A Little Bit More
When the colonists arrived in the New World, there was a vast forest of trees across much of the continent. One of the urgent tasks at hand was to remove enough trees so they could plant their crops and raise livestock. As more and more people settled the land, it didn’t take long before most of the forest had been removed or markedly changed. Today, there are actually more trees than there were 100 years ago but much of this is new growth and not the kind of old growth that harbors cracks, crevices, and cavities – there still aren’t enough places to go around.
Anyone with enough acreage to grow some trees soon realizes that the young, vigorous trees grow much faster than do the older ones. This coupled with a desire to keep an area neat and tidy has often led to the removal of the oldest trees in an area thus eliminating many of the “living quarters” available to wildlife.
An old tree full of cracks, crannies, and cavities can be home to a wide range of animals, big and small. Having these kinds of trees on your property will ensure that animals that require these kinds of habitats will have places to live and raise their young or find shelter in winter. If we want to enjoy wildlife to the fullest, we need to ensure that they have homes in which to live or we’ll just have to go to parks and zoos to see them.
Activities
Science – Build a Home
Objectives: Make a bird house or two for school or home
Materials: Access to the web, websites provides materials and instruction
Since the focus of the unit is on places where animals can live, I think it would be worthwhile for students to be able to create some “homes” for different wildlife in their area. Birds are the simplest group to work with so we’ll focus on birds but keep in mind that other animals need homes too.
Here are some sites that will provide instructions and directions for deciding what kinds of birdhouses you may want to make and how to actually accomplish that task. This is not an activity that most students will be able to accomplish on their own but with some adult help/supervision, they should be able to come up with some useful birdhouses.
Different kinds of bird houses
Basic info on making birdhouses
Instructions for different kinds of birdhouses
More instructions for birdhouses
Key Concepts
Populations and Ecosystems, Environmental Issues
Questions
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