little cups , hang the house in the perfect spot and collect the data in the chart and in grams , based on our data draw conclusions and share them with the class . The experiment consists on putting the 3 types of foods in a separate compartment in the house , put it in cups , weight it and to the measure the weight of the food after a period of time to calculate the difference and know how much food of each type they ate .
Data Analysis and Conclusions :
Our hypothesis was that if we gave birds the option of choosing fruits , seeds or vegetables for their food then they would prefer the fruits the most , then seeds and finally vegetables . We think this way because seeds and fruits have a stronger smell and are easier to eat than vegetables . We think that our hypothesis was in part right because the birds ate 8 grams of fruit , while they ate 7 of seeds and vegetables ( of each one ). In part it is also wrong because they ate the same quantity of seeds and vegetables , which we weren ’ t expecting . Plus only a 1 gram difference between them ( seeds and vegetables , and fruits ) so there is not a clear preference for either seeds or fruits . With this this experiment we can claim that birds have a slight preference for fruits but they can eat either fruits , vegetables or seeds and there is not a big difference . These results can be explained because birds prefer food that have a stronger odor and are sweeter because they can smell them from a longer distance and feel more attracted to their flavor . In this case fruits have the sweetest and strongest odor compared to seeds and vegetables , but even though this is the case , vegetables and seeds also have a strong odor and a sweet taste , which is why I think the difference between the 3 is not that big .
Some factors that could have affected this experiment are that some bugs ate part of the food , also the the positions of the food because each cup of food was placed along the other and all of them were the same size so the bird could really choose which food the liked most ( this makes the experiment fair ). Another factor is the weather because it could have scared the birds away if it was rainy , which it was many times , so the birds could have eaten less than they usually would and it could have watered the food and caused to rotten so birds wouldn ’ t feel so attracted to it . Another factor was the height of the house because maybe birds could not see it so they didn ’ t come because it was on the floor . We think all of this explains our data and why it is like that . We could have changed the house so it was lighter so that we could hang it and not leaving it on the floor because , like said before . We think this results made us find out more because now we know that birds have a small preference for fruits but they also eat seeds and vegetables . We think that it could make us research more about bird houses to improve our experiment and to research more about birds in this region , this way being able to infer if we would have different results in another place because of the local birds ’ eating habits in each place . A question for a future experiment could be either : Do birds eat more food on a house in the ground or a hanged one ? Or What type of fruit do birds like most : Banana or Papaya ?
Zasqua Jounal 2017 / 11