OBJECTIVE: To learn about flamingoes

GRADE: 3-8

MATERIALS: Pictures and reference material about flamingoes

PROCEDURES: Read enclyclopedia, books and literature about flamingoes, and explore Internet sites.

PARENT/CHILD EXPERIENCE: Visit a zoo or park with your child to see the pink flamingoes.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Long-legged and long-necked wading bird, family Phoenicopteridae, of the stork order Ciconiiformes. Largest of the family is the greater or roseate flamingo Phoenicopterus ruber, found in Africa, the Caribbean, and South America, with delicate pink plumage and 1.25 m/4 ft tall. They sift the mud for food with their downbent bills, and build colonies of high, conelike mud nests, with a little hollow for the eggs at the top.

EVALUATION: Awareness of local species