Human Tracks
Field Study 3
Overview: Students go on a scavenger hunt for human features of the refuge (ditches, water control structures, gates fences, roads) and then they connect these features to wildlife and human management on the Refuge. They make a value judgment whether these features help or hurt wildlife.
Location: Outdoors
Learner Outcomes:
- Students will find and categorize human and other animal tracks and signs found on the Refuge
- Students will make value judgments about the human tracks on the wildlife refuge.
Materials
- Student Scavenger Hunt Sheets
- Whiteboard and marker
- Plus and Minus laminated cards (included) .
Preparation
- Scout an area with visible human signs and other animal signs.
Human Tracks Scavenger Hunt
Ask. . .
- What animal signs might you see today? Birds, rodents, fish, insects.
- What signs might these animals leave behind? Tracks, scats, marking on trees, etc.
- Are humans animals? Yes . What human signs might you find on the Refuge? Buildings, roads, foot prints, litter, ditches, etc.
Explain. . .
- We are going to go on a hunt for animal tracks and signs (including humans). Using this list (show group hand out) see if you can find everything. Pass out Scavenger Hunt. Give 10-15 minutes exploration time.
Value Line
Explain. . .
- Gather students back together after 10-15 minutes and have them categorize their finding into human tracks and other animal tracks. Record their answers on a white board. Elaborate and discuss what they found.
- Sometimes, some of the tracks humans leave behind can be harmful to wildlife, but other times human tracks are created to help wildlife.
- We are going to make some predictions about what human tracks help wildlife and what human tracks might hurt wildlife. Over to my left we have the "+" symbol this will represent the human tracks that are positive for wildlife. Over to my right I have the "-" symbol and this will represent human tracks that have negative effects on wildlife.
- You will have to make a choice about the human tracks we found whether they are harmful or helpful to wildlife and why.
Do. . .
- State the following "human tracks" and have the group choose by moving to the appropriate symbol: "+" or "-" to represent whether they think the "human track" is harmful or helpful to wildlife. Have students justify their answers.
- Cement, road, A ditch, A pipe, Footprint, Building, Litter, Other
Discuss. . .
- Highlight the positive and/or negative effects of all the human tracks. Describe how they can be both positive and negative for wildlife.
- Discuss ways they can help in their own lives to reduce harmful effects to wildlife. Don't Litter, or dirty the water, recycle, create habitats in their yards, bird feeders, etc.