The Hike
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How to fill the void constructively
Ahh... the Animals Hike. The morning is glorious, and the world is your oyster. Or maybe the forest is your classroom. Either way, there's so much to talk about and teach, sometimes it feels like there's nothing to talk about or teach. (Updated map coming soon...) Remember, you want your students to finish off the morning with some basic understanding of a few things. First, habitat. All animals have one, and all animals require food, water, and shelter in some form as part of their habitat. |
Second, adaptation. Any part of an animal that helps the animal survive in its current habitat is an adaptation. Focus on the noun form of the word rather than the verb form of the word. An adaptation is something you can point to that exists right now. Ignore the definition of adaptation that includes changing over time - it is a complex process and is frequently misunderstood.
Third, niche. A niche is an animal's role or job, and is related to what the animal eats, when the eating happens, and where the eating happens. If any one of those three things are different between two different species, they have different niches. If all three are the same, they have the same niche and must compete for food.
In any stretch of forest, there are infinite examples of all three of these things to see and discuss, but it's not easy. Some tools are provided along the way to inspire discussions, but ideally you will rely on them less and less the more comfortable you are with the hike.
Third, niche. A niche is an animal's role or job, and is related to what the animal eats, when the eating happens, and where the eating happens. If any one of those three things are different between two different species, they have different niches. If all three are the same, they have the same niche and must compete for food.
In any stretch of forest, there are infinite examples of all three of these things to see and discuss, but it's not easy. Some tools are provided along the way to inspire discussions, but ideally you will rely on them less and less the more comfortable you are with the hike.
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Each of these links contains information from the cue card itself, extra tips for how to teach the station successfully, and links to outside sources for enriching your lessons.
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Until you find yourself teaching non-stop without realizing it, here are some things you can use to fill the gaps:
Stuff to do ANYWHERE on the hike • Lay down on your back and look up at the sky and the tops of trees. Think about the birds and how they view the world. How do you look to them right now? Look silently for a few minutes. • Look for arthropods. Look in snags, under rocks, under leaves, crawling across the trail. look for webs, dig around in the duff a little bit. See how many different kinds you can find. • Stand in one spot and see how many different animal habitats you can see from your spot. Think about large animals and small animals. Hint: there are infinite possible habitats from any one spot. Discuss how each of these habitats is different and how each helps its respective animal. • Listen for bird sounds. Count how many individual birds you can hear. Count how many different species you can hear. Are they near the ground, in a tree, or flying overhead? Are they bird alarms (one short sound repeated) or bird songs (many different notes, melodic)? Why might the birds be sounding an alarm? Why would they not sound an alarm? • Have one person stand in the center of the trail, counting aloud to twenty with their eyes closed. Everyone else must hide nearby. The person in the middle must, without moving from their spot, see how many people they can find. All the hiders must be able to see the seeker at all times. Discuss how both roles are analogous to how predators and prey might behave. • Cup your hands behind your ears and notice how sounds are amplified. This is like deer ears. Try listening behind you by cupping your hands the other way. Can you hear more birds? Can you hear the river? Try standing a distance away from a partner and whispering to each other with and without deer ears. • See how many different places on the hike you can hear the river. With deer ears? Without deer ears? • Practice walking like a fox (test the ground with a toe before putting full weight on it). Have the group walk behind a leader and see if the leader can hear them. • Practice walking like your favorite animal. This is especially amusing when passing other groups. • Count how many sounds you can hear from one spot. What is making the sounds? • Draw something you see in your field study notebook. Plants, tracks, scat, habitats, snags, birds, etc. • Write poetry about something you see or hear in your field study notebook. Write a Haiku (a poem with five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, and five in the third), such as:
He plays in the grassy field Into den at night |
• List the letters of the alphabet in your field study notebook. As you go on the hike, list things you see that start with each letter
• Go on a microscopic hike. Sid down and follow the edge of your shoe slowly with your finger. What does your finger "see" on its hike? How is that different from a regular-sized hike? • Smell different parts of the trail on the hike. What does each smell like? Why are they different? • Find "edges." Edges are where two different habitats come together. Why might animals like to spend time near edges? Would predators like to spend time near edges? • Look up while hiking (carefully). Notice all that you are missing by looking at the ground all the time. • Find evidence of seasonal changes. How do these changes affect animals? • Go people tracking. Find a person footprint and see if you can find their next step. Measure the stride with a piece of red flagging tape. Can you guess where their next track will be? Make sure you're seeing just one person's tracks. How does this activity apply to tracking animals? • Hug a tree. Have students partner up. One person closes their eyes. The other leads them to a tree in the designated area. They can smell, feel, hug the tree. They are then led back to the center. Now with their eyes open, they must find their tree. How is using other senses different than sight? Did you notice things about your surroundings that you didn't notice before? • Listen for a sound that the whole group can hear. Stalk the sound. Decide where it is coming from and try to follow it. • Find a tree. How many habitats can you find on that one tree? Start at the base of the tree and work your way up. How do the habitats change? • Find a plant. What eats it? How many meals would this one plant provide? • Lay down on your stomach and look at the world from that perspective. What size animal sees the world like this? What would that animal never see that you see all the time? • Stare straight ahead and see what you can see with your peripheral vision. How far to each side can you see with your eyes pointing forward? |
