DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 343 737 RC 018 472

AUTHOR Lambeth, Ellen; Westervelt, Miriam O.TITLE A Home for Pearl. A Videotape Series about Wildlife

Habitat for Elementary Students. InstructionalGuide.

INSTITUTION Colorado State Div. of Wildlife, Denver.; Fish andWildlife Service (Dept. of Interior), Washington,D.C.; National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

PUB DATE 90

NOTE 44p.; Photographs and illustrations may not reproduceclearly.

AVAILABLE FROM Publications Unit, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,Arlington Square Building, Room 130, Dept. of theInterior, 18th and C Streets, N.W., Washington, DC20240 (Write for free/charge videotape and teacher'sguide).

PUB TYPE Audiovisual/Non-Print Materials (100) -- Guides -Classroom Use - Teaching Guides (For Teacher) (052)

EDRS PRICE MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage.DESCRIPTORS Elementary Education; *Endangered Species;

*Environmental Education; Instructional Materials;Knowledge Level; *Learning Activities; OutdoorActivities; Student Attitudes; Teaching Guides;*Wildlife

IDENTIFIERS *Habitats

ABSTRACTThis instructional guide (accompanied by a video)

teaches children from ages 6 to 12 about wildlife habitats. Theinstructional guide is divided into four parts and consists ofsupplementary activities to enhance the video. Each section of theguide provides an overview, objectives, story summary, key words inthe video, discussion questions, ideas for follow-up activities, acoloring page illustrating the featured wild animal, and Project WILDactivities designed to reinforce material presented in the video. Thefeatured wild animals include a robin, rabbit, and a barn owl. Themajor character is a bald eagle named Pearl. The children areintroduced to Pearl at a wildlife rehabilitation center where she isrecovering from wounds. The children learn about wildlife habitats byattempting to find the wild home that is best for Pearl. Appendices

*include evaluation exercises that measure program impact on studentattitudes and knowledge concerning wildlife. Information is providedabout Project WILD, sponsored by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Serviceand the project state coordinators. The regional offices of the U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service are also listed. This guide containsnumerous pictures and photographs. (LP)

***********************************************************************Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made

from the original document.***********************************************************************

A Home for PearlInstructional Guide

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A HOME FOR PEARL is

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"PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS u.s. DEPANTMENT OF EDUCATION

MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY orrce Educanonat Rematch and Improvement

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CENTER (ERIC)

/his documont has been reproduced esreceived from the person or organizationoriginating it

0 Minor changes have been mod* (o improvereproduction Quality

TO TrIE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCESINFORMATION CENTER (ERIC).-

Points ot vie* of opinions stolid in this dOCir

men! do not necessarily represent officio'OERI pofilbon or policy

Dear Educator:

Any one who has read or seen "The Wizard of Oz" knows that, for Dorthy

and Toto, there's no place like home. The same is true for wildlife. Each type

of animal on earth has a special home called its habitat. A HOME FOR

PEARL is an educational video that teaches young people from ages six to

twelve about wildlife habitats.

If you're a classroom teacher, museum educator, club leader, naturalist, or

parent, this guide will help yiu use the video to teach lessons about the

habitat requirements of wild animals.

Four familiar animals, a robin, rabbit, barn owl, and bald eagle, are featured

in A HOME FOR PEARL. We chose these four specific animals because they

are the most popular wildlife species among elementary school students,

according to the national survey we conducted with the publishers ofWeekly

Reader.

The popularity of these animals draws children into the drama of A HOME

FOR PEARL as they learn new facts and concepts about wildlife habitat.

The "star" of A HOME FOR PEARL is a bald eagle, named Pearl because of

her pearl-white head. The children in the video are introduced to her at a

wildlife rehabilitation center where she is recovering from wounds. When she

heals, she'll be released back into the wild. Not just any home will do,

though. The challenge the children take on themselves is finding the wild

home that's best for a bald eaglenot an easy task!

This guide provides lots of ideas to make teaching about wildlife habitat

easy and fun. By viewing the video and then participating in the activities

suggested here, children will learn about the richness of wildlife that exists

in their everyday lives. They may be surprised to discover there are plenty of

wildlife habitats all around themeven if they live in a big city!

Please write me about your experiences with A HOME FOR PEARL (U.S. Fish

and Wildlife Service, 18th and C Streets, N.W, Washington, D.C. 20240, 703-

358-1730). This video and guide represent a pioneering effort in wildlife

ducation and we are anxious to learn about its effectiveness in your

particular teaching situation.

JAA .AA'a4A4.y

Miriam Olivia Westervelt

Project Leader, A HOME FOR PEARL

1

ContentsPart I: The Robin 3

American Robin Coloring Page 5

Everybody Needs a Home 7

Habitat Lap Sit 9

Part 2: Habitat Diversity I I

Cottontail RabbitColoring Page 13

Wildlife is Everywhere 15

Environmental Barometer 17

Part 3: Predators 19

Barn Owl Coloring Paw, 21

The Thicket Game 23

Oh Deer' 25

Part 4: The Right Homefor Pearl 29

Bald Eagle Coloring Page 31

Can Do! 33

Shrinking Habitat 35

Appendix

Evaluation Exercises 39

About Project WILD 40

U.S. Fish and Wildlife ServiceRegional 0 ffic es 43

2

About the VideoA HOME FOR PEARL is a video aboutwildlife, and is especially suitable for edu-cators in an urban or suburban setting.It's divided into four parts: two 15-minutesegments and two 20-minute segments.The segments are designed so that eachpart of the video can be viewed as a sepa-rate unit, with supplementary activitiesprovided in this guide to enl.ance thevideo's educational value. Taking the timeto introduce and follow up on each partbefore going on to the next will help toreinforce the learning of the coneptspresented. The total viewing time plusteaching time for each part should beabout 45 minutes to an hour.

About the GuideLike the video, this guide is divided intofour parts. In each section you will find:

OverviewIdentifies the major pointspresented in the video. It lists the mostimportant facts and concepts.

ObjectivesEstablish what each childshould be able to do after watching thevideo and completing the lesson.

Story SummaryProvides a synopsisof what happens in the video.

Key WordsDefines the vocabularythat's highlighted in the video.

For DiscussionQuestions you mayuse to reinforce the children's under-standings of the information presented inthe video.

Extensions--Ideas for follow-up activi-ties that you may want to try or adapt tothe age level of your group.

Coloring PageDescribes and illus-trates the wild animal that's featured inthe video.

Project WILD ActtvIties---Follow-upactivities that supplement and reinforcethe facts and concepts presented in thevideo.

At the end ot tne guide, you'll find an ap-pendix for digging deeper. For example,you can use the section titled "EvaluationExercises" to determine the impact of thevideo on your children's attitudes andknowledge about wildlife. There are alsolists of resources for finding even morewildlife information.

-.Getting StartedIf you decide you want to evaluate theimpact of the video on your students, dothe Evaluation Exerdses on page 39 beforeyou view Part 1. Tell them you will readsome sentences about wildlife that theymight agree with or disagree with andsome facts they may or may not know.Ask these questions again after they haveviewed all four parts of the video anddiscuss any changes in their responses.(See page 39.)

The educational value of A HOME FORPEARL will be enhanced by preparing allyoung viewers beforehand. Use theoverview and the story summary for Part 1(page 3) to briefly describe what they'llsee in th e. first part. List the key words ona blackboard or a large sheet of paper.Explain that these words will appear onthe screen as they're introduced. You maywant to go over the words and their defi-nitions before presenting the video.

Show Part 1 of A HOME FOR PEARL. Thendiscuss what happened in Part 1, usingthe questions provided under "ForDiscussion" on page 3. The extensionsprovided on page 4 suggest ways toextend the lesson even further.

The children might enjoy their rnm copiesof the coloring page (page 5). Be'orehanding these out., you may want to havethe group discuss what they rememberabout robins from the video. For example,they could describe what robins look like,what their nests look like, what they eat,where they live, and so on. Then hand outthe coloring page and review the informa-tion on the sheet. Have the children colorthe picture of the robin.

Next try one or both of the Project WILDactivities on pages 7-10, depending on theage level of the children you work with.

Now follow the same proceduie for Parts2, 3, and 4 of A HOME FOR PEARL. Don'tforget to do the Evaluation Exercises onpage 39 after viewing all four parts if youwant to further evaluate the impact of thevideo on the wildlife attitudes and knowl-edge of your viewers.

PA R T 1

The RobinOverview

Many types of animals make their homesnear people. But they are not pets or do-mesticated animals; they're wild. If theyhappen to live in cities, they're called ur-ban wildlife. Regardless of where a wildlifespecies lives, it requires a particular kindof home, or habitat. Each animal's habitatmust provide foul things: food, water,shelteruand space.

ObjectivesStudents will be able to:

Describe the difference between wildlifeand domesticated animals.

Name several examples of urbanwildlife.

Define habitat and list the 4 things thata habitat must provide for the animalsthat live in it.

Key Words

wildlifeanimals that live free and takecare of themselves. Robins, rabbits, owls,bald eagles, deer, earthworms, and troutare some examples of wildlife.

domesticatedtamed, not wild. Animalsthat people keep for their use or enjoy-ment, such as horses, dogs, cats, cows, orsheep, are domesticated animals.

ImprIntedwhen the behavior patternsof a role model are learned by a younganimal. For example, a bird raised by aperson instead of an adult bird will be-come imprinted onand prefer to associ-ate withpeople rather than others of itskind.

urban wildlife--wild animals living incities. Robins, squirrels, crow, mallards,and raccoons can be examples of urbanwildlife.

habitatthe place where an animal lives.A animal's habitat provides food, water,shelter, and space.

predatoran animal that kills and eatsother animals. Owls, eagles, snakes, andspiders are predators.

For DiscussionI. What were the children in the storytold to do with the baby bird that theyfound? List the steps they were toldto follow and explain the reason foreach one.

Find the nest and put the bird back in;the baby may have fallen from the nestbefore it was ready to fly. Watch from adistance so the parents can safely return.If the parents don't return within a couple

of hours, the baby is probably orphanedand can be taken to the wildlife rehabilita-tion center to be cared for. (Note:Impress upon your students that, as arule, people should not handle wild ani-mals. In this case, Heather first contacteda wildlife specialist, who then instructedher to put the bird back in its nest.)

2. Why would It have been a bad Ideafor Tammy to keep the baby robin asa pet?

Robins are wild animals and can take careof themselves; they do not make suitablepets. If Tammy tried to raise the babyrobin, she would have had to feed it every20 minutes from sunup to sundown. Then

Story SummaryWhile walking home from school, two sisters, Tammy and Heather, find a htlgessbaby robin on the ground in a park. Once it's clear that the bird is orphaned, thegids and their friend, Winston, take the bird to a wildlife rehabilitation center to becared for.

Dr. Bobbi Simpson, a veterinarian, introduces the children to some of the inluredand orphaned animals at the center. The animals are being cared for at the centerbecause they're unable to survive on their own. They learn about the differenttypes of wild animals that live in urban areas, and what they need to survive. Theymeet Pearl, a bald eagle recovering from gunshot wounds.

6

she would have had to teach it how tofind worms. Also if Tammy raised therobin from a baby, the bird could becomeimprinted on people. It might not learnhow to take care of itself or how to recog-nize other robins.

3. Why won't the baby robin becomeimprinted on Dr. Simpson?

After Dr. Simpson watches the baby longenough to make sure it doesn't have anydiseases, she will put it in with olderrobins that can't fly anymore. Theserobins will raise the baby and teach it howto survive on its own.

4. How are wild animals differentfrom domesticated animals? Nameseveral examples of each type ofanimal.

Wild animals take care of ther.selves.Some examples are robins, bears, deer,and so on. Domesticated animals aretame animals that live in captivity anddepend on people to take care of them.Some examples ae cows, pigs, sheep,and so on. (Note: Sometimes domesti-cated animals escape from captivity andsurvive on their own. These once-tameanimals that become wild are called feralanimals.)

