nal people help the prairies? How does today’s bison popu- lation compare to the bison population in the past? What has caused the population to decrease? These questions will vary based on what reading materials are chosen.
Explain Students come back together as a group. The teacher
explains that we have very few prairies left today because most of the world’s grasslands have been converted to farm land. Students then discuss why this might be. The teacher will list student ideas on the board or piece of chart paper. Following discussion, students can read an informative piece about prairie habitat destruction as a class or individu- ally (see resources for ideas). One way that math can be inte- grated into this portion of the lesson is a grade-level appro- priate graphing activity in which students plot the acres of grassland loss in their region over a course of several years or decades. This might require researching for the data and creating a table for student use. Good search terms are “acres of grasslands converted to cropland” with a specific region and timeline listed. You will likely find an abundant amount of research on this topic but will have to convert the information into student-friendly terms.
Elaborate Students can break up into cooperative groups and use the
information they have learned, along with the visuals they have created, to put together a brief presentation to give to their class (or a different group as decided by the teacher) on prairie ecosystems. Groups can focus broadly on all areas learned, or the teacher can assign specific topics to each group. Topics from this lesson include: plants and animals of the prairie, indigenous peoples and bison, and the current state of the prairie. These topics can be expanded or differ- ent topics can easily be included by the teacher.
Evaluate Evaluation can be done in a variety of ways. An easy evalu-
ation method is the “ticket out” or brief journal entry. You could ask the students to close their eyes and imagine they are visiting the local prairie and then write down the first five things that come to mind that they might see. Students would then turn this in prior to exiting the classroom, or transitioning to a new lesson. Another question that can be asked is “What is one new fact that you learned about prai- ries today?” Our boxes are created with clear plastic storage contain-
ers that can be found at most big box stores or online. We use 23 x 16 x 6” containers. We like them to be relatively short in height so that they stack well and store in cabinets easily. Make sure to purchase the ones with lids and create a label identifying your box. Nature Boxes can be created cheaply if you are willing to create many of your own reading mate- rials, lessons, diagrams, and image files. Materials that can be reused, replicated, or easily replenished work best. You can also do a search of your area and look for places special- izing in materials such as these. A good place to look for is a local nature store. Before creating your box, you should set a budget so that you do not go overboard on purchasing. If allowed, create a wish list and have a class or grade-level fundraiser to purchase materials for specific boxes.
With a little exploration of your local landscape and a
willingness to translate what you learn into engaging activi- ties, Nature Boxes can be fun and relatively easy to create. Above all, they can help to make the local landscape come alive for students.
Megan Woolard Arredondo is a middle school science teacher who grew up around the Cibolo Nature Center & Farm and often volunteers her time with their programming. She has a Masters degree in Environmental Education and has developed curriculum in a variety of non-profit and for- mal educational settings. The CNC&F Nature Box Program was developed by volunteers, and retired educators, Dr. Kathy Ward and Kathy Wilson.
Resources Curriculum Guides
Harrison, Patricia. Texas Prairies: An Integrated Curriculum for Grades 4&5. Fort Worth, TX: The Botanical Research Institute of Texas, 1996. Print.
The “Texas Prairies” curriculum from the Botanical Reacher Institute of Texas (BRIT) has a great deal of general information that is relevant to all prairie ecosystems and is a good resource regardless of where you live. If you are unable to obtain a copy of the curriculum, a general internet search for “parts of a grass plant” will provide you with useful diagrams. As a side note, BRIT is a global botanical research institute offering a variety of resources that might prove useful to any region.
Visuals
Hundley, Eunice. Life in the Cibolo Tallgrass Prairie. 1999. Print. Available at:
www.eunicehundley.com/Murals/Pages/Cibolo_Nature_Center_Mural_-_ Boerne,
_Texas.html#0
Books & Articles on the Prairies A Day on the Prairie. New York: Scholastic, 2008. Print. Kids Are Authors.
Dvorak, David. A Sea of Grass: The Tallgrass Prairie. New York, NY: Mac- millan, 1994. Print.
Hunter, Anne. What’s in the Meadow? Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 2000. Print.
Rector, Barron. Know Your Grasses. College Station, TX: Texas Cooperative Extension, Texas A&M University, 2003. Print.
Wallace, Marianne D. America’s Prairies and Grasslands: Guide to Plants and Animals. Golden, CO: Fulcrum Resources, 2001. Print.
Books & Articles on Indigenous peoples and Bison Baker, Olaf. Where the Buffaloes Begin. New York, NY: Puffin Books, 1985. Print. Picture Puffins.
Freedman, Russell. Buffalo Hunt. New York, New York: Holiday House, 1988. Print.
Patent, Dorothy Hinshaw. The Buffalo and the Indians: A Shared Destiny. New York: Clarion Books, 2006. Print.
Simmons, Marc. José’s Buffalo Hunt: A Story from History. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press, 2003. Print.
Winner, Cherie. Bison. Minnetonka, MN: NorthWord Press, 2001. Print. Our Wild World Series.
Miscellaneous
Teachers can purchase books, lesson plans, and models for student use from places like Acorn Naturalists (
www.acornnaturalists.com) or Nature-Watch (
www.nature-watch.com).
End Notes
1. Dvorak, David. A Sea of Grass: The Tallgrass Prairie. New York, NY: Mac- millan, 1994. Print. 2. A Day on the Prairie. New York: Scholastic, 2008. Print. Kids Are Authors. 3. Hundley, Eunice. Life in the Cibolo Tallgrass Prairie. 1999. Print.
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