What Shape of Nest is Best Experiment

Try this simple experiment to understand why many bird's nests are shaped like a cup!

You need:

Paper plate

Plastic bowl or cup (we substituted a coffee filter)

Two plastic eggs

1)  Pretend to be a tree.  Put a paper plate "nest" on one hand and a bowl "nest" in the other.  Place an egg on the plate.  Place an egg in the coffee filter.

2)  If you've made it this far without an egg falling off, move your arms like branches swaying in the wind!  What happens?  Discuss why a cup nest is the most common type of nest.

Here are some fun books about nests!