5. What four things do all animalsneed in their habitat? Explain eachone.

The right kind of food to eat, water todrink, shelter from bad weather and dan-ger, and enough space in which to findfood and raise young.

6. Do you live in an urban environ-ment? If so, what are some examplesof urban wildlife in your area?

Answers will vary Some examples may bero5ins, rabbits, raccoons, skunks, crick-ets, pigeons, and so on.

7. Is a lion in a city zoo an example ofurban wildlife? Explain your answer.

No. Most zoo animals are wild animals.They live in captivity and depend onpeople to take care of them

4

ExtensionsAnimals, Animals: I-lave the childrenlook through magazines and cut out pic-tures of animals. Then have them maketwo collages: one of wildlife and one ofdomesticated animals. They may alsowant to make a collage specifically of ur-ban wildlife.

Human Habitats: Like animals, peopleneed food, water, shelter, and space. Askthe children to think about their ownhome, or "habitat." They can draw pic-tures of their houses and label the placeswhere they can get food, water, shelter,and space. They could also find out aboutan animal's home range (the area in whichan animal will travel to find food, shelter,and a mate) and territory (an area that ananimal will defend against other animalsof its kind). Now have the children drawmaps that show their 'home range" andthat include all of their normal, everydayactivities. Ask if anyone has a "territory."

Visit a Wildlife Rehabilitation Center:The children in A HOME FOR PEARL livenear a center where injured and orphanedwild animals are rehabilitated, or cared foruntil they can care for themselves. Findout if there's a wildlife rehabilitation cen-ter in your area that you can visit. A fieldtrip can give your group a first-hand lookat one way people are helping wildlife.You can write the National WildlifeRehabilitators Association at RR1,Box 125E, Brighton, IL 62012 (or phone612-437-9194) to locate a wildlife rehabil-itator near you.

The American robinwith itsgrayish-brown body, dark head

and tail, and orange-redbreastis probably the mostfamiliar bird in North America.

Robins are often recognized as

one of the first signs of spring

by people who live in areas

with cold winters. Some robinslive year around in places

where the winters aren't tooharsh.

Robins are veil,/ common in

suburban parks, in wooded

areas and on lawns, where they

hunt for earthworms and

sometimes insects.

During the months from April

to July, robins build their nestswith small twigs and roots,

grass, and mud. They attach

the rests to tree branches, inshrubs, and even on buildings.The female lays 3 to 6turquoise-colored eggs which

hatch in about two weeks. The

baby robins (fledglings) will

leave the nest at about 13 days

of age.

Robins can live up to twelve

years in the wild.

5

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Objective Students will be able togeneralize that people and other animals sharea basic need to have a home.

Method Students draw pictures ofhomes and compare their needs with those ofother animals,

Background Humans and otheranimalsincluding pets, farm animals, andwildlifehave some of the same basic needs.Every animal needs a home. But that home is notjust a "house" like people live in. Home, for manyanimals, is a much bigger placeand it's out-doors. The scientific term for an animal's homeis "habitat:* An animal's habitat includes food,water, shelter or cover, and space. Becauseanimals need the food, water, shelter, and spaceto be available in a way that is suitable to theanimals needs, we say that these thingF mustbe available in a suitable arrangement.

© 1983. 1985 Western

The major purpose of this activity is for studentsto generalize that animals need a home. Homesare not just houses. A house may be consideredshelter. People build houses, apartments, trailers,houseboats, and other kinds of shelter in whichto live. Animals don't need a home that looks likea housebut they do need some kind of shelter.The shelter might be underground, in a bush. inthe bark of a tree, or in some rocks.

Everybody needs a home! And "home" is biggerthan a "house." Home is more like a

"neighborhood" that has everything in it that isneeded for survival.

Age: Grades K-3Subjects: Science. Language Arts, ArtSkills: analysis, comparing similarities and differences.discussion, drawing. generalization, visualizationDuration: 30 minutes or longerGroup Size: any: however, no more than 25 studentsis recommendedSetting: indoors or outdoorsConceptual Framework Reference: I.A.. I.A.4.. I.C.1.,I.C.2.Key Vocabulary: differences, similarities, survivalneeds, habitat

Regional Environmental Education Council.

Reprinted with permission from Project WILD. All rights reserved. 97

Materials drawing paper, crayonsor chalk

Procedure1. Ask each student to draw a picture of wherehe or she livesor to draw a picture of the placewhere a perc.in they know lives. Ask thestudents to include pictures in their drawing ofthe things they need to live where they do; forexample, a place to cook and keep food, a placeto sleep, a neighborhood.2. Once th ,.. drawings are finished, have a discus-sion with the students about what they drew.Ask the students to point out the things theyneed to live that they included in their drawings.3. Make a "gallery of homes" out of the draw-ings. Point out to the students that everyone hasa home.4. Ask the students to close their eyes and im-agine: a bird's home, an ant's home, a beaver'shome, the President's home, their home. OP-TIONAL: Show the students pictures of differentplaces that animals live.5. Discuss the differences and similarities amongthe different homes with the students. Talkabout the things every animal needs in its home:

food, water, shelter, and space in which to live,arranged in a way that the animal can survive.Summarize the discussion by emphasizing thatalthough the homes are different, everyanimalpeople, pets, farm animals, andwildlifeneeds a home. Talk about the idea thata home is actually bigger than a house. In someways, it is more like a neighborhood. For animals.we can call that neighborhood where all the sur-vival needs are met a "habitat." People go out-side their homes to get food at a store, forexample. Birds, ants, beavers, and other animalshave to go out of their "houses" (places ofshelter) to get the things they need to live.

Extensions1. Draw animal home's. Compare them to placeswhere people live.2. Go outside and look for animal homes. Be surenot to bother the animalsor the homesin theprocessl

EvaluationName three reasons why people need homes, andthree reasons why animals need homes.

8

HABITAT LAP SITObjectives Students will be ableto: 1) identify the components of habitat: 2)recognize how humans and other animals de-pend upon habitat: and 3) interpret thesignificance of loss or change in habitat in termsof people and wildlife.

Method Students physically form aninterconnected circle to demonstrate com-ponents of habitat.

Background See "The BeautifulBasics:. "Everybody Needs A Home." "What'sThat, Habitat?." "Habitracks." and "HabitatRummy" for activities with similar purposes.People and other animals share some basic needs,Every animal needs a place in which to live. Theenvironment in which an animal lives is called"habitat." An animal's habitat includes food,water, shelter, and adequate space in an arrange-ment appropriate to the animal's needs.

If any of these components of habitat are miss-

ing or are affected significantly so that thearrangement for the individual animal or popula-tion of animals is no longer suitable, there willbe an impact. The impact will not necessarily becatastropnic, but can be. There are a great manyadditional limiting factors beyond those of suit-able food. water, shelter, and space. For example.disease, predation. pollution, accidents, and cli-

matic conditions are among other factors whichcan have impact.All things are interrelated. When we look at abiological community, we find interrelationshipsand interdependencies between plants andplants, plants and animals, as well as animals and

animals. These interrelationships and interde-pendencies are important.The major purpose of this activity is for studentsto become familiar with the components of habi-tat. and to recognize that it is not sufficient forthere to be food, water, shelter, and space in

order for animals to survivethose componentsof habitat must be in a suitable arrangement.

NOTE: This activity was inspired by a "NewGame:. and adapted to teach concepts related to

wildlife.

Materials none needed

Procedure1. This activity takes very little timebut hasa lot of impact! Ask the students to number offfrom "one" to "four." All the "ones" go to one cor-ner of the room, the "twos" to another. etc.2. As the students move to their corners, cleara space in the center of the room. Better still,go outside to a clear, grassy area. The "ones"should sit or stand together. "twos" together.etc.3. Assign each group a concept as follows:

"ones" =food, "twos" =water. "threes" =shelter,"fours" =space.4. Now. it's time to form a circle! This is done bybuilding the circle in chains of food, water,shelter, and space. A student from each of thefour groups walks toward the cleared area. The

four students stand next to each other, facingin toward what will be the center of the circle,Four rnore studentsone from each groupjointhe circle. Keep adding to the circle in sets of fouruntil all the students are in the circle.5. All students should now be standing shoulder

to shoulder, facing the center of the circle.6. Ask the students to turn toward their right,at the same time taking one step toward thecenter of the circle. They should be standingclose together, with each student looking at theback of the head of the student in front of himor her.7. Don't panicthis will workl Ask everyone tolisten carefully. Everyone should place theirhands on the waist of the person in frontof them. At the count of three, you want thestudents to sit down . . .on the knees of the per-

son behind them, keeping their own kneestogether to support the person in front of them.

© 1983, 1985 Western Regional

Age: Grades 4-9 (also younger and older)

Subjects: Scii ice. Physical EducationSkills: discussion, generalization, kinesthetic conceptdevelopment. small group workDuration: 20 minutesGroup Size: 15 to 45 students3etting: outdoors preferred: ir loors possible

Conceptual Framework Reference: I.A.. I.A.2., LA.4., LC..

I.C.1., I.C..2.. I.C.3,. I.C.4.. I.D..Key Vocabulary: habitat. food, water. shelter, space.

arrangement

Environmental Education Council.

Reprinted with permission from Project WILD. All rights reserved. 1 1 9

You then say, "Food, water, shelter, and spaceinthe proper arrangement (represented by thestudents intact, "lap-sit" circle)are what isneeded to have a suitable (good) habitat."8. The students at this point may either fall orsit down, When their laughter has subsided, talkwith them about the necessary components ofsuitable habitat for people and wildlife.9. After the students understand the majorpuintthat food, water, shelter, and space arenecessary for any animal's survival, and in theirappropriate arrangement comprise a suitablehabitatlet the students try the circle activityagain! This time ask them to hold their lap sitposture. As the students lap-sitstill represent-ing food, water, shelter, and space in their appro-priate arrangementidentify a student whorepresents "water." Then say, "It is a droughtyear. The water supply is reduced by the droughtconditions." At this point, have the student whowas identified as representing "water" removehimself or herself from the lap-sit circleandwatch the circle collapse, or at least suffer somedisruption in arrangement. Ynu could tryin several waysremoving one or more studentsfrom the circle. Cunditions could vary: pollutionof water supply, urban sprawl limiting availabilityof all components, soil erosion impacting foodand water supplies. etc. Since animals' habitatneeds depend upon food, water, shelter, andspace, in their appropriate arrangement,"removal" of any will have an impact.10. Ask the students to talk about what thisactivity means to them. Ask the students tosummarize the main ideas they have learned.They could include: a) food, water, shelter, andspace, in their appropriate arrangement, can becalled habitat; b) humans and other animalsdepend upon habitat; c) loss of any of theseelements of habitat will have impact on theanimals living there; and d) the components of,iabitat must be in an arrangement suitable tothe needs of the individual animals or popula-tions of animals in order for the animals tosurvive.

VariationHave students form a circle, holding hands. Walkaround the circle, first naming one student asan animal of a particular ecosystem. Name thenext four students in the circle as food, water.shelter, and space for that animal. Repeat theprocess until all the students are involved. Any"extras" can be identified as elements of habitat,e.g., resulting from a particularly good year forhabitat needs for the last animal named. Whenall of the students have been designated as ananimal or as components of an animals habitat.comment on the fact that they are holdinghands. This represents the idea that all thingsin an ecosystem are interrelated. Briefly discussthe idea of interrelationships. Then move thestudents into position to do the "lap sit" de-scribed in the Procedure above. Remind the stu-dents that they noticed all elements of theecosystem were interrelated when they wereholding hands. Now they are going to find outthat they all are dependent upon one anotheras well. Do the 'lap sit." Discuss interrelation-ships and interdependencies in ecologicalsyste ms.

EvaluationWhat are the five essential components ofhabitat?

Explain how the arrangement of food, water,shelter, and space is important to humans andother animals.

What would probably have the greater long-termimpact on the wildlife living on a farm in Iowa?A severe winter which killed many animals or thedevelopment of part of the farm into a commer-cial shopping center?

10

P A R T T 2

Habitat DiversityOverviewDifferent kinds of animals have differenthabitat requirements. in general, themore diverse, or complex, a habitat is, themore wildlife will live there. The type andnumber of different species in a habitat isregulated by a variety of limiting factors.

