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| Home | About | Guidelines | Activities | Wildlife | Journal | Volunteer | Contact |
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Winter Activities "Winter WSC Discovery"Kindergarten Introduction to the WSC's habitats, native animals and plants. Students will identify several common Kansas animals of the WSC. Students will match pictures of the animals to the actual fur of the animals. They will compare the different body covering of mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. There will be a short hike studying how plants are different and alike. Students will use all their senses to discover the WSC. (Science Outcomes: 2.1.5, 2.2.1,2.3.22.3. (plan 1 1/2 hours at the WSC) Winter Entomology Third Grade Life Cycle Expansion "Hot Cholcolate Break Included!" Explore the WSC to find the winter stages of the insects' life. How do insects survive the winter? What are their winter strategies? Students will search the WSC looking for the wintering insect then identify the life cycle stage and location where it was found. "Winter Kansas Animal Study" Third Grade Who are the Kansas Animals and How Do They Survive Winter? Identify some common Kansas animals and match them with their fur. (Students will be able to touch the furs.) Look at their tracks and skulls. Discuss and investigate special winter survival techniques by conducting an investigation on several different animal body covering types to discover which is the best insulator. (Students need to be familiar with reading thermometers in Celsius.) Time and weather permitting we can go outside with our thermometers to find winter shelter and/or evidence of animals in the area. Students need to have some familiarity with Kansas animals before participating. "TRACKS, SCAT AND SKULLS" Fourth Grade Students will observe differences between herbivores', carnivores' and omnivores' tracks, scat and skulls. After making appropriate observations and comparisons students will take a short hike looking for tracks, scat and skulls. (Life Science Outcome 2 (2.1.6, 2.2.4) It's Winter Fourth Grade Bundle your students and come to the Wilderness Science Center in February or March to study how animals cope with winter. Students will spend most of the time in the classroom investigating the effectiveness of feathers, fur, leaves and soil in retaining heat. After we have completed the classroom investigation and class discussion we will spend a short amount of time outdoors exploring areas that would help shelter animals. "TRIPPING WITH TWIGS!" Fifth Grade By studying a twig from a tree you can determine number of leaves on the twig, the rate of growth, and type of tree. Students will learn all the parts of a twig and the function of each. Most work will be introduced and taught in the classroom, the last 30 to 40 minutes will be spent outside. "Birds and their Habitat" Fifth Grade This is a study of bird characteristics and their preferred habitat and interactions with their habitat. In the classroom, the students will review identifying characteristics of birds, receive instruction on the use of binoculars and identify the habitats at the WSC. During the hike students will record bird characteristics, habitat and activity associated with the birds observed. This activity will help students develop their skills of observation and data collection. After returning to the classroom the teacher can use information recorded at the WSC to formulate inferences and conclusions about the bird's preferred habitats, what birds are at the WSC and the most common bird activity. This activity can be done any time of year, however, winter is a great time as the birds are much easier to see. (Science Outcomes: 2.1.2, 2.1.5, 7) (Plan 3 hrs) " Trees Inside-Out" Fifth Grade The theme of the day will center on trees and all of their parts. We will cover some of the functions of the tree parts but mainly we will be comparing and measuring different tree structures. The students will measure and average the tree's growth rings, twigs growth and leaf size from different trees. If the weather cooperates we can measure tree circumference and diameter of a tree. We can learn the formula to determine a champion tree. Students will use a variety of measuring instruments: tape measures, rulers, calipers, trundle wheels and more. Student need to be familiar with millimeters, centimeter, meters, calculations with decimals and finding averages. We can do as little or as much measuring outside as you want. (Science Outcomes: 2.1.2, 2.1.5) (Plan 2 1/2 hrs) "TRACKS, SCAT AND SKULLS" Sixth Grade Students will observe differences between herbivores', carnivores' and omnivores' tracks, scat and skulls. After making appropriate observations and comparisons students will take a short hike looking for tracks, scat and skulls. (Life Science Outcome Life Science Outcome 2.MS1) "Metric Measuring Practice" Sixth Grade Use the WSC to measure tree circumference, diameter, leaves and twig growth. Determine the Champion tree through measurements of the tree's canopy, tree trunk, and height. Then you use a special formula to discover the champion tree. Find the average growth of a tree using twig growth and tree ring growth. Measure the distance of different trails and much much more. Students will use a variety of measuring instruments: tape measures, rulers, calipers, trundle wheels and more. Student need to be familiar with millimeters, centimeter, meters and calculations with decimals.
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