Hey there! Have you ever changed your mind about something? I sometimes change my mind about where to plant things in my garden. If a plant isn’t doing well, I try to find a better spot for it. Today, we’re going to talk about how scientists sometimes change their minds too!
There’s a big question scientists have been trying to answer for almost 200 years: Do birds have a sense of smell? You might think about animals like dogs, which use their noses to sniff out treats and help people. But what about birds? Have you ever noticed if birds use their sense of smell?
One scientist was curious about turkey vultures, a type of bird that likes to eat things that are a bit rotten. He wondered if they could smell their food. So, he did an experiment. He hid some very smelly food where the vultures couldn’t see it and put fake food out in the open. The vultures didn’t find the hidden food, but one did peck at the fake food it could see. The scientist thought this meant vultures couldn’t smell very well.
Years later, another scientist noticed that turkey vultures like food that’s not too rotten. He repeated the experiment but used food that was less smelly. This time, the vultures found the hidden food! It seemed like they could smell after all.
Another scientist wanted to know if seabirds could smell. She released smelly oils from boats, and seabirds came flying over, even on foggy days and at night. This showed that seabirds might have a sense of smell too.
So, do birds have a sense of smell? At first, scientists thought no, but new experiments showed that some birds do. Scientists change their minds when they find new evidence. Evidence is the information they gather from experiments. When vultures didn’t find the super smelly food, it was evidence they couldn’t smell. But when they found the less smelly food, it was new evidence that they could smell.
Scientists have learned that many birds can smell, and they keep asking questions like: Do some birds smell better than others? Are there smells birds don’t like? As scientists find new evidence, they might change their minds again.
In summary, scientists sometimes change their minds based on new evidence. When you learn new things, your understanding of the world can change too. Next time you learn something new, think about what you used to believe and what you know now.
Thanks for joining us on this adventure! Stay curious, and keep asking questions. Who knows what you’ll discover next?
Bird Watching Adventure: Go outside with a notebook and pencil. Observe birds in your backyard or a local park. Watch how they behave. Do they seem to be using their sense of smell? Draw pictures of the birds you see and write down what you notice about their behavior. Share your observations with your family or friends and discuss if you think the birds were using their sense of smell.
Smelly Experiment: With the help of an adult, gather a few different items with distinct smells, like an orange peel, a piece of cheese, and a flower. Close your eyes and have someone hold each item under your nose one at a time. Try to guess what each item is just by smelling it. Think about how birds might use their sense of smell to find food. Discuss how your sense of smell helps you in your daily life.
Story Time Imagination: Imagine you are a bird with a super sense of smell. Write a short story about a day in your life. What adventures do you go on? What do you smell during your journey? How does your sense of smell help you find food or avoid danger? Share your story with your class or family and see what creative ideas others have about being a bird with a keen sense of smell.
Here’s a sanitized version of the provided YouTube transcript:
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Hey, it’s Esther! What’s something you’ve changed your mind about? I sometimes change my mind about where to plant things in my garden. When something isn’t thriving, I try to figure out what it needs and pick a better spot. Someone named Charlie has a question about changing our minds. Let’s give Charlie a call now.
Hi, Esther! Hey, Charlie! I have a question for you: Do scientists ever change their minds? That’s a great question! Sometimes it seems like scientists have all the answers, but I want to tell you about a question scientists have been trying to answer for nearly 200 years: Do birds have a sense of smell?
Maybe you’ve thought about this before, and you might even be confident that you know the answer. But how do you know? There are probably other animals that you’re sure have a sense of smell, like dogs. Maybe you’ve noticed the way dogs sniff each other when they meet or how they use their sense of smell to find hidden treats or help people.
Now think about what you’ve noticed about birds. Based on your observations, what do you think? Do birds have a sense of smell? Now would be a good time to pause the video and discuss.
Okay, ready? I’m not sure how you answered, but one scientist who was curious about whether birds can smell had been noticing turkey vultures. They’re a kind of bird that likes to eat rotten things. You probably know that rotten things can get pretty smelly, and the scientist noticed that too. So he came up with an experiment similar to a dog sniffing out a treat. He put out food that was rotten and super smelly but hid it where the vultures could not see. In another test, he put out fake food in the open where the vultures could see it, but since it was fake, it did not have a strong smell. Then he watched to see what the vultures would do.
In the test with the smelly but hidden food, no vultures came to find it, but one vulture did come to peck at the fake food it could see. It seemed like these vultures used their sight to find food and not their sense of smell. The scientist thought he had the answer: these birds can’t smell, or maybe they can only smell a tiny bit. For a long time, that’s what many scientists thought.
But wait! Years later, another scientist studying turkey vultures noticed they prefer food that’s less rotten, which made him wonder: maybe the vultures did smell the hidden food but ignored it because it was too rotten to eat. So he decided to repeat the experiment with a change. Instead of hiding really rotten food, he hid food that was less rotten and just a bit smelly. Guess what happened? The turkey vultures found the hidden food again and again! Unlike the first experiment, this time it looked like turkey vultures do have a sense of smell.
But wait! These experiments only included one kind of bird. What about all the other birds? Another scientist decided to do an experiment with seabirds that fly over the ocean hunting for fish and other food. She released smelly oils and gases from boats, and each time, seabirds flocked to her. She repeated her experiment on foggy days and at night when it might be harder for the birds to see, and they still found their way to the smell. It looked like these birds do have a sense of smell.
Earlier, I asked whether you thought birds could smell. Now that you’ve seen some experiments that try to figure this out, I’m curious if your mind has changed. So for a second time, now would be a good time to pause the video and discuss once more.
Okay, ready? If you did change your mind, hey, that can be a good thing! Maybe you didn’t have enough information before, and you learned something new. Scientists do that too. Scientists use experiments to gather information about a question. Another word for that information is evidence. For instance, when vultures did not find the super smelly food, that was evidence that supported the answer: no, these birds do not have a sense of smell. But new evidence might point to other answers, like in the later experiments that supported the answer: yes, some birds do have a sense of smell.
Scientists have gathered even more evidence about birds and smell by looking at all kinds of evidence. Most scientists have changed their minds; they agree that many birds do have a sense of smell. New evidence can also raise new questions, like: do some birds have a better sense of smell than others? Are there smells some birds don’t like? And if birds use smell to find food, can they find other things by smell too? Who knows? Scientists may uncover new evidence that changes our thinking about birds again.
So in summary, sometimes scientists do change their minds based on evidence. Scientists gather evidence as they experiment and test out ideas. By considering new evidence, scientists can change their minds and come to a new understanding. When you learn new things, try new ways to solve problems, and see things from new points of view, your understanding of the world changes too. You might not notice that change every day, but the next time you learn something new, ask yourself: what did I used to think about this, and what do I think now?
That’s all for this week’s question. Thanks, Charlie, for asking it! We want to know what you’re curious about. It’s time to cast your vote! We picked three questions that we’re thinking about answering. When this video is done playing, click on the one you’re most excited to see answered. Your vote will help us plan for future mini-lessons. There are mysteries all around us. Stay curious, and see you next week!
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This version maintains the original content while removing any informal language and ensuring clarity.