ObjectivesStudents will be able to:

Compare two habitats in terms of howmuch habitat diversity each has.

List several limiting factors affectingurban wildlife.

Key Wordshabitatthe place where an animal lives.An animal's habitat provides food, water,shelter, and space.

limiting factorsomething that limitsthe existence, growth, or number of atype of animal within a habitat. Predators,disease, hunting, climate, and pollutionare examples of limiting factors.

habitat diversitythe variety of plants,animals, and physical features that existin a particular habitat.

nocturnalactive at night. Owls andearthworms are nocturnal animals.

castings-tiny mounds of soil depositedon the ground's surface by earthworms.

For DiscussionI . Describe what the robin needs inits habitat.

Earthworms and insects for food, a pondor stream for water to drink; trees forshelter; an area to move around safely,

find food, and raise young.

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2. What are some limiting factors thataffect urban wildlife such as robinsand deer?

Collisions with cars; predators, such ascats; pesticides; and so on.

3. Which animal needs more diversityin its habitat, a robin or a rabbit?Explain your answer.

Rabbit. Robins eat mainly one type offood and can fly away from danger.Rabbits prefer to eat a variety of plants,and they also need tall grasses andshrubs in which to hide. The variousplants that the rabbits prefer also attractother types of animals, such as insects,which in turn attract even more animals,such as insect-eating birds.

Story Summary

4. Which habitat probably has themost diversity, a lawn, a meadow, orthe edge of a forest? The least diver-sity? Explain your answers.

A forest edge would have the most diver-sity because it's where two habitats meet.At a forest edge, you might find speciesthat preter the forest, species that preferthe open, and species that prefer the areain between. A lawn has the least diversitybecause it's very simple and uniform.

5. What are some nocturnal animals?

Earthworms, owls, bats, moths, crickets,raccoons, and skunks are some examples.

Heather, Tammy, and Winston return to the wildlife rehabilitation center and see

that the baby robin they found has grown. They discuss what the robin will need In

its habitat when it is released and learn that different kinds of animals have differ-

ent habitat requirements. They learn about some of the dangers that animals face

living near people.

On their own Initiative, the children locate the best habitat in which to release the

robin, after carefully considering all of its requirements.

1 311

6. How did the children in the videofind a place with lots of earthworms inthe daytime if worms are nocturnal?

They found lots of castings on the surfaceof the soil, evidence that earthwormslived there.

ExtensionsWorm Watchin': Have the group find outmore about earthworms, the plowers ofsoil. They can find out how worms live,how they grow, how they move, and howthey help the soil. Like the children in AHOME FOR PEARL, the children can try tofind where earthworms live by looking fortheir castings. They may want to dig up ahandful and watch how they "farm" thesoil. Here's how: Put alternating layers ofsand and soil in a glass container so thatyou can see the layers against the side ofthe glass. Put a layer of dead leaves onthe surface and add some worms. Keepthe surface moist and watch thecontainer over a period of days. Watch forany signs of change in the leaves and soiland explain what you see.

Wild Habitat Ads: Use a classified adformat to advertise habitats for sale andhave the children guess the type ofwildlife that might be interested inresponding to the ads. For example:FRESH GARDEN PLOT AVAILABLE

Several vacancies open in cubic foot ofdamp garden soil in high-density commu-nity (lots of neighbors). Organic matterabundant most all year around. Call nowif you're willing to do some plowing inexchange for free food supply. (answer:earthworm) You may want to have eachchild choose a wild animal, find out whatthe animal needs in its habitat, and thenmake up his or her own "habit-ad" for theother children in the group to guess

12

Tom Thumb jungle: Have children in-vestigate wildlife habitats in small groupsoutside. Give each group a yard-longpiece of string tied in a circle and haveeach group pick a spot *.o lay down theirstring. Then have the children pretend toshrink down to Tom Thumb size and goon a wildlife hunt inside their string cir-cles. They may want to use hand lensesfor a close-up look. Have the groupsrecord information about their habitats,including the physical features, plants,and animals or animal signs they find.They could draw maps of their habitatstoo. Based on what they find, they shouldthink about what 'giant" animals mightvisit the mini-habitats. if possible, havedifferent groups investigate different habi-tat types, such as a grassy yard, ameadow, a brushy spot, under a tree, andso on. Have the groups compare theirmini-habitats. Which one had the mostdiversity? The least?

1 4

There are several different

types of cottontail rabbitsthat live in the United States.

The most common and mostwidespread is the easterncottontail. Cottontails live in

hab ts with diversity such as

fields, woods, and brushythickets. They eat the buds,leaves, berries, twigs, and bark

of a variety of plants, and theyare preyed on by different

types of predators, such ashawks, foxes or owls.

Cottontails have soft fur that'sbrownish on `..op and white

underneath. A frightened rabbit

can flash its distinctive white

"cottontail" as a warning signal

to other rabbits.

Cottontail rabbits make a nest

in a hidden spot. The femalelines the nest with soft fur from

her underside, and soft leavesand grasses. She usually has

three to five babies, severaltimes during the breedingseason. The breeding seasonlasts from January in the south

to March in the north.

Some female cottontailsproduce as many as thirty

babies every year!

,

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. ,.nerta;:-411:110,.44°

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Objectives Students will be ableto: 1) ste.te that humans and wildlife share en-vironments: and 2) generalize that wildlife ispresent in areas all over the earth.

WILDLIFE ISEVERYWHERE!

Method Students search their envi-ronment for evidence of wildlife.

Background People often thinkof wildlife only as large animals like those theysee in pictures of Africa, with lions and ele-phants. They migh* think of creatures of theNorth American fore:J:s that they have seenthemselves, like deer and elk. But wildlife in-cludes all animals that have not beendomesticated by people.Domesticated animals are those which have beentamed, made captive and bred for special pur-poses, Farm animals and pets are considereddomesticated animals. (See -"What's Wild?" and"Animal Charades.")Wild animals are all the rest. What may be sur-

prising is that wildlife includes the smallestanimal organismseven those that can be seenonly through a microscope, Spiders, insects, rep-tiles. worms, and most species of fish, birds, andmammals may be considered wildlife. Wildlifeoccurs in a tremendous variety of forms andcolors. And wildlife can be found all around us.Even when we think we can see or hear no ani-mals at allthey exist somewhere around us

_

maybe even under our feetl There are even tensof thousands of life forms on our skin, in ourhair, and inside our bodies) In fact, each of uswould die if all the organisme that inhabit ourbodies were to disappear. People are never trulyalone in an environment. Some form of wildlifeis near.The major purpose of this activity is for studentsto understand that people and wildlife share en-vironments. By investigating microenvironmentsor microhabitats, the students should be en-couraged to generalize from the informationthey acquire to the entire planet, coming to theunderstanding that wildlife exists in some formin all areas of the planet. In the deserts of thesouthern hemisphere: the oceans, tropicaljungles. and cities of the earth; from the Antarc-tic snow fields to the glaciers of the Arcticregion, wildlife exists in a variety of forms.

Materials string (optional)

Age: Grades K-3 (and older)Subjects: Science, Langt-age ArtsSkint: analysis. discussion, generalization. observation

Durnion: 30 to 45 minutesGroup Size: anySetting: indoors and outdoorsConceptual Framework Reference:1H, 1.8.1, 1.8.3.

Key Vocabulary: wildlife, wild, domesticated, environ-

ment. evidence

© 1983, 1985 Western Regional Environmental Education Council.

Reprinted with permission from Project WILD. All rights reserved. 1 615

ProcedureCAUTION: Ask students to observe but not touchor disturb animals they see.1. Invite your students to explore the classroom.looking for sigr.s of wildlife. Even in the mostcleanly-swept classrooms, you can usually findsome signs of lifeeither past or present. Itmight be a spider web, dead insects near Hghts,or insect holes along baseboards and behindbooks. Afte the search and a discussion with thestudents about whatif anythingthey found,introduce the idea that people and other animalsshare environments. Sometimes we don't evennotice that we are sharing our environment withother living things, but we are.2. Expand the search for other animals to theout-of-doors. Take the students on the schoolgrounds and give everyone, working in pairs. fiveminutes to find an animal or some sign that ananimal had been there. Look for indirect evi-dence, such as tracks, webs, droppings, feathers.and nests. (Be sure not to harm or seriouslydisturb anything.) After five minutes, sit downand talk about what everyone found.Or, in advance, create a wildlife trail for yourstudents to followlooking for signs of animalsalong the wayby placing a long piece of stringaround an area of the school grounds and"salting" the path along the string with evidenceof animals: bones, feathers. etc. The studentscan explore the trail in a "follow the leader"fashion. The students should remain quiet.observing to themselves. At the end of the trail.everyone should sit and discuss what they saw.3. Talk with the children about what theylearned. Emphasize that they have seen thatpeople and wildlife share environments. They

have seen evidence of wildlife at their school. Askthe children to guess whether they think dif-ferent kinds of animals are found all over theearthin the deserts, oceans, mountains, andcities. They may harvest their own experiencesand talk about places they have been and haveseen animals. Encourage the students to makethe generalization that wildlife is present all overthe earth.

Extensions1. Survey your yard. kitchen, neighborhood. orcity park . . . looking for wildlife.2. Search magazines and books for wildlife fromall over the planet.3. "Invent" names and describe the wildlife foundoutside during searches. Older students canobserve the animals. write a written descriptionand then check their invented names and des-criptions against the scientific names and infor-mation found in reference materials.4. Use state maps. Look up names of towns,cities, and counties with wild animal namesi

EvaluationIn which of the following places would you belikely to find animals living? in a forest: in a hot,dry. desert; in a lake; at the top of a mountain;at the North Pole: in New York City. What kindsof animals might you find in these places? Nameany areas on earth where you couldn't find anyanimals.

Name the things you saw, heard, or smelledwhich showed you that wildlife lives in the class-room and on the schoolgrounds.

i 716

ENVIRONMENTALBAROMETER

Objective Students will be able to:1) observe and count wildlife in an area; 2)discuss why the wildlife is or is not present: and3) consider ways in which the presence of wildlifecan be seen as an indicator of environmentalquality.

1VIethod Students go outside toobserve and count or estimate wildlife in an area;do the same in another setting to compare find-ings; andoptionallymake a school "environ-mental barometer."

Background Some species ofanimals are more adapted to difficult conditionsthan others. Some, in contrast, are so specializedthat it is quite difficult for them to find the food.water, shelter, and other things they need.

Wildlife serves as an important indicator of theoverall health of an area of the environment. Ifthere are few wild an!rnalsor little evidence ofwildlifepresent in an area, it is likely that thereis little available food, water, or shelter in thearea as well. The kinds of wildlife present are also

important indicators. Birds of prey, for example,are high on the food chain. If they are presentin an area, that is an indicator that there is somevariety of other animals and plants in the area.The major purpose of this activity is for studentsto consider the importance of wildlife as an in-dicator of environmental quality.

'Materials writing materials, posterboard or construction paper and marking pensor crayons

Age: Grades 3-5Subjects: Science, Math. Social StudiesSkills: analysis, classification, comparing similaritiesand differences, computation, discussion. evaluation,observation, synthesisDuration: twc 30e'5-minute periodsGroup Size: anySetting: outdoors and indoorsConceptual Framework Reference: I.A., I.B., I.C.. I.C.1.,

I.C.2., I.C.3., I.D., ll.B.3.. !LB.& IV.C..

IV.D.4., !V.D.5.Key Vochbulary: evidence, wildlife, environmentalquality, habitat. barometer

© 1983, 1985 Western Regional Environmental Education Council.

Reprinted with permission from Project WILD. All rights reserved. 17

8

Procedure1. Go outside with your students on the schoolgrounds to do a wildlife count. Each studentshould work alone and have writing materials.Ask each student to find a spot, sit quietly forten minutes. and observe. (Quiet is very irnpor-tant, to increase the likelihood of seeing wildlife.)The students should record the kinds and num-bers of any wildlife they see. They can includeevidence of wildlife, in addition to actualsightings.Ask the students to total the number of wildlifein each category, plus make a grand total of thewildlife they observed. If they find evidencerather than sighting wildlife, they shouldestimate the numbers. Put all the students' in-formation on one master chart.2. Next, take the students to a setting wherewildlife is more abundant. Repeat the processwith each student observing quietly for tenminutes and recording observations.3. Make a master chart of the information fromthis second environment.4. Compare the information from the two charts.Was there any difference in the two settings?Why or why not? Which environment seemed tohave the most different kinds of wildlife? Wherewere there the most of any one kind of wildlife,like the most birds? What kinds of food, water,shelter, and space were in each setting to sup-port the survival needs of wildlife? If there werefew animals, or many, in either settingwhatmight this tell us about the quality of the en-vironment? What is environmental quality? Canwildlife be an indicator of environmental quality?Talk about whether it is realistic for every envi-ronment to be a good habitat for varieties ofwildlife. Discuss the possibility and appropri-ateness of making efforts to improve environ-rnents as habitats for wildlife, and homes forpeople too.

NOTE TO TEACHER: Several possibilities mayarise when doing this activity with yourstudents. Your school may be in an area wherethere are few, if any, wild animals presentwithlittle access to any other area with much wildlife.If there is no significant difference between yourobservations in the two settings. you can stilltalk with the students about what this means.It is also possible that your school is in a wildlife-rich settingvirtually as rich as any other set-ting in the area. Again, it is all right if there is nosignificant difference in the number and varietyof wildlife observed in each area. You may alsochoose to make the observations and create the

itfu f.;..

re,r 11 '1

ff,? .

information charts only for one setting, simplyanalyzing and discussing the quality of the oneenvironmentwithout using another forcomparison.

ExtensionMake an environmental barometer to indicatethe quality of your school environment as ahabitat for wildlife. Share your barometer withother classes. Optional: Show seasonal changesin the barometer's readings.

EvaluationEach year, thousands of birdwatchers participatein a National Audubon Society bird count all overthe United States. The information is kept andcompared from year to year to see if changes oc-cur in the total number of birds, or in how manydifferent kinds of birds are sighted. If a steadyand long decrease in the bird populations occur-red over a period of five years, should everyonebe concernedand not just the birdwatchers?

Make a list of things we do in cities and townsthat tend to decrease the amount and kinds ofwildlife that lives there. Make a list of things wesometimes do in cities and towns that tend toincreasethe amounts of some kinds of wildlife.

identify and describe three things that peoplecould do to increase the numbers and kinds ofwildlife living in an area that has little evidenceof wildlife.

181 ;J

PART 3:

PredatorsOverview

Predators are an exciting and importantpart of a habitat. Sometimes people canimprove a habitat and attract morewildlife, including predators, by increasing

habitat diversity.

ObjectivesStudents will be able to:

Identify several ways people affectwildlife habitats.

I Name several predators.

Describe how a predator makes a living.

Key Words

habitat diversity--the variety of plants,animals, and physical features that existin a particular habitat.

predatoran animal that kills and eatsother animals. Owls, eagles, snakes, and

spiders are predators.

preyan animal that's eaten by a preda-tor. Mice are prey for owls.

nocturnalactive at night. Owls andearthworms are nocturnal animals.

owl pelleta compact "package" of un-digestable material coughed up by an owl.Pellets contain the bones, teeth, claws,and fur of prey animals, such as mice.

limiting factorsomething that limitsthe existence, growth, or number of atype of animal within a habitat. Cars,predators, disease, hunting, climate,polluticn, and size of habitat are exam-ples of limiting factors.

loss of habitatchanges in and destruc-tion of a habitat that affects the wildlife inthe habitat. Loss of habitat is the mainreason wildlife species become endan-

gered.

endangered speciesa plant or animal

that's in danger of becoming extinct. It

becomes endangered when one or morelimiting factors seriously affects it. Thebald eagle is an endangered species.

For Discussion1. Why did Winston say their park wasboring?

The park didn't have habitat diversity. Itdidn't have very many different kinds ofplants and animalsonly grass, tall treesand a few types of wildlife.

2. What habitat project did the chil-dren plan? What steps did they followin planning their project?

The children started a Habitat Club atschool and planned a project to improvethe habitat in the park. First they decided

Story Summar)!The children tell Di. Simpson about the plans of their Habitat Club to Woe-40 thehabitiSt.diversity Of the city park. They will attract more types of wildlife to the

by planting different varieties of plants and by adding bird houses and *de*They le.:411 that the improired habitat may attract predators too. Such aS

They aW ieam why the habitat won't be suitable for a predator like Pearl.

4

0..

which urban wildlife they wanted to at-tract. Then they found out the habitatrequirements of each species. Next theymade a list of all the different types ofplants they would add and decided whereto put them. Finally they made a model ofthe park to show others how it wouldlook.

3. Name several things the childrenwill add in the park. Explain why theychose each one.

Tall grasses for cover and clover for foodto attract rabbits. Different kinds of flow-

ers to attract butterflies and certain kinds

of birds. Different kinds of shrubs andtrees that provide shelter and fruits for

birds and other animals. Bird houses andfeeders to attract a variety of birds.

2(119

4. How might the children find out ifan owl moves into the new habitat?

If they found owl peii on the ground inthe park, they wc.2!. .ave e.: jf *:ce thatan owl was finding its prui there. Pelletsare gray, about I 1/2-3 Lic; r. n g andmight be *whitewashec.: owl'sdroppings since they are found under-neath the tree where the owl sits.

5. What are some limiting factors af-fecting barn owls in an urban habitat?

They could be poisoned by eating micethat had eaten pesticides put out by peo-ple to get rid of the mice. They could behit by cars wt.cm they hunt for prey nearroads. They may leave when people teardown old buildings that owls use for nest-ing and roosting.

6. What makes a barn owl or a baldeagle a good predator?

Barn owls have excellent hearing and vi-sion. They can turn their heads very far tolocate sounds, and the feathers on theirface form a disk that helps pick upsounds from their prey. They also can flyvery quietly, make startling sounds that"freeze" their prey, and then strike quickly,using their strong talons to grab and killtheir prey. Bald eagles have largewingspans to help them travei far andsoar high in search of prey. They have ex-cellent vision and can spot prey from amile away. Their strong talons and specialtoes help them capture and hold ontoslippery fish. They use their strong, sharpbeak to tear food apart.

7. Why would the children probablynot see a bald eagle in their park?

Bald eagles aren't urban wildlife. Theyneed lots of open space. very tall trees,and an abundant source of fish. They alsoprefer a quiet habitat, away from people.(There are some reported cases, though,of bald eagles nesting in highly populatedareas, such as next to condominiums inFlorida.)

20

ExtensionsHabitat Blueprint: Choose an area nearyour meeting place or in your communitythat you could improve by increOng itsdiversity. Make a habitat plan the way thechildren in A HOME FOR PEARL did. First

take an inventory of the plants and ani-mals that are already on the site. Thenfind out what other animals might be inyour area and list the ones you'd like toattract to the site. Research the habitatrequirements of the animals on your wantlist. Finally make a plan that describeshow you will provide the appropriatefood, water, shelter, and space for theanimals you wish to attract. If you like,you can make a display model of the im-proved habitat site.

Predator-Prey: Here are two games youcan play after trying "The Thicket Game°from Project WILD on page 23. First, haveyour group form a large circle outside.Choose one child to be a barn owl (preda-tor) and another to be a mouse (prey),and have them come into the center ofthe circle. Explain that the predator musttag its prey, and then blindfold the owl.The prey should call out "mouse" when-ever the blindfolded predator calls out"owl" so the predator can find the preythrough its sense of hearing. Remind thechildren, though, that owls also have verygood eyesight at night and rely on theirvision as well as their keen hearing. Oncethe owl tags the mouse, the children cantake turns being predator and prey. (Ideaadapt2d from the bat-moth game inSharing Nature with Children by JosephCornell, Ananda Publications, 1979.)

Another way to act out predators andprey is to play a game similar to RedLight, Green Light. Choose one child tobe a prey animal, and the rest can bepredators. line the predators up at oneend of your playing area and have theprey stand at the other end with his orher back turned. Now tell the predators totry to reach the prey without being seenwhenever the prey turns around. Anypredator caught moving by the prey mustreturn to the starting point. Once apredator tags the prey without beingseen, that child can become prey and the

game can start over. Afterward, discussthe different tactics predatois can use tocatch their prey. The children probablyused some of the same tactics in theirplay, such as moving very slowly and qui-etly, moving very fast, *freezing" to avoiddetection, changing directions to addconfusion, and so on. Prey animals canuse these tactics to avoid predators too.What are some other tactics for catchingprey or avoiding predators?

Pick Apart a Pellet: If there are owlsthat live in your area, you may be able tofind some of the pellets they cough upafter they eat. Or you can order owl pel-lets from a bioloOcal supply company.After you get some pellets, try pullingthem apart to find out what the owls haveeaten. Tweezers work well to separate thefur from the hard parts. Put the fur,bones, teeth, and claws from each pelletin separate piles. See if these clues cantell you the number and types of animalsthe owl ate. You may be able to contact anaturalist or biologist in your area to helpyou identify the contents of your owlpellets.

21

The barn owl is a nocturnalbird of prey, feeding mostly on

mice and rats. It is a medium-sized, long-legged owl, with

cinnamon-colored feathers on

its back and pale feathersbelow. The white feathers on its

face form a distinctive heart-shaped disk around its dark

eyes.

Barn owls generally hunt for

rodents in fields, woodedareas, towns, and on farms

throughout the United States,except for in the extremenorth. They nest and roost incavities in cliffs, in trees, or in

abandoned buildings. Farmersappreciate owls that take upresidence in barns and earntheir keep by controlling the

mice and rats.

Barn owls don't really make a

nest. A female simply lays from

five to seven round, white eggs

on a bare surface in a protect-

ed spot. Hatching occurs inabout 30 days.

The life span of a barn owl is

about II years.

In one year, a barn owl prob-

ably eats 2,000 rats and mice!

22 21

THE THICKET GAME

Objectives Students willto: 1) define adaptation in animals;generalize that all animals make sometions in order to survive.

be ableand 2)adapta-

Method Students become "predator"and "prey" in a version of "hide and seek."

Back 9round Animals are

adapted to t eir environment in order to survive.Animals may be adapted to changes in theirhabitats. For example. snowshoe rabbits have awhite winter coat to blend with a snowy environ-

ment and a tan summer coat to blend with sum-mer ground and vegetation colors. Charnel-enschange color to blend with their surroundings.The walking-stick insect can look like 3 twig orstick. Fawns have spotted hair that resemblesdappled light on the forest floor.The major purpose of this activity is for studentsto understand the importance of adaptation toanimals.NOTE: See "Seeing is Believing" and "SurpriseTerrarium" for other elementary-age adaptation

activities.

Materials blindfolds: outdoor arealike a thicket or other vegetated area wherestudents can safely hide

Irtfl

Procedure1. Take the class to a "thicket."2. Blindfold one student who will be the"predator." The predator counts to 15 slowlywhile the others hide. The students hiding mustbe able to see the predator all the time.3. After countinp. the predator removes theblindfold and looks for "prey" The predator canturn around, squat, and stand on tip-toesbutnot walk or change location. The predatorshouldsee how many students he or she can find, iden-tify them out loud and describe where they are.When identified. they come to the predatorbecause they have been "eaten." These prey nowbecome predators.4 When the original predator cannot see anymore students, all the predators now put onblindfolds. The original predator counts aloud toten. A!! the remaining prey are to move in closer,

but still try to be "safe" and hidden. All thepredators remove their blindfolds and take turnsnaming students they can see.5. Repeat the process if several students are stillhidden. When only one or two are left hidden,

Age: Grades K.6Subjects: Science. Physical Education. Language ArtsSkills: analysis. application. description, discussion,

generalization, kinesthetic concept development.observation, psychomotor developmentDuration: 30 minutesGroup Size: minimum of five studentsSetting: outdoorsConceptual Framework Reference: III.D., 111.0.1.. 111.0.2.

