DOCUMENT RESUME AUTHOR TITLE INSTITUTION · the highly endangered black footed ferret is also a resident of. this ecosystem. The majority of. the continent's waterfowl popu-lations

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Blanchard, Fran; Hoofnagle, Sara Griffen

Prairie Stamp Activity Guide.

Postal Service, Washington, DC.; National WildlifeFederation, Washington, DC.

2001-00-0019p.; Accompanying poster is not available from ERIC.National Wildlife Federation, 11100 Wildlife Center Dr.,Reston, VA 20190. Tel: 800-611-1599 (Toll Free); Fax: 703-438 -6061; Web site: http://www.nwf.org.

Guides Classroom Teacher (052)

EDRS Price MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.

Conservation Education; *Curriculum Enrichment; *Ecology;Elementary Education; Environmental Education; PhysicalGeography; *Social Studies; United States History;*Wilderness

Frontier History; *Grasslands; Postage Stamps; *Prairies;United States (Great Plains States)

The North American prairie ecosystem is unique. Comprised oftall grass,, mixed grass, and shortgrass communities, the acreage thisecosystem once covered is incredible 400 million acres (pre-settlementtimes), accounting for 40% of North America's landscape. Prairies are home toa great diversity of animal life, such as cottontail rabbits, black-footedferrets, birds, waterfowl, bison, and pronghorn, along with thousands ofinsect varieties. This activity guide is based on 2001's Great Plains prairiestamp issue. The guide provides background information on the Great Plainsand presents three different lesson sheets for students to complete: (1)

Incredible Prairie Picture Show; (2) Survival Scavenger Hunt; and (3) EarlySettlers. Activities sheets in the guide give grade level; list skillsdeveloped; cite learning objectives; note materials needed; suggestpreparation; and outline a step-by-step procedure for classroomimplementation. (BT)

Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be madefrom the original document.

Prairie Stamp Activity Guide.

Sara Griffen HoofnagleFran Blanchard

Sharon Katz Cooper, Editor

US Postal ServiceNational Wildlife Federation

NC73

Ncr)O.

ST COPY AVAILABLE

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONOffice of Educational Research and Improvement

EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATIONCENTER (ERIC)

a This document has been reproduced asreceived from the person or organizationoriginating it.

Minor changes have been made toimprove reproduction quality.

Points of view or opinions staled in thisdocument do not necessarily representofficial OERI position or policy.

NATIONALWILIDLITgetiti!ri 4Altorinnr.rradi:ni

Prairie StampActivity Guide

UNITED STATESPOSTAL SERVICE®

The National WildlifeFederation is working with the

U.S. Postal Service to promote

the Great Plains Prairie stampas a tool to educate and inspireAmericans about the beauty ofour nation's grasslands and theurgent need to conserve them for

people and wildlife.

Background

The Nature ofGrasslandsSpacious rolling land and endless

sky. Grasses stirred into gracefulwaves. Winds laced with birdsong. Brilliant jewels of colorhidden from casual glances.Gaze across a grassland and thevastness might appear monoto-nous and simple. A closer lookreveals that this is a complex

ecosystem teeming with exam-ples of the wonderful adapt-

ability of living things. A greatdiversity of plant and animal lifecalls the prairie home, havingmet the challenges of little water,almost constant wind, andtemperature extremes.

Grasslands, which began toevolve 70 to 80 million yearsago, are characterized as areaswhere grasses are the character-

istic vegetation and the subsoil isdry with seasonal moisture inthe upper soil layers. Theirevolution was also shaped by

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Prairie Stamp Activity Guide

GREAT PLAINS PRAIRIE KEY:

Purple Prairie CloverDolea purpurea

O Canada GooseBranta canadensis

O PronghornAntilocopra americana

O BadgerTaxidea taxus

Buffalo GrassBuchloe dactyloides

O Harvester AntPogonomyrmex accidentalis

O Burrowing OwlAthene cunicularia

CO Eastern Short-horned LizardPhrynosoma douglasii brevirostre

Plains Pocket GopherGeamys bursariuse Sharp-tailed GrouseTympanuchus phasianellus

BisonBison bison

® Wild AlfalfaPsoralea tenuiflora

Black-tailed Prairie DogCynomys ludovicianus

Swainson's HawkButeo swainsoni

ell Plains SpadefootSpea bombifrons

O Prairie RattlesnakeCrotalus viridis viridis

Painted Lady ButterflyVanessa cordui

Prairie ConeflowerRatibida columnifera

Prairie Wild RoseRose arkansana

Dung BeetleCanthan pifularius

og) Little BluestemSchizachyrium scoparium

Ord's Kangaroo RatDipodomys ordii

O Two-striped GrasshopperMelanoplus bivittatus

O Camel CricketCeuthophilus palidus

Western MeadowlarkSturnella neglecta

periodic fires and grazinganimals that resulted in theestablishment of large areas ofgrassland on all of the conti-nents except Antarctica. Aquarter of the Earth's landsurface is covered by this rapidlyvanishing ecosystem.

The North American prairieecosystem is unique. Comprisedof tallgrass, mixed grass, and

shortgrass communities, thesheer acreage this ecosystem oncecovered is incredible 400million acres (pre-settlementtimes), accounting for 40% ofNorth America's landscape.

Grasslands WorldwideWorldwide, different cultureshave given many names to grass-lands: in Asia they are thesteppes, in South America theyare called pampas, in Africa theyare the veld or savannahs, andin North America they aregenerally called prairie orplains. By whatever name theyare known, grasslands sharesome common traits. Ingeneral, grasslands:

are dominated by grasses

occur on flat or rollingterrain

0 have similar soils (alkaline,lots of organic matter, veryfertile, and fine-grained)

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C:3 have soil that is almostcompletely covered byvegetation

Li invoke a feeling of wide

open space

(.3 commonly have fires andhigh winds (winds lead tohigh evaporation rates andthe spread of fire)

Precipitation tends to beconcentrated in peak periodsfollowed by periods of droughtand may vary greatly from oneyear to the next.

North AmericanGrasslandsThere are several types ofgrasslands in North America,including the intermountainor Palouse, desert, .California,

and Eastern grasslands. Thisguide will concentrate on the 'ittcharacteristics of the prairie thatextends across the relatively flatland bounded by the RockyMountains on the west and the

Appalachian Mountains onthe east. This prairie ecosystem

is divided into tall grass,4. grass, and shortgrass commu-

nities that occur along agradient of decreasing moisturefrom east to west. Although

, somewhat arbitrary, these classi-fications describe how the vege-tation gradually changesbetween the ecosystem's easternand western limits.

mixed

Prairie CommunitiesAlthough the distinctionsbetween different prairie

communities may be blurred,there are some general character-istics of each which help todistinguish them. The typicalplants which live in eachcommunity are indicators, ormarkers, for that community.Table 1 lists some typical charac-teristics of the tallgrass, mixedgrass, and shortgrass prairiecommunities.

Table I PRAIRIE COMMUNITY CHARACTERISTICS. t 0.4i4j

Average Precipitation (per year)

TALLGRASS* '

63.5cm to 99 cm

. .

MIXED GRASS

35.6 cm to 58.4 cm

SHORTGRASSai

25.4 cm to 38.1 cm

Approximate Height of Tallest Grasses over 1.5 m .6 m to 1.2 m under .6 m

Common Grasses big bluestemIndian grass

little bluestemsideoats grama

blue gramabuffalo grass

Depth of Lime Layer no layerleechedinