RSPB Bird Cakes

As part of our Potions topic and with the RSPB bird watch for schools being able to be carried out right now, we have been investigating Bird Cakes. As part of a science investigation we gathered a range of ingredients which would appeal to birds such as; meal-worms, cheese, raisins, dried fruit, sultanas, wild seed and peanuts as well as lard.

We wanted to investigate the questions, "Which ingredients would appeal best to birds?". Each group had a cup, a mixing bucket, lard and three chosen ingredients. We had to make sure that we didn't all have the same ingredients so we used a dice and took it in turns to choose with only a set amount of each available.

We then made predictions on which would be the most successful after we studied the energy and fat contents on the packet. We thought that the greater the energy and fat content the better the chance of attracting birds.

We poked a hole in the cups and strung a knotted string through it. We then cut the lard into small cubes and added into the bowl. We then tipped our individual ingredients into the bowl and mixed it up with our hands. Finally we pressed the fat ball into the cups and made sure they were solid and secure. They will now be placed in the fridge over night to solidify. We will hang them out tomorrow and start recording.