Key Vocabulary: adaptation. predator. prey

© 1983, 1985 Western Regional Environmental Education Council.

Reprinted with permission from Proiect WILD. All rights reserved. 23 23

have them stand up and identify themselves; itmay be surprising how close these prey were tothe predatorsan example of successful adap-tation because of how well they blend with theirenvironment in order to survive. Introduce theterm "adaptation."6. Play the game again one or two times.7. Discuss what would have made it easier to bethe last one or get very close to the predators.Some ideas that may come out are: changing col-or (clothes); wearing clothing that doesn't stickto plants; being of smaller size; climbing a tree.

8. Ask the students to summarize what theyhave learned. See if the students can think ofother examples of adaptation in animals.Generalize that all animals are adapted tosurvive.

EvaluationDescribe the importance of adaptation toanimals. Give at least two examples of animaladaptation.

24

Objectives Students will be able to:1) identify and describe food, water, and shelteras three essential components of habitat; 2)describe the importance of good habitat for ani-mals; 3) define "limiting factors" and give ex-amples; and 4) recognize that some fluctuationsin wildlife populations are natural as ecologicalsystems undergo a constant change.

Method Students become "deer" andcomponents of habitat in a highly-involvingphysical activity.

Background A variety of factorsaffects the ability of wildlife to successfullyreproduce and to maintain their populations overtime. Disease, predator/prey relationships. vary-ing impacts of weather conditions from seasonto season (e.g.. early freezing, heavy snows, flood-

ing, drought). accidents, environmental pollution.

and habitat destruction and degradation areamong these factors.Some naturally-caused as well as culturally-induced limiting factors serve to prevent wild-life populations from reproducing in numbersgreater than their habitat can support. An excess

of such limiting factors, however, leads to threat-ening. endangering, and eliminating whole spe-

cies of animals.The most fundamental of life's necessities forany animal are food, water, shelter, and space in

a suitable arrangement. Without these essentialcomponents. animal cannot survive.This activity is designed for students to learnthat:a) good habitat is the key to wildlife survival;b) a population will continue to increase in sizeuntil some limiting factors are imposed;c) limiting factors contribute to fluctuations inwildlife populations; andd) nature is never in "balance." but is constantly

changing.Wildlife populations are not static. They con-tinuously fluctuate in response to a variety ofstimulating and limiting factors. We tend tospeak of limiting factors as applying to a singlespecies. although one factor may affect manyspecies. Natural limiting factors, or thosemodeled after factors in natural systems, tend

OH DEER!to maintain populations of species at levelswithin predictable ranges. This kind of "balancein nature" is not static, but is more like a teeter-totter than a balance. Some species fluctuate orcycle annually. Quail, for example. may start witha population of 100 pairs in early spring; growto a population of 1200 birds by late spring: and

decline slowly to a winter population of 100 pairsagain. This cycle appears to be almost totallycontrolled by the habitat components of food,water, shelter, and space. which are also limitingfactors. Habitat components are the most funda-mental and thereby the most critical of limiti. gfdctors in most natural settings.This activity is intended to be a simple butpowerful way for students to grasp some basicconcepts: that everything in natural systems isinterrelated: that populations of organisms arecontinuously affected by elements of their envi-ronment; and that populations of animals do notstay at the same static number year after yearin their environment, but rather are continuallychanging in a process of maintaining dynamicequilibria in natural systems. The major purposeof this activity is for students to understand theimportance of suitable habitat as well as factorsthat may affect wildlife populations in con-stantly changing ecosystems.

Materials areaeither indoors oroutdcorslarge enough for students to run; e.g.,playing field; chalkboard or flip chart; writingmaterials

1983. 1985 Western Regional

Age: Grades 4-12Subjects: Science. Math, Social Studies, Physical

EducationSkills: application, comparing similarities and differ-

ences, description, discussion, generalization.graphing. kinesthetic concept development, observa-

tion. psychomotor developmentDuration: 30-45 minutesGroup size: 1 5 and larger recommendedSetting: indoors or outdoors; large area for running

neededConceptual Framework Reference: 1.C.2.. III.B., 111.8.2..

111.13.3., 111.8.5.. 111.C.. 111.C.1., 111.C.2., 111.E.. 111.E.1., 111.E.2..

11I.F.1., 111.F.2.. 111.F.3., 11I.F.4.. 111.F.5., IV.C.. IV.C.1..

1V.C. 2.

Key Vocabulary: habitat, limiting factors, predator.

prey. population, balance of nature. ecosystem

Environmental Education Council.

Reprinted with permission from Protect WILD. All rights reserved. 25

23

Procedure

:)? `'

ss,

1. Begin by telling students that they are aboutto participate in an activity that emphasizes themost essential things that animals need in orderto survive. Review the essential components ofhabitat with tho students: food. water. shelter.and space in a suitable arrangement. This activ-ity emphasizes three of those habitat com-ponentsfood. water, and shelter--but thestudents should not forget the importance ofthe animals having sufficient space in which tolive, and that aH the components have to be ina suitable arrangement or the animals will die.2. Ask your students to count off in four's. Haveall the one's go tc one art:a: all two's. three's, andfour's go together to another area. Mark twoparaHel lines on the ground or floor ten to 20yards apart. Have the one's line up behind oneline: the rest of the students line up behind theother line.3. The one's become "deer All deer need goodhabitat in order to survive. Ask the studentswhat the essential components of habitat are

26

'

s-.

1,t141

-

4o.

4`.

again: food, water, shelter, and space in asuitable arrangement. For the purposes of thisactivity, we will assume that the deer haveenough space in which to hve. We are empnasiz-ing food, water. and shelter. The deer (the one's)need to find food, water, and shelter in order tosurvive. When a deer is looking for food, it shouldclamp its hands over its stomach. When it is looking for water, it outs its hands over its mouth.When it is looking for shelter. it holds its handstogether over its head. A deer can choose to lookfor any one of its needs during each round or segment of the activity: the deer cannot, however.change what it Is looking for; e.g.. when it seeswhat is available. during that round It canchange again what it is looking for in the nextround, if it survives.4. The two's, three's, and four's are food. water.and sneltercomponents of habitat. Each student gets to choose at the beginning of eachround which component he or she will be duringthat round. The students depict which component they are in the same way the deer showwhat they are looking for; that is. hands onstomach for food. etc.

5. The game starts with all players lined up ontheir respective lines (deer on one side; habitatcomponents on the other side)and with theirbacks to the students at the other line.6. The facilitator or teacher begins the firstround by asking all of the students to make theirsignseach deer deciding what it is looking for,each habitat component deciding what it is. Give

the students a few moments to get their handsin placeover stomachs, mouths, or over theirheads. (As you look at the two lines of students,you will normally see a lot of varietywith somestudents water, some food, some shelter. As thegame proceeds. sometimes the students conferwith each other and all make the sar1.e sign.That's okay, although don't encourage it. For ex-ample, all the students in habitat might decideto be shelter. That could represent a droughtyear with no available food or water,)7. When you can see that the students a "e ready.coprit: "One. . . two. . . three." At the count ofthree, each deer and each habitat comoonent 35"

turn to face the opposite group, continuing to 30

hold their signs clearly. t58. When deer see the habitat component they 2.0

need, they are to run to it. Each deer must holdthe sign of what it is looking for until gettingto the habitat component person with the samesign. Each deer that reaches its necessaryhabitat component takes the "food." "water." or"shelter" back to the deer side of the line. Thisis to represent the deer's successfully meetingits needs, and successfully reproducing as aresult. Any deer that fails to find its food, water,or shelter dies and becomes part of the habitat.That is, in the next round, the deer that died isa habitat component and so is available as food,water, or shelter to the deer who are still alive.NOTE: When more than one deer reaches ahabitat component, the student who gets therefirst survives. Habitat components stay in placeon their line until a deer needs them. If no deerneeds a particular habitat component during around, the habitat component just stays whereit is in the habitat. The habitat person can,however, change which component it is fromround to round.9. You as the facilitator or teacher keep track ofhow many deer there are at the beginning of thegame. and at the end of each round you recordthe number of deer also. Continue the game forapproximately 15 rounds. Keep the pace brisk,and the students will thoroughly enjoy it.10. At the end of the 15 rounds, gather thestudents tother to discuss the activity.Encourage them to talk about what they ex-

perienced and saw. For example. they saw a small

herd of deer (seven students in a class size of 28)

begin by finding more than enough of its habitatneeds. The population of deer expanded over twoto three rounds of the game, until the habitatwas depleted and there was not sufficient food,water, and shelter for all the members of theherd. At that point, deer starved or died of thirstor lack of shelter, and they returned as part ofthe habitat. Such things happen in nature also.11. Using a flip chart pad or an availablechalkboard, post the data recorded during thegame. The number of deer at the beginning ofthe game and at the end of each round repre-sent the number of deer in a series of years. Thatis. the beginning of the game is year one: each

round is an additional year. Deer can be postedby five's for convenience. For example:

5

I S4 5 rf S' 9 10 ti ILye4

The students will see this visual reminder ofwhat they experienced during the game: thedeer population fluctuated over a period of years.

This is a natural process, as long as the factor .

which limit the population do not become exces-

sive, to the point where the animals cannotsuccessfully reproduce. The wildlife populationswill tend to peak, decline, and rebuild, peak.decline, and rebuildas long as there is goodhabitat and sufficient numbers of animals tosuccessfully reproduce.12.1n discussion, ask the sudents to summarizesome of the things they have learned from thisactivity. What do animals need to survive? What

are some of the "limiting factors" that affecttheir survival? Are wildlife populations static, ordo they tend to fluctuate, as part of an overall"balance of nature?" Is nature ever really in"balance." or are ecological systems involved in

a process of constant change?

Extensions1. When you have finished tabulating the graphdata and discussing it, ask the students if they

© 1983. 1985 Western Regional Environmental Education Council.

Reprinted with permission from Project WILD. All rights reserved. 2 727

have ever heard of the Hudson Bay trappers inAmerican history. Tell them, briefly, who theywere.There is a hundred years, or more, of records ofthe activities of these trappers. In those recordsare some interesting data. These data refer topelts shipped from America to Europe, partic-ularly the pelts of snowshoe hares and lynx.Researchers have found that snowshoe harepopulations seem to peak about every seven tonine years and then crash, repeating the processover each comparable time period. So, a snow-shoe hare population graph would look like this:

AVERA4e l'oPpLATTp0FoR HAR

3 %

14 2YEARS

It has also been discovered that lynx populationsdo the same thingexcept that they do it oneyear behind the hare populations. The combinedgraph would look like this:

wARE poPULATIotO

LYNX POULAT1o0

a

14 1 26e AIRS

Graph this right over the deer graph that youmade, adding first the hares, and then the lynx.Ask the students:

Which animal is the predator? Which prey?Are predators controlling the prey, or are prey

controlling the predators? (We have beenbrought up to "know" that predators control thepreyand are now discovering that this is notso. The number of prey animals available tells ushow many predators can live in the area.)

Is this like the deer habitat game we justplayed? Who controls? (Sometimes the habitatwhen the deer population is not too large; some-

times the habitatwhen the deer population"gets on top of it" and destroys the vegetativefood and cover.)2. Some recent research has added a new dimen-sion to the story of the snowshoe hares and thelynx.

It has been found that a major winter food ofthe hare is a small willow. As hare populationsgrow, the use of the willow plants grows too.But, when the willow plant has been "hedged"or eaten back so far, the plant generates a toxin(poison) which precludes use by the hare. Thatis when the hare population crashes, followed bythe crash of the lynx population about a yearlater. Then the willow, relieved of pressure.begins to grow again. The hare population beginsto grow in response, and last of all, within a yearor so, the lynx population follows. And the cyclehas begun againover and overevery seven tonine years.

Discuss the "balance of nature." Is it ever in"balance?"

EvaluationName three essential components of habitat.Define "limiting factors." Give three examples.Examine the graph. What factors may havecaused the following population changes:a. between years 1 and 2?b. between years 3 and 4?c. between years 5 and 6?d. between years 7 and 8?

