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Watch Over Wild Wanders
Learning Outcomes Students will: - collect and organize data relating to migratory species and habitats;
- undertake a habitat action plan, then maintain planting and building projects for continuing benefit to wildlife;
- understand the unique needs of migratory species, whose habitats serve as essential links in seasonal routes;
- learn how to work in partnership with community members, such as parents, neighbours, naturalists, and local businesses;
- form a positive attitude toward migratory species and their habitats and become motivated to conserve them;
- discover the link between habitat health and human activities; and
- develop a sense of responsibility toward migratory species and spaces through habitat projects.
Lesson Information Age: kindergarten through high school
Subjects: art, biology, environmental science, geography, health, industrial arts, language arts, math, physical education, science, social studies
Skills: analysis, classification, communication, composition, cooperation, discussion, drawing, evaluation, interpretation, observation, planning, problem-solving, reading, research
Duration: one or two 45-minute periods plus at least one full day for a wildlife habitat project
Group size: small groups working concurrently
Setting: classroom and outdoors Procedure - Assign the two resource sheets “Migratory Species Need Migratory Spaces” and “Make Way for Wild Migrants” to students as homework or as a classroom reading activity.
- Hang the educational charts (order online) depicting a variety of wildlife migrations in your classroom and advise students to review its contents.
- Discuss, on the basis of the reading assignment and the educational chart(s), the importance of breeding, wintering, and transient habitats to migratory species. Consider how these habitats serve as national and international links in migratory routes, how humans can help or harm these spaces, and the need for habitat enhancement projects. For deeper insight into these issues see the Project WILD activities “Hooks and Ladders,” “Migration Headache,” and “Migration Barriers.”
- Divide your class into small working groups. Each will monitor the movements of a different animal. Try to solve the mystery of how species find their way from one place to another. Also find examples of risks to each migrant and how to reduce them through habitat projects. Here are some ways to watch over wild wanderers:
- Track the migrations of leatherback turtles, polar bears, eider ducks, and barren-ground caribou at the Space for Species Web site. Students will investigate satellite-tracking data on the movements of migrants equipped with satellite transmitters to find out where the species goes and whether it runs into problems during its travels. Researchers hope this information will help them learn more about the species in order to improve conservation efforts. As well as migration data, you’ll discover fascinating facts about each species. You’ll get to know researchers involved in the project, and learn how satellite technology plays a role in conserving long-distance migrants.
- Visit other Web sites that feature sources of migration data, such as Journey North; Monarch Watch; WhaleNet; and the Porcupine Caribou Herd Satellite Collar Project.
- CWF’s online Directory of Wildlife Surveys lists more than 50 monitoring that welcome the involvement of young Canadians. Data collected will enable researchers to gauge the health of migratory and other wildlife populations. Visit our Web site at www.cwf-fcf.org for details.
- Obtain maps of migratory routes from CWF, CWS, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
- Get bird-banding data from the Canadian Wildlife Service. Researchers have solved many migration mysteries by fastening leg bands and wing tags to millions of birds and eventually tracking them down.
- Having grasped the basics, students are ready to draw up a habitat action plan according to the resource sheet “Make Your Habitat Project Happen” and to choose wildlife projects.
- Remember to register projects with WILD Education and to request assistance from the CWF’s Habitat Fund before getting started.
- Get permission from parents and your school principal, as well as your municipality or landowners, before launching projects. Ask an area by-laws officer or conservation authority if there are regulations that you must follow.
- Network with your community, getting as many volunteers involved as possible. Seek help from parents, businesses, nurseries, naturalists, horticultural clubs, civic organizations, wildlife agencies, and seniors’ groups.
- Using one or more projects from the action projects section of this Web site, students can now dig in and enhance habitat in their schoolyard or community.
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