Suggested Project WILD Activities

Cover-One State

If you don't have a copy of the TPW magazine, you may print a copy of One State, Many Places.

Activities are available through our Project WILD workshops.

Blue Ribbon Niche (Aquatic) – Students create a variety of representations of wildlife that can be found in riparian areas. Upon completion students identify different riparian organisms; describe the ecological role of some riparian organisms; describe basic characteristics of riparian zones; and evaluate potential positive and negative effects from changes in riparian zones.

Color Crazy – Students create representations of colorful wild animals. Upon completion students generalize that wildlife occurs in a wide variety of colors. Requires pictures of brightly colored animals; crayons; paint; chalk; construction paper; scissors; glue. Optional other brightly colored art construction material, like artificial feathers, tissue paper, acorns, uncooked noodles.

Dragonfly Pond (Aquatic) – Students create a collage of human land use activities around an image of a pond. Upon completion students evaluate the effects of different kinds of land use on wetland habitats; and discuss and evaluate lifestyles changes to minimize damaging effects on wetlands. Requires for each team scissors; masking tape; paper; 2 sets of Land Use Patterns; one Dragonfly Pond map; and a large piece of paper.

Edge of Home (Aquatic) – Students explore the concept of ecotones by visiting places where habitats overlap. Upon completion students identify the characteristics of ecotones, or transitional zones, between two wildlife habitats. Requires pencils; paper; long rope or string for marking intervals in one-foot segments; and clipboards.

Fashion a Fish (Aquatic) – Students design a fish adapted for various aquatic habitats. Upon completion students describe adaptations of fish to their environments; describe how adaptations help fish survive; and interpret the importance of adaptations to animals. Requires body shape, coloration, reproduction, and mouth card set for each group of students.

Improving Wildlife Habitat in the Community – Students design and accomplish a project to improve wildlife habitat in their community. Upon completion students apply their knowledge of wildlife by describing essential components of habitat in an arrangement appropriate for the wildlife they identify; and evaluate compatible and incompatible uses of an area by people and specified kinds of wildlife. Requires writing and drawing materials; poster or butcher paper; or model making materials like plaster of Paris, clay small replicas of animals, etc.

March Munchers (Aquatic) – Students use body movement and pantomime to simulate the feeding motions of marsh animals. Upon completion students identify components of a food web in a salt march; and identify their interconnectedness in the food web. Requires timer; construction paper for tokens; predator feeding behavior cards; detritus eater cards; and one envelope per student.

Migration Headache (Aquatic) – Students portray migrating water birds traveling between nesting habitats and wintering grounds. Students list limiting factors affecting habitats and populations of migrating water birds; predict the effects of such limiting factors; describe the effects of habitat loss and degradation; and make inferences about the importance of suitable habitat.

Polar Bears in Phoenix – Students design and draw a zoo enclosure appropriate for the survival of a polar bear in a hot, arid climate. Upon completion students identify problems for an animal moved from its natural environment to captivity. Requires drawing paper and crayons.

Quick Frozen Critters – Students play an active version of "freeze tag". Upon completion students discuss predator/prey relationships, including adaptations; describe the importance of adaptations in predator/prey relationships; and recognize that limiting factors - including predator/prey relationships - affect wildlife populations. Requires food tokens (3 per student); gym vests or labeling devices to mark predators; four or five hula hoops or jump ropes to serve as "cover" markers; pencil and paper to record number of captures (if desired).

Rainfall and the Forest – Students work with state highway and vegetative maps to determine relationships between rainfall, vegetation and animal habitats. Upon completion students correlate rainfall data with vegetative communities; correlate vegetative communities with animal life; recognize interrelationships among living and non-living elements of the environment; and understand that populations and the fluctuations of those populations are influenced by climatic conditions. Requires (for each group) highway maps of state; sheets of tracing paper (19X24" or 17X22"); different colored crayons; information about annual elevation and rainfall for 25 to 30 communities in the state; vegetative map of state. Optional range maps of selected wildlife species in state.

Shrinking Habitat – Students simulate a process of land development in a physically involving activity. Upon completion students describe some effects of human development of land areas on plants and animals previously living in the are; evaluate the importance of suitable habitat for wildlife; and recognize that loss of habitat is generally considered to be the most critical problem facing wildlife today. Requires green and blue construction paper; classroom desks, table or chairs; five or six large bed sheets or blankets for a student group of about 24.

Watered-Down History (Aquatic) – Students investigate the history of a chosen waterway through research methods, a taped personal interview and public records; and then display their findings on a mural. Upon completion students describe human, plant and animal life associated with waterways; predict the future of a waterway; and analyze cause-and-effect relationships between events affecting the waterway. Requires county, city or regional maps; names of agencies responsible for historic records; art material. The name of a person to interview is optional.

Wetland Metaphors (Aquatic) – Students are presented with a selection of objects for investigation as metaphors for the natural functions of wetlands. Upon completion students describe the characteristics of wetlands and evaluate the importance of wetlands to wildlife and people. Requires a large pillowcase or box; sponge; small pillow; soap; eggbeater or mixer; small doll cradle; sieve or strainer; paper coffee filter; antacid tablets; small box of cereal; 3X5 cards with pictures that could be used to show other wetland metaphors.

What Bear Goes Where? – Students construct posters of three different bear habitats. Upon completion students identify three species of bears and their habitats; and generalize that animals are adapted in order to live where they do. Requires pictures of 3 bear species; 3 sheets of butcher paper with the outline of one bear species on each, labeled.

Where Does Water Run? (Aquatic) – Students measure and calculate the area of a study site; calculate the volume and weight of water falling on that site; determine specific and annual rainfall and runoff; and trace the course of water to aquatic habitats. Upon completion students describe relationships between precipitation, runoff and aquatic habitats. Requires writing materials; meter or yardsticks; long piece of twine with marks every yard or meter; rain gauge; and local rainfall data. Calculators and trundle wheel are optional.

Who Fits Here? – Students play an identification game with posters and cards. Upon completion students identify characteristic life forms in ecosystems; match appropriate life forms to ecosystems; and generalize that each ecosystem has characteristic life forms, adapted to live there. Requires poster board (10 sheets); crayons, paints or magazine photos; index cards or construction paper for 50 adaptation cards.

Wildlife is Everywhere! – Students search their environment for evidence of wildlife. Upon completion students state that humans and wildlife share environments; and generalize that wildlife is present in areas all over the earth. Requires no materials. String is optional.