-62.34 6 7 YEAR

Which of the following graphs represents themore typically balanced population?

TIME

TiM

28 P S

PAR T 4:

The Right Home for PearlOverviewBald eagles have very specific habitat re-quirements. They have become an endan-gered species due to problems with lossof habitat and pollution in their environ-ment. Eagles and other types of endan-gered wildlife are protected in specialplaces called wildlife refuges.

ObjectivesStudents will be able to:

Identify the habitat needs of a baldeagle.

List several reasons bald eagles areendangered.

Define wildlife refuge.

Key Wordshabitatthe place where an animal lives.An animal's habitat provides food, water,shelter, and space.

acid rainprecipitation that forms whencertain pollutants in the atmosphere mixwith water vapor. Acid rain can pollute thewater and soil, affecting different types of

plants and animals.

wildlife refugean area set aside toprotect wildlife and wildlife habitat. TheNational Wildlife Refuge System, managedby the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is acollection of nearly 450 refugesrepresenting over 90 million acres oflands and waters managed specifically forwildlife.

loss of habitat--changes in and destruc-tion of a habitat that affects the wildlife inthe habitat. Loss of habitat is the mainreason wildlife becomes endangered.

For Discussion

2% -Alai.

I. What specific kinds of food, water,shelter, and space will Pearl requirein her habitat?

Eagles eat mostly fish. They may also takewaterfowl and scavenge for dead animals,especially during the winter, when fish areharder to find. There must be water wherethere's an abundant supply of fish, andthe water must be clean and unpolluted.Eagles can be affected by pollution thatcontaminates the fish and other animalsthey eat. For shelter, eagles prefer very talltrees, up to 100 feet, for perching andbuilding their nests in. 'ihey usually preferquiet places, away from developed areas.(Some are known to nest near people,

such as next to a condominium develop-ment in Florida.) Bald eagles also needplenty of space in which to fly safely. Theymay fly as far as 200 miles a day in searchof food. In the winter, they must fly evenfurther, and then return to their nestingarea in the spring.

2. What types of pollution can affectthe food that bald eagles eat?

DDT, an insecticide that was once used inthis country, contributed to the decline ofeagle populations. When traces of itwashed into waterways and turned up inthe fish eaten by eagles, the eggs theylaid were too thin-shelled to support theincubating parent and would break. Baldeagles may scavenge animals killed bylead shot. If an eagle gets the lead in its

Story Summary,Pearl, the bald eagle, has completely recovered and is ready to be released. Dr.Simpson finds Winston, Tammy, and Heather in the wildlife rehabilitation centerfibrary, researching what Narl will need in her new habitat. They visit a statewildlife area, but find k's unsuitable because of recent development nearby. They

then visit a national wildlife refuge where they track another bald eagle by radio.

The children determine that the wildlife refuge is the best place to release Pearl,

and they assist in returning her to the wild.

29

system, the lead poisoning can kill it. Acidrain is causing problems in some parts ofthe country. It changes the chemical bal-ance of lakes, making them unsuitable forfish. With fewer fish, there are fewer ea-gles. Oil spills, such as the one in Alaskafrom the oil tanker Valdez, can also affectfish and fish-eating eagles.

3. Why was the state wildlife area thechildren first visited unsuitablehabitat for Pearl?

The area had plenty of fish and clean wa-ter, and eagles had lived there earlier. Butthe land bordering the wildlife area hadbeen cleared for development. With fewertrees and more people and noise, the ea-gles moved away.

4. How did Mr. Konishi, the wildlifeofficer, locate the male bald eagle inthe national wildlife refuge?

Because bald eagles are an endangeredspecies, the male eagle had beencaptured by a wildlife researcher and fit-ted with a radio transmitter. The transmit-ter helps track the eagle so that scientistsmay learn more about its habits and tohelp protect it. Mr. Konishi used an an-tenna to pick up the signals from thetransmitter to find the eagle.

5. What were some signs that provedthe national wildlife refuge would bea suitable place to release Pearl?

There were lots of people fishing, indicat-ing that there were plenty of fish. Therewere plenty of trees, one of which alreadyhad an eagle's nest in it. There were noobvious problems with DDT or acid rain.And hunters were not allowed to use leadshot in their guns. There was enoughpeace and quiet. There was a male baldeagle already living in the area. The refugeis ln area where endangered species andother wildlife are protected. Wildlife man-agers can monitor and protect the ani-mals on the refuge. And there were otherrefuges south of this one where migratingeagles could travel safely, rest, and findfood.

30

Extensions

Visit a Wildlife Refuge: There are lots ofplaces across the countryboth largeand small, public and privatewherewildlife is protected. There's probably onesuch place that you can visit in your area.For example, to find out if there's a na-tional wildlife refuge near you, contactyour regional U.S. Fish and WildlifeService office (see list on page 41). Hereare some things your group can try to dis-cover when they visit a wildlife area: Howmany different kinds of habitats are in thesanctuary and what are they? What kindsof wildlife live in the sanctuary? How doesthe sanctuary meet the habitat needs ofthe different animals? Are any of the ani-mals endangered? If so, what's beingdone to help protect them?

Build a Mini-Refuge: If you drew up ahabitat blueprint as an extension activityfor Part 3, here's a chance to put it intoaction. First, get permission to implementyour plan from the owner of the propertyyou wish to improve. Once you have theapproval, check the list of wildlife speciesyou wanted to attract and the changesyou needed to make to attract them.Then assign separate tasks to smallgroups and begin work. Here are somegeneral ideas:

For food, add plants that provideseeds, fruits, leaves, and nectar ff.attracting birds, insects, and smal. m-mals. You can also include supplementaryfood sources such as a variety of birdfeeders.

IN If there's not already a natural source ofwater in the habitat, you must supply anartificial one, such as a shallow birdbath.

To provide shelter, you can plant tallgrasses, flowers, shrubs, and trees. Orcreate natural nooks and crannies bybuilding piles of brush or rocks. You canalso build and put up boxes for nestingand roosting.

Don't forget the space needs of theanimals you're trying attract. Your habi-tat may not be big enough for some ofthe animals, but there may be other areasnearby that the animals can use to travelaround safely.

3 0

Tell the World: No matter where youlive, there's wildlife in your world. Find outas much as you can about the wildlife inyour area and educate other people inyour community about it. For example, ifyou create a mini-refuge, get some public-ity about it; if there's an endangeredspecies in your area, put up an exhibitabout it; if there's an important habitat inyour area that's in danger of disappear-ing, start a letter-writing campaign to stopor minimize the loss. These are just a r.ewof the many things you can do to teachothers about wildlife in their world. Youcan make a difference by taking action toprotect wildlife and wildlife habitat.

The bald eagle was chosen as

the country's national symbol

in 1782. The adult is easily

recognized by its brown body,

pure white head and tail, and

yellow eyes, beak, and feet.

Bald eagles prefer wild areas

where there are lots of fish

along coasts, lakes and rivers

far from human development.

They became an endangered

species :lue to habitat loss,

pollutants such as DDT and

lead, and poaching. Although

eagles are still in trouble,

they've made a comeback

since the mid-1970s due to the

banning of DDT and widespread

protection efforts.

Bald eagles are not endangered

in Alaska because there is a lot

of suitable habitat there.

Eagles build large nests of

sticks in tall trees, usuallyevergreens, and each pair may

raise one to three young. The

pair usually returns to the same

nest year after year, adding new

sticks each year until the nestbecomes so large and heavy

that it breaks off.

When a young bald eagle leaves

its nest, it is larger than its own

parents!

R 1 31

Objectives Students will be ableto: 1) identify a problem involving wildlife ontheir own school grounds; 2) suggest andevaluate alternative means by which to eithersolve the problem or at least improve the situa-tion; 3) successfully undertake the project; and4) analyze and describe the process by whichthey successfully solved the problem or improvedthe situation.

IVIethod Students select a school en-vironmental project; conduct research: makeplans; and follow procedures to accomplish theproject.

Background Each of us canmake constructive contributions to improvingthe environment in which we live. Sometimesour actions can improve the environment forpeople, sometimes for wildlife, and sometimesfor both. Sometimes our effectiveness can beimproved if we work with other peoplesharingideas, information, and skills.

wo r kin g knowledge of the following terms will.)e useful to students in this activity:Problema difficult situation to be improved, oran opportunity to make things better. Problemscan't always be "solved." but situations can usu-ally be improved.Authorityan individual or group of people withthe power to make changes.Compromisea way to settle a problem in whichboth "sides- usually give a little.

© 1983, 1985 Western Regional

CAN DO!

Given that it is important for young people tolearn that they "can do" for people, wildlife, andthe environmentuse your judgement in thecourse of this activity to assist students in se-lecting a project that is realistic, constructive,and possible. If not, the students may experiencean activity that contributes to their thinkingthat they "can't do,"The major purpose of this activity is to providestudents an opportunity to experience successin taking constructive actions to improve the en-vironment for people and wildlife.NOTE: See "The Monday Group: From Awarenessto Action" for descriptions of successful com-munity projects undertaken by older students,but still relevant as examples of what can bedone.

'Materials writing materials

Age: Grades 2-9Subjects: Social Studies. Language Arts. ScienceSkills: analysis, application, description, discussion,evaluation, invention, listing, public speaking, problem-solving, small group work. synthesis. writingDuration: minimum of three 45-minute periodsGroup Size: anySetting: outdoors and indoorsConceptual Framework Reference: 1.D.. IV.A.. 1V.A.1..IV.A.2.. 1V.A.3.. IVA.4.,IV.D.4.. IV.D.5., IV.D.6., IV.E.. IV.E.4.. IV.E.5., IV.E.9.,IV.E.10., IV.F.11., VI.B.7., VIIA.. VIIA.2.. VIIA.3., VII.B..VI1.B.1., VII.B.5., VII.B.6.Key Vocabulary: problem, authority. compromise. con-structive. realistic, effective, alternatives

Environmental Education Council.

Reprinted with permission from Project WILD. All rights reserved. 3 2 33

Procedure1. Ask the students to think of some ways inwhich they could improve areas of the schoolgrounds as a home for wildlife. They mightgenerate a list of activities on their schoolgrounds that have a negative impact on wildlife.The list might include litter that poses a hazardfor some kinds of wildlife; a muddy area thatbirds use for water but that has been recom-mended for blacktopping to minimize dust andmud; a 1...oposed pesticide spraying that will notonly kill the "pest" but perhaps affect otherplants and animals; removal of a tree thatpresently helps contribute to cleaning the air,produces oxygen, and serves as a food andshelter source for varying kinds of wildlife. etc.2. Looking at the list of possible problems andsuggestions for ways to improve wildlife habitatat schoolask the students to select one theythink they could realistically handle and dosomething constructive about. If there is difficul-ty in deciding which one, and reasonable supporthas been offered for each, the students mightvote to decide. Students could also makespeeches in support of the project they want totackle, in hopes of swaying the class vote.3. Once the project has been selected, ask thestudents to work alone or in small groups tobegin to generate ideas for possible solutions tothe problem and ways to implement the project.Each individual or small group could come upwith a plan, including a written description andillustrations or sketches of how it will work, andhow it can be accomplished.4. Ask the groups to present their plans to therest of the students. Students may ask ques-tions for clarification. Once all the plans havebeen presented, ask the students to select theplan that seems most: a) constructive; b)

realistic; L) helpful to wildlife; and d) apt to makea lasting contribution.5. Also ask the students to select one or morealternative plans, in case their first choice is notacceptable to authorities at the schooL6. Once a plan, with alternatives for "back up,"has been selectedask the students to select adelegation to present their proposal to the schoolprincipal or whomever the appropriate authoritywould be. Remember janitors, groundskeepers,school board, etc:anyone who would be physi-cally and/or officially involved. A practice sessionbefore the students and any interested parentsor other groups of students would be helpful.At the practice session, the student delegationwould make their presentation as they plan tobefore the principal, janitor, etcresponding to

any questions from their audience that mightbe raised.7. The students should make an appointment topresent their proposal, make the presentation,and report back to their classmates. If their planis accepted, they should make sure they knowwho to contact next in order to successfully com-plete their project. Making sure they have allnecessary permissions secured, the studentsshould proceed to successfully accomplish theirproject.8. Once accomplished, ask the students toanalyze their results. Did things work out likethey wanted them to? Were there any surprises?Any unforeseen problems? How might they havebeen any more effective?

