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Make Way for Ducklings

Make Way for Ducklings

Written by Robert McCloskey
Published by Puffin Books
ISBN: 0-14-056434-9

About the book

To protect their ducks, Mr. and Mrs. Mallard move from their pond in a public park to a quiet island. When the ducks hatch, Mrs. Mallard must walk her ducklings across Boston to reach the water and food in the public park. The Boston police help her take care of her ducklings as they parade across a busy street.

A lesson plan that targets Language Arts can be found on Focus On Books in the resources section of the EarthCARE Canada website.

If the story has not been already shared with the students read it to them as a part of the introduction to these activities.

Background

The ducks were presented with a number of obstacles that they overcame to survive. This story provides several "duck problems" that the students can use their mathematics skills to solve.

Activity #1: Area of Focus: Data Management and Probability

  1. Have the students record the places that Mr. and Mrs. Mallard considered for their nest and reasons for the rejection.
  2. Based on this analysis have students develop a description of an "ideal" nesting spot.
  3. Have students review the story to confirm the place where the ducks finally settled and see whether or not it would have met the criteria that they had developed.

Activity #2: Area of Focus: Measurement

  1. The ducklings walked to a new entrance to the pond. Have the students record the streets they crossed.
  2. Either provide students with the length of a city block or have them measure one.
  3. Have the students calculate how far the ducklings walked.
  4. Have the students estimate how many steps (strides) it would take them to walk a similar distance.
    1. Have the students measure their stride.
    2. Have them calculate the number of "strides" to walk the same distance.

Activity #3: Area of Focus: Measurement

  1. Have the students trace their feet on centimeter-squared paper.
  2. Have the students find the approximate area of their feet in square centimeters and record their measurements.
  3. Have students use a piece of string/yarn to put around the traced feet outlines and cut it to represent the perimeter of their feet.
  4. Then have students share their individual information - note differences and similarities.
  5. These data can be analyzed and/or graphed in many ways.