who's been here?

This month's Nature connected to our ongoing exploration of animals in winter. The young naturalists have been busy reading about different kinds of habitats and drawing animal shelters. Their learning has progressed into conversations about how to look for signs of animals in winter. During Nature, the children learned about different kinds of tracks and how to identify tracks in the snow. Janice helped us to sort tracks based on size and toe count. We learned about the four different ways animals move and how we can use what we already know about animal habitats to determine who made the tracks in the snow. Following the puppet show and track sort, we used large stamps to make our own tracking cards.

Four Different Ways Animals Move;

Straight Walking (felines, canines, deer)
Hopping (rabbits, squirrels)
Waddling (beavers, skunks)
Bounding (weasels)

 

We extended our experience into our Outdoor Classroom. I invited the children to predict the kinds of tracks we might find. Working in their nature journals and using laminated tracking guides to write labels, the children recorded their predictions. We took our guides and walked the surrounding fields. There were many straight walking tracks! From dogs and humans to a possible bobcat track.

 

 

 

 

 

This past week we read a book with a picture of a tracking map inside the front cover. I asked the question; Could we make a tracking map for Westford school? Children eagerly embraced a new academic choice; Our Westford Tracking Map.

Using a small copy of the Westford School Trail Map, the children wrote and drew a larger version. With some support, we determined where the parking lots and playgrounds were located. The children drew and labeled some of our favorite spaces, like the "Tunnel of Trees" behind the back field and the "Ice Rink" in Misty Meadows.

 

 

We used pictures of the tracks we found to develop a map key, recording where the three different tracks were found. Using numbers, pictures, and words Bodhi added the necessary detail and information to our map key.

Our Tracking Map will continue to develop and grow as we expand our hikes to include trails deeper in our woods. On the Friday before break we found small hopping tracks near the "stone wall after the big hill". Once we identified a small collection of tracks, the children practiced moving in different ways and monitoring their tracks- from hopping like a rabbit to waddling like a raccoon. It was their idea to move like different animals and their initiative encouraged them to think about movement, direction, pace, stride, and pattern. These are all essential when looking at and identifying animal tracks!