Animals and Winter Weather

How do animals stay warm when winter weather

comes?

One way is to hibernate.

Your Job

This is Daryl. He is a dormouse. Dormice hibernate in the winter.

You will need to help Daryl get ready to hibernate. You will help him find food and stay warm.

Where in the world does Daryl live?

Daryl lives all the way in Europe. That is over 3,000 miles away!

We live in Williamsburg. It is where the face is.

This is Daryl’s home. It is in the forest.

Sometimes, Daryl lives among rocks.

Daryl spends most of his time in the trees.

Here is Daryl in his nest.

Here he is in a branch.

Winter is coming!

Before Daryl hibernates, he will need to eat lots of food.

He likes to eat:

peanutsberries

cricketshazelnuts

Time to find food!

Click your mouse to look for the foods dormice eat.

Then, click on the food to eat it.

Daryl is nocturnal. This means he sleeps during the day and comes out at night.

My, how Daryl has grown!

This was Daryl before you helped him find food. He was very skinny.

After Daryl ate…

…he got much bigger!

Before he ate, Daryl weighed less than 1 ounce.

That is about the weight of a fun-size bag of M&M’s.

After he ate, Daryl doubled his weight. That means now he weighs as much as 2 fun-size bags of M&M’s.

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How much would you weigh if you doubled your weight like Daryl?

If you weigh 50 pounds now, doubling your weight would make you 100 pounds!

You’d have to eat a lot of junk food to do that!

Almost time to sleep!

It is September. Winter will be here soon.

Daryl needs to build a nice, warm place where he can sleep during the long winter.

He will build a nest. What are some things he could use for his nest?

Write your answer on your worksheet.

What Daryl needs

To make his nest, Daryl will need:

grassbark

leavesmoss

Help Daryl find what he needs to build his nest.

Click your mouse to find each thing for Daryl’s nest.

Then, click on each thing to collect it for Daryl.

Daryl’s nest is complete!

Here is the nest you helped Daryl make. Doesn’t it look warm?

Time to sleep!

Now, it is October. Daryl has climbed into his nest for the winter.

Can you tell what Daryl has taken into his nest with him? Write your answer on your worksheet.

This is Daryl’s friend Donny. He chose to build his nest on the ground.

Dormice can hibernate in trees,

on the ground,

or under the ground, too.

Now it is January. Daryl Now it is January. Daryl has been asleep for has been asleep for three months. He will three months. He will sleep for three more. sleep for three more. What month will it be What month will it be when he wakes up? when he wakes up? Circle the answer on Circle the answer on your worksheet.your worksheet.

All winter long, Daryl sleeps in a All winter long, Daryl sleeps in a ball. His body temperature is 41 ball. His body temperature is 41 degrees. If you touched him, degrees. If you touched him, would he feel hot, or cold? Circle would he feel hot, or cold? Circle the answer on your worksheet.the answer on your worksheet.

Time to wake up!

It is April. Daryl is awake. Did you guess the right month?

Daryl is climbing down from his nest. Does he look skinnier than he did in the fall?

Daryl’s nest was 63 feet Daryl’s nest was 63 feet above the ground. That is above the ground. That is as tall as 11 grown ups as tall as 11 grown ups standing on top of each standing on top of each other! Would you be scared other! Would you be scared up there?up there?

Great Job!

Thanks to your help, Daryl made it through the winter!

Dormice live to be five years old. When you add up all the months they spend hibernating, they spend almost four years sleeping! What would you miss if you slept for four years?

What did you learn?

Answer these questions to show how well you paid attention to Daryl’s story.

Click on the word or picture for each question.

Daryl lived in the

Forest Ocean North Pole

Correct!

WAY TO GO!

Click the arrow to go on

Oops…

Click the arrow to try again

Daryl liked to eat

Leaves Carrots Hazelnuts

Correct!

WAY TO GO!

Click the arrow to go on

Oops…

Click the arrow to try again

Daryl’s nest was

In a tree Underwater

In a tomato

Correct!

WAY TO GO!

Click the arrow to go on

Oops…

Click the arrow to try again

Thank you for helping Daryl!