Figure 1: Afton-Lakeland Elementary Schoolyard
How many times do you see each of these animal signs? (Keep a tally as you explore outside.)
Tracks? ______________________ Animal trails? _______________________ Scat? _______________________ Fur or feathers? ______________________ Homes (burrows, nests,…)?_________________________________________ Live animals or carcasses? __________________________________________ Signs of feeding, grazing, or browsing? _______________________________
left in an animal’s habitat which indicate their presence and activity. It includes tracks, trails, scat, homes such as burrows or nests, fur or feathers, food caches, marks from grazing and browsing, animal carcasses, and live animal sightings. Make a list with your students what types of animal sign might be found in the schoolyard. To help visual learners prepare for the exploration outside, PowerPoint slides are especially useful.)
Searching for Animal Signs
Before taking the students outside, check the schoolyard for animal sign yourself. Field guides that cover tracks and scat in your geographic area will be helpful in your exploration10 Working in pairs with a pen or pencil, a schoolyard
animal sign worksheet (i.e. Figure 1) and a clipboard, ask students to note each type of animal sign they find, and
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where they found them. They should also mark a large X on their worksheet where they think a remote camera should be mounted. After returning to the classroom, collect students’ worksheets, compile a list of nominated sites and have the class vote for the first camera locations. Afterwards, give students 10 minutes to record in their field journals, their individual predictions as to which area (i.e. the schoolyard or the protected area) will have more species of animals “captured” by remote cameras, and what evidence they found in the schoolyard that supports their predictions. To conclude, have students elect two representatives to
visit and inform other school classes about the purpose of the trail cameras in the schoolyard. Apart from increasing the representative’s ownership of the project, their visits will reduce the likelihood of vandalism and get other students excited about camera captures. Some will subsequently find the cameras and get their pictures taken.
GREEN TEACHER 89 Page 37
Where do you see these animal signs?
Google Earth
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