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Migration, Hibernation & Adaptation -- PreK-2, Grades 3-5
Pre
Visit
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Activity
1: Menu Munchies
To
be prepared a head of class:
Procedure:
1) Have
the student brainstorm what the animals eat. Tell the students that there
is more than one food for each animal.
2) Once the students have taped the food next to the animal have the
students figure out what happened to the food in winter. Discuss with the
students that most of the food sources are unavailable to the residents,
so this does affect the animals need to hibernate.
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Activity
2: Willy’s
Wild Rentals
To
be prepared before class:
1) Draw a winter mural scene with a pond, woods,
field, trees with holes.
2) Draw a variety of animals that are active in the winter months.
3) Write
up Wild Rentals sheets.
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Example:
Client:
Rocky Raccoon
Space needed: I am three feet long.
Favorite foods: Small animals, fruit, bugs.
Favorite hang outs: In a hole
in a tree, a crack in a rock, or in your roof. I can even did my own
den.
Client
advice: I can live in many different places close to people and I
need to be near a lake or a stream. |
Procedure:
4)
Have the students read their sheets to the rest of the class and then have
them
place
their animal where they feel it should be in the mural. (If
the students can’t read distribute the pictures of the animals and read
the sheets to the students.)
5) Once all of the animals have been given a home discuss with the
students how where food is found influences where the animals live.
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Post
Visit
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Activity
1: Migration Concentration
You
will need a large map of North and South America, sets of pictures of
birds that migrate from New England to South America.
Procedure:
1) Tape one half of the cards upside down on a state in which the birds can
be found in the summer months and the others on the section of the map
that represents the wintering grounds.
2) Have the children one by one come up and select a card from each section
and see if they match. If they do the child may keep the match.
If they do not match have the student flip the cards back over and
return to their seat.
3) The
game ends when all of the cards have been successfully matched.
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Activity
2: Critter Creations Procedure:
1)
Read a story or discuss with the students way in which animals have
adapted to the cold and the winter.
A
few examples:
*Snow shoe hare white color creates camouflage and extra fur in
between the toes acts as snow shoes.
*Wood frogs flood their cells with a natural antifreeze and freeze
solid underneath the leaf litter.
*Turtles lungs are adapted to be able to breathe muddy oxygen and
high amounts of carbon dioxide.
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2) Tell the students they are now going to create their very own animal
that needs to be adapted to the winter cold. Tell the children they have
to decide if their animal will be active during the winter or if it will
hibernate.
3) After
a given period of time have the students present their animal to the class
and tell what it’s adaptations are.
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Pre Visit
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Activity
1: Chilling in Winter
You
will need a selection of reference books for the students to use.
You
can either pre-select animals
for the students to research or have them select their own. Make sure the
animals with unique adaptations to the winter.
Procedure:
1) Have
the students use the reference materials to research how their animal will
survive in the cold and spend the winter.
2) After
a few minutes have the students present what they found.
3)
List
the different adaptations on the black board.
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Activity
2: Winter Hide Outs
You
will need:
1) A variety of insulating materials animals use in their winter dens
2) Shoe
boxes
3) Thermometers
4) Freezer
Procedure:
1) Explain
to the students animals collect different items to line their dens inside
against the cold.
2) Tell
the students they are going to create an insulated home for a mouse using
the shoe boxes and insulating materials.
3) The
students may select as many different materials as they want. Have the
students read and record the temperature on their thermometers before they
place them in the center of their shoe box. Then have them cover the
thermometers with some more insulation.
4) Place the boxes in a freezer and wait about 3-4 minutes.
Remove and read the thermometers.
5) List
the beginning and ending temperatures
on the black board. If there are a few with very little changes
have other students examine which materials were used.
6)
Explain to the students animals choose materials that can trap a
lot of air. The trapped air is warmed by the animal’s body heat and
helps to keep the animals warm all winter.
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Post Visit
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Activity
1: Going, Going, Gone
You
will need:
1) Play dough
2) Glasses
or something that will make circular impressions
3) Rolling
pin or jars
4) Knife or pizza cutter
Procedure:
1) Break
the students into groups 4 or 5 and give each group a ball of play dough,
rolling pin, and a glass.
2) Tell the students they need to roll out their play dough as large as
they can and fit in as many circles without over lapping them.
3) Explain that each circle represents the winter range of an animal and
that each animals needs a specific amount of space in which to live and
look for food.
4) After the students arrange their circles cut a section out of the
middle and have them remark the circles. Repeat the cutting and arranging
one more time.
5) Explain
to the students that each time you take a cut of their play dough it
represents a section of habitat that is developed or clear cut.
The more winter habitat that is developed will lead to the decline
of the animal’s health and eventually their species.
Have the students brainstorm ways to protect wintering grounds.
Discuss green ways and fly way legislation.
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Activity
2: Migration
Hazards
You
will need:
1) Cards with migration hazards and directions for the migrating birds
that can be worn around the neck. The direction cards should be in a
smaller print so they are harder to read from a distance.
For
example: Hazards- skyscrapers, Direction-bright star turn right
2)
Large room that can be run around in.
Procedure:
1) Divide
the class in half. Have one half of wear the migration hazard cards.
2) Explain to the other half of the class that they are going to be
migrating birds going to South
America. Choose one student to be the flock leader. Tell the leader that they must lead the flock from one side of the
room to the other by the direction cards only.
3) Once the group has made it to the other side of the room have the two
groups switch.
4) When both groups have had a chance to play both roles gather them into
a circle and have them talk about any problems they encountered during
their migration.
5) Explain to the students they have just experienced what it is like to
be a flock of migrating song birds. Migration routes are instinct and have
not changed over the years. As development increases birds have a harder
time migrating using the stars. Light reflection off of sky scrapers can
mimic stars and cause the birds to crash into them.
Radio towers with flashing lights can disorient birds causing them
to get lost and starve to death. Many migrating birds will not feed until
they reach their wintering grounds.
5) Have the students brainstorm ways to reduce migration hazards. |
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