EvaluationA nature trail near you is being vandalized. Peopleare shooting at squirrels, taking bird nests fromtrees, and using knives to destroy interpretivesigns. Name three things you and your classcould do to help reduce this problem.

34

cHRINKINC !-!Ahc'ITAT-*___1116.11%411W"'

4

r

AA.

Objectives Students will be ableto: 1) describe some effects of human develop-ment of land areas on plants and animalspreviously living in the area; 2) evaluate theimportance of suitable habitat for wildlife; and3) recognize that loss of habitat is generally con-sidered to be the most critical problem facingwildlife today.

IVIethod Students simulate a processof land development in a physically-involvingactivity.

Cc) 1983, 1985 Western Regional

diu

1§igr.

.1400P'4.

Age: Grades 4-7Subjects: Social Studies, ScienceSkills: application, comparing similarities and dif-ferences, description, discussion, tvaluation,generalization, kinesthetic concept development,observation, synthesisDuration: one 45-minute period or longerGroup SIze: minimum of six students, with onedeveloper, one carnivore, three herbivores, and one treeSetting: indoors or outdoors, large area with room forpeople and propsConceptual Framework Reference:1.A., 1.B., 1.C.. 1.C.1.,I.C.2., 1.C.3., 1.C.4. I.D., 11.B.2., Ill.C.1., 111.0.2., 111.0.3.,III.D.4., IV.C.. IV.C.1., IV.C.2.. IV.C.3.,1V.E.10., V.A., V1.A.,VI.A.2., VI.A.3., VI.A.4., Vl.A.5., Vl.B., VI.B.1., VLB.2.,Vl.B.3., VI.B.4., Vl.B.5., VI.C., VI.C.2., Vl.C.12, VI.C.16.,VI.D., VI.D.1.. VII.A., VII.A.1,, V1I.A.2., VII.A.3., VII.A.4.,

V1I.B.1., V11.B.2.. VILB.3., V11.B.4., VILB.5., VII.B.6..

Key Vocabulary: habitat, food chain, development, her-bivores, carnivores, vegetation, consequences

Environmental Education Council.

Reprinted with permission from Project WILD. All rights reserved. 3 4 35

Back round All around us, andall over the p anet, wildlife habitat is being lost.Whenever an area of land is paved for a shoppingcenter, divided and excavated for homes for peo-ple, and sometimes when it is plowed to growa cropsmall animals lose their homes, and fre-quently their sources of food and water. As thesesmall animals disappear, so too do the largeranimals that previously depended upon thesmaller animals in the food chain as a source offood. Animals that can nu i. tolerate human inter-vention may also disappear without any directrelationship to the food chain. (For example, see"Too Close For Comfort.")Students can observe this phenomenon neartheir homes and schools, or at least in theirregion. This process is happening in large eco-systems and small, all over the earth.For example, many wetlands on the planet havebeen filled in and drained to make land for farm-ing and homes. When they are filled in, manykinds of water birds, reptiles, amphibians, crusta-ceans, and other life formsincluding a widevariety of vegetationare lost. Sometimes theanimal forms can move on; most often theycannot.Some of the tropical forests of the planet havebecome extremely vulnerable in recent years.Scientists estimate that huge numbers of plantand animal forms exist in these forests that havenot even been identified as yet. They are tremen-dously important sources of the earth's biologicaldiversity. In fact, some scientists warn that asthese genetic pools are reduced, the flexibilityand thus capacity to survive of the remainingplants and animals on earth will ultimately bereduced.The major purpose of this activity is for studentsto simulate some of the potential impacts ofland development on wildlife and its habitat, torecognize that this process is one that is takingplace in areas all over the planet. and to under-stand that loss of habitat is generally consideredto be the most critical problem facing wildlifetoday.

Materials green and blue construc-tion paper; classroom desks, tables or chairs; fiveor six large bedsheets or blankets for a studentgroup of about 25

Procedure1. Review with the students the elementsnecessary for a habitat (food, water, shelter, andspace arranged suitably for the particularanimal). (See Components of Habitat in the"Cross References,") After some discussion tomake sure that the elements of habitat are clear-ly in mind, tell the students that in this activitythey will be simulating wildlife in its habitat.2. Divide the students into four groups: herbi-vores, carnivores. vegetation (trees, shrubs,grasses, etc.), and people who will be landdevelopers. If the students are not familiar withthe terms "herbivore" and "carnivore," providethem with working definitions of those terms(herbivorea plant-eating animal; carnivoreameat-eating animal; and although not needed forthis activity, omnivorean animal that eats bothplants and animals). Plan for three times as manyherbivores as carnivores with a small number ofdevelopers in proportion to the other two groups.The numbers (amount) of vegetation may vary.For example, two developers, three carnivores,nine herbivores, and six trees or bushes(vegetation).3. Establish a large areaeither in the classroom,with tables, chairs, and desks moved to the sidesof the room, or outsidethat can be used tosimulate the wildlife habitat area before develop-ment. The "land developers" are to stay on thesidelines at this time, simply observing theundeveloped land and its wildlife inhabitantsor meeting on their own, nearby, to make plansfor development. In fact, they can make their en-trance rather suddenly once the wildlife habitathas been establishedsimulating the arrival ofheavy construction equipment.

36 ;4 5

4. Provide each "herbivore" with:two desks or chairs to use as "shelter" (or

string or hula hoops);three pieces of green construction paper to

represent food;one piece of blue construction paper to repre-

sent water; andsome of the vegetation portrayed by students.

Provide each "carnivore" with:one desk or chair to use as a "lair" (or string

or hula hoop);space equivalent to that used by three herbi-

vores:three herbivores as a potential food source;one piece of blue construction paper to repre-

sent water; andsome of the vegetation portrayed by students.

5. Ask the "herbivores" to arrange the food,water, and shelterincluding the students whoare "vegetation"in a space to represent theirhabitat. Once the herbivores have arranged theirhabitat, ask the "carnivores" to move into thearea to establish their lairs and water sources,keeping an eye on the herbivores as possible foodsources. For added interest, suggest that thestudents identify what particular kind of animalthey are, and role-play its characteristics. (Thisphase takes about ten minutes. with thedevelopers planning while the herbivores andcarnivores arrange their habitat.)6. Once all the animals are established in theirhabitats, it is time for the developers to enterthe picture. These developers have been giventhe opportunity to create a housing and shop-ping area. (They may use three to seven minutesto construct thew development, explaining theiractions as they take them.) They are restrictedin how much space they can use. They may usethe space equivalent to that used by three her-bivores, The developers may use the sheets andblankets to build their development. They mayremove trees, represented by students (withoutphysically hurting the students), shelter.(represented by desks), food and water.7. Once they have constructed their develop-ment, engage all of the students in a discussionof what happened, What action took place? Withwhat consequences? Would or did any animalsdie? From what causes? Could the developershave done anything differently to change theconsequences? Could they have developed severalscattered small areas instead of one large area.or vice versa, with what effects? Would it havereduced negative consequences for wildlife ifthey put the development in a different area ofthe habitat? Rather than negative consequences.

were there positive consequences? If so, whatwere they? How were they achieved? Ask thestudents to consider and discuss what seemedrealistic about the activity, and what did not. Forexample, sometimes development can take placethat enhances the area for some kinds of wild-life. Often, however, it will not be the same kindsof wildlife that were in the area before develop-ment. Planners and developers can sometimesadd to the vegetation in an area, creating addi-tional shelter and food for some kinds of wildlife,and make water sources available under someconditions, if there is insufficient water in thearea,

et-

8. Ask the students to summarize some of thepossible impacts on wildlife from human activ-ities like development of land areas. Are thereplaces in your community where wildlife habitathas been lost by human development? Are thereplaces where wildlife habitat has been enhancedby human activity? What choices, if any. arethere to development of previously undevelopedareas? What trade-offs are involved; for exam-ple, in developing vacan4.: areas within com-munities rather than undeveloped areas outsideof communities? If development does take place,what kinds of actions can people take to mini-mize the negative consequences for wildlife,vegetation, and other elements of the environ-ment? What about possible economic costs?Social costs? Ecological costs? Aesthetic costs?etc. Discuss loss of habitat as something that isaffecting wildlife all over the planet. Ask thestudents to summarize the importance ofsuitable habitat for wildlife. Discuss thestudents' concerns and recommendations.

© 1983. 1985 Western Regional Environmental Education Council.

f;37

Extensions1. Conduct this activity twice, with the studentstrading roles the second time. When the formerwildlife become land developers, they could seeif they could produce a development plan thatcould benefit the area for people and wildlife insome ways. The activity can also be conductedtc show differences between developing the en-tire areawith likely loss of ell wildlife in theareato developing only part of the area, withsome wildlife likely to survive.2. Ask students to complete the followingsentence, and discuss their response: "If I weregoing to build a house for my family in apreviously undeveloped area, I would . ."

EvaluationName and describe three animals or plants which

used to live in your area, but no longer do.

Describe the changes that seem most responsi-ble for eliminating each of these plants oranimals.

Suggest and evaluate the advantages and disad-vantages, if any, of possible actions that couldhave been taken to prevent the elimination ofthese plants or animals from the area.

Name one kind of wildlife that would do better.and one kind of wildlife that would do worse. inareas in which humans cut down a forest andplanted grass: dammed a creek to flood a valley:put in a housing development with large lawnsand many shrubs: built a city on a lakeshore withcrowded skyscrapers.

38

Evaluation ExercisesWhen A HOME FOR PEARL was pilot-tested with elementary school students inthe Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, itwas found to have a positive impact ontheir wildlife attitudes and knowledge.There were significant changes in theirresponses to the statements providedbelow under "What Do You Think?" and"What Do You Know?" when asked beforeand after viewing the video. You can de-termine how great an impact the videohas on your group by using these evalua-tion questions. Here's how:

Before showing Part 1 of A HOME FORPEARL, read the attitude statements ur.-der "What Do You Think?" to your group.{aye the children tell you whether they

agree or disagree with each one. If theyaren't sure how they feel, they should justsay, "I don't know." Ask them to thinkcarefully about each statement and torespond as honestly as possible. Explainthat there are no right or wrong answersand that all answers are OK. Also explainthat they shouldn't worry about how any-one else might respond. They should sim-

ply give their own opinions.

Next ask the true or false questions under"What Do You Know?" Tell your studentsyou don't expect them to know the rightanswers.

Some terms will be unfamiliar to them.Explain that these terms will becomemore familiar after watching A HOME FOR

PEARL.

After showing all four parts of the videoand completing the activities for Part 4,read the attitude statements and knowl-edge questions again. You may want tokeep a record of how the childrenresponded both before and after viewingA HOME FOR PEARL. People's attitudesabout a given topic can sometimeschange according to the amount ofknowledge or awareness they have aboutthe topic. Did any of the children's atti-tudes change? If so, have them discuss

their reasons.

What Do You Think? What Do You Know?

1. If I found a baby bird on the ground, Iwould take it home and keep it for a pet.(agree or disagree?)

2. I would rather watch television than gooutside to watch birds. (agree ordisagree?)

3. I feel sorry for wild animals that have totake care of themselves in the wild. (agree

or disagree?)

4. ! think it would be fun to raise a babyraccoon so it would follow me around asif I were its mother or father. (agree ordisagree?)

5. I would like to live in a place where lotsof different wild animals live all yeararound. (agree or disagree?)

6. It would be fun to keep a wild rabbit fora pet. (agree or disagree?)

7. It would be gross to go looking forwhere worms live. (agree or disagree?)

8. It would be disgusting to see an owlthrow up its food. (agree or disagree?)

9. I think we should get rid of wildanimals that kill and eat other animals.(agree or disagree?)

10, It would be fun to go hunting for abald eagle with a gun. (agree or

disagree?)

