Nine feature cards, A to I, compare a cardboard bird feeder with a plastic bottle feeder in this 3-page 5th grade worksheet. Students write each letter into the right part of a diagram: cardboard only, plastic only, or both. Features include getting soggy in the rain, lasting many months outdoors, and breaking down naturally. Weighing two solutions against each other this way is the core of NGSS 3-5-ETS1-2. The answer key places three letters in each part.
3-5-ETS1-2
“Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.”
The whole sort, since each letter asks students to judge which feeder meets a need, such as keeping seed dry or lasting outdoors.
Nine lettered features, such as A (Easier to cut with safety scissors) and D (Keeps birdseed perfectly dry in wet weather), go into a three-part diagram.
A, C and F sit in the cardboard-only section, with the rest split between the plastic bottle feeder and the shared middle.
Before building
Set it before students build their own feeders. The soggy cardboard and dry birdseed features give them a reason to choose one material.
Class debate
Ask which feeder the class should build for the school grounds. Students must cite letters from the diagram to back their choice.
Extension
Have students add a third design, such as a milk carton feeder, and write two new features for it.
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