1. The best thing to do if you find a babybird is to bring it home and give it foodand fresh water. (true or false?)

1 Dogs and deer are domesticatedanimals. (true or false?)

3. Skunks and worms are urban wildlife.(true or false?)

4. Eagles and cottontail rabbits are wildanimals. (true or false?)

5. The four things that every habitatshould have are food, water, shelter, andspace. (true or false?)

6. Cars and cats are limiting factors forsome kinds of urban wildlife. (true orfalse?)

7. All predators need to live far away frompeople. (true or false?)

8. Bald eagles need lots of mice aroundwhen they raise their babies. (true orfalse?)

9. The poison that can change the chemi-cal balance of lakes and kill fish is calledlead poisoning. (true or false?)

10. One reason bald eagles are endan-gered is that the places where they preferto live are disappearing. (true or false?)

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APPENDIX

More About Project WILDProject WILD is an interdisciplinary, sup-plementary environmental and conserva-tion education program emphasizingwildlife. It was developed for educators ofyoung people in kindergarten throughhigh school. The goal of Project WILD isto assist learners of any age in developingawareness, knowledge, skills, and com-mitment to result in informed decisions,responsible behavior, and constructiveactions concerning wildlife and the envi-ronment on which all life depends.

Project WILD offers three instructionalactivity guides for use by teachersonefor elementary one for secondary and athird spanning kindergarten through highschool that emphasizes water and aquaticecosystems. Activity guides are providedfree of charge to teachers who participatein Project WILD workshops.

Project WILD is a joint project of theWestern Association of Fish and WildlifeAgencies and the Western RegionalEnvironmental Education Council. ProjectWILD materials have been endorsed bythe National Council for the SocialStudies and are consistent with recom-mendations of the National ScienceTeachers Association. The U.S. Fish andWildlife Service is an AssociateOrganizational Sponsor of Project WILD.

For more information, contact yourstate's Project WILD coordinator in thelist below or write to Project WILD, POBox 18060, Boulder, CO 80308-8060, orcall 303-444-2390.

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Colleen MattProject WILD CoordinatorAK Department ef Fish and Game333 Raspberry RoadAnchorage, AK 99518-1599(907) 465-4112

Jerry deBinProject WILD CoordinatorAL DMsion of Game and Fish64 North Union StreetMontgomery, AL 36130(205) 242-3469

Pat KnightenProject Wild r .)ordinatorAR . ! iish Commission2 Natty kesources DriveLittle Rock, AR 72205(501) 223-6405

Kerry BaldwinProject WILD CoordinatorAZ Game and Fish Department2222 West GreenwayPhoenix, AZ 85023(602) 942-3000

Elena ScofieldProject WILD CoordinatorCA Department of Fish and Game1416 Ninth StreetSacramento, CA 95814(916) 327-4734

Carol BylsrnaProject WILD CoordinatorColorado Division of Wildlife6060 N. BroadwayDenver, CO 80216(303) 29 -7262

Diane A. Chisnall-JoyProject WILD CoordinatorDept. of Env. Protection165 Capitol AvenueHartford, CT 06106(203) 566-8108

Miriam WesterveltProject WILD CoordinatorU.S. Fish and Wildlife ServiceArlington Square Building Room 224Washington, D.C. 20240703-358-1730

Nancy RolliDept. of Natural ResourcesInformation and EducationP.O. Box 1401

Dover, DE 19903(302) 736-4506

Pat MillsapProject WILD CoordinatorFlorida Game and Freshwater FishCommission620 South Meridian StreetTallahassee, FL 32399(904) 488-4677

Ken RiddlebergerProject WILD CoordinatorGeorgia Game and Fish DivisionRoute 2, Box 119 ASocial Circle, GA 30279(404) 557-2532

Colleen MurakarniProject WILD CoordinatorDepartment of Education189 Lunalilo Home Road2nd FloorHonalulu, HI 96825(808) 396-2572

Duane ToomsenProject WILD CoordinatorDepartment of Public InstructionGrimes State Office BuildingDes Moines, IA 50309(515) 281-3146

John GahlProject WILD CoordinatorIdaho Fish and Game DepartmentPO. Box 25Boise, ID 83707(208) 334-3747

Dr. Clifford E. KnappProject WILD CoordinatorLorado Taft Field CampusNorthern IL Univ., PO Box 299

Oregon, IL 61061

(815) 731-2111

Wan en GartnerProject WILD CoordinatorIN Dept. of Natural Resources6013 Lakeside Boulevard1r thanapolis, IN 46278-1996(317) 248-4324

Roland SteinProject WILD CoordinatorKS Dept. of Wildlife & Parks

RR 2, Bcx 54APratt, KS 67124(316) 672-59;1

Marion MattinglyProject WILD CoordinatorKY Department of Fish and Wildlife

Resources, D.N.R.#1 Game Farm RoadFrankfort, KY 40601(502) 564-4762

Wayne HustonProject WILD CoordinatorLA Dept. of Wildlife and FisheriesP.O. Box 98000Baton Rouge, LA 70898-9000(504) 765-2922

Ellie HorwitzProject WILD CoordinatorMA Div. of Fisheries and Wildlife

Field HeadquartersWestboro, MA 01581(617) 366-4470

Earl HodilProject WILD CoordinatorMD Forest, Park, Wildlife ServiceTaaes State Office Building580 Taylor AvenueAnnapolis, MD 21401(301)974-3195

Lisa KaneProject WILD CoordinatorME Dept. of Inland Fisheries284 State StreetAugusta, ME 04333(207) 289-3371

Robert LongProject WILD CoordinatorDirector, Science Center143 Bostwick, N.E.Grand Rapids, MI 49503(616) 771-4249

Karen Van NormanProject WILD CoordinatorMN Dept. of Natural ResourcesBox 7, 500 Lafayette RoadSt. Paul, MN 55155(612) 297-2423

Bruce EvansProject WILD CoordinatorSchool District of Kansas City1211 McGee StreetKansas City, MO 64106

(816) 968-4733

Martha CooperProject WILD CoordinatorMS Museum of Natural Science111 N. Jefferson Streetlackson, MS 39202(601) 354-7303

Kurt CunninghamProject WILD CoordinatorMT Dept. of Fish, Wildlife, Parks1420 East Sixth AvenueHelena, MT 59620(406) 444-3088

7arl WolfeProject WILD CoordinatorNB Game and Parks CommissionPO. Box 30370Lincoln, NB 68503(402) 464-0641

lay DaviesProject WILD CoordinatorRt 3, Box 409-KSylva, NC 2877Q

17041293-3398

Dave JensenProject WILD CoordinatorNorth Dakota Game and Fish100 N. Bismarck ExpresswayBismarck, ND 58501-5095

(701) 221-6300

ludy SilverbergProject WILD CoordinatorNew Hampshire Fish and GameDepartment2 Hazen DriveConcord, NH 03301(603) 271-3212

Paul TarloweProject WILD CoordinatorNI Div. of Fish, Game & Wildlife

Pequest CenterRR 1, Box 389Oxford, NJ 07863(201) 637-4125

Larry SarnerProject WILD CoordinatorPO. Box 418NI Div. of Fish, Game, WildlifePort Republic, NI 08241(609) 748-2020

Don MacCarterProject WILD CoordinatorNM Game and Fish DepartmentState Capitol BuildingSanta Fe, NM 87503(505) 817-7882

Dave SangerProject WILD CoordinatorNevada Department of Wildlife1100 Valley RoadReno, NV 8952017021688-1555

Frank KnightProject WILD CoordinatorNY Department of EnvironmentalConservation50 Wolf Road, Room 504Albany, NY 12233(518) 457-3720

Paul SchiffProject WILD CoordinatorOhio Division of WildlifeFountain Square, G-1Columbus, OH 43224(614) 265-6316

Luann Sewell WatersProject WILD CoordinatorDept of Wildlife Conservaton1801 N. Lincoln BoulevardOklahoma City, OK 73105(405) 521-4633

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Shann WestonProject WILD CoordinatorOR Dept. of Fish and WildlifePO. Box 59Portland, OR 97207(503) 229-5400

Carl Graybill, Assistant ChiefDiv. of Information and EducationPennsylvania Game Commission2001 Wmerton AvenueHarrisburg, PA 17110-9797(717) 787-6286

Kimberly MumperProject WILD Aquatic CoordinatorPA Fish CommissionPO. Box 1673Harrisburg, PA 17105-1673(717) 657-4519

Chris DudleyProject WILD CoordinatorRI Division of Fish and WildlifePO. Box 218West Kingston, RI 02892(401) 789-0281

Don Winslow

Project WILD CoordinatorSC Wildlife and Marine Resources 1000AssemblyPO. Box 167Columbia, SC 29202(803) 734-3888

Ron KothProject WILD CoordinatorSD Dept. of Game, Fish and ParksAnderson BuildingPierre, SD 57501(605) 773-3381

Dr. Padgett KellyProject WILD CoordinatorTennessee Department of EducationCordell Hull Building, 4th FloorNashville, TN 37243-0379(615) 741-5774

llo HillerProject WILD CoordinatorTX Parks and Wildlife Department4200 Smith School RoadAustin, TX 78744(512) 389-4791

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Daphne SewingProject WILD CoordinatorUT Division of Wildlife Resources1596 West North TempleSalt LAke City, UT 84116(801) 538-4720

Suzie GilleyProject WILD CoordinatorVA Dept. Game, Inland Fisheries4010 West Broad, PO. Box 11104Richmond, VA 23230(804) 367-1000

Mark ScottProject WILD CoordinatorDepartment of Fish and Wildlife103 S. Main Street

Waterbury, VT 05676(802) 244-7331

Brad WoodProject WID CoordinatorWashington Department of WildlifeN8702 Division StreetSpokane, WA 99218(509) 456-4082

Dr. Dennis YockersProject WILD CoordinatorWI Dept. of Natural ResourcesBox 7921

Madison, WI 53707(608) 266-0870

Art ShomoProject WILD CoordinatorDepartment of Natural Resources1800 Washington Street EastCharleston, WV 25305(304) 348-2771

foe Vogler

Project WILD CoordinatorWyoming Game and Fish Department5400 Bishop BoulevardCheyenne, WY 82002(307) 777-4538

U.S. Fish and Wildlife ServiceRegional OfficesU.S. Fish and Wildlife ServiceRegion 1911 N.E. llth AvenuePortland, OR 97232-4181503-231-6118

U.S. Fish and Wildlife ServiceRegion 2PO Box 1306Albuquerque, NM 87103505-766-2321

U.S. Fish and Wildlife ServiceRegion 3Federal Building, Fort Snelling'Win Cities, MN 55111612-725-3563

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service1Nion 4Richard B. Russell Federal Building75 Spring Street, SWAtlanta, GA 30303404-331-3588

U.S. Fish and Wildlife ServiceRegion 5One Gateway Center, Suite 700Newton Corner, MA 02158617-965-5100

U.S. Fish and Wildlife ServiceRegion 6Box 25486, Denver Federal CenterDenver, CO 80225303-236-7920

U.S. Fish and Wildlife ServiceRegion 71011 E. Tudor RoadAnchorage, AK 99503907-786-3542

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is afederal agency in the Department of theInterior which manages the NationalWildlife Refuge System, a collection ofover 90 million acres of lands and watersmanaged specifically for wildlife.

Contact the Environmental EducationSpecialist in the Regional Office nearestyou to inquire about the refuges in yourarea and the eeucational resources avail-

able to you. Ask for specific informationregarding teacher workshops, specialactivities, regulations, and educationalpub1ications about wildlife.

Far information about the educationalprograms of the Service on the nationallevel write the U.S. Fish and WildlifeService, Office of Training and Education,4401 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA22203, or call 703-358-1781.

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4 3

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=I` ICU.S. Dept. of Education

Office of EducationalResearch and Improvement (0ERI)

MI...I

Date FilmedAugust 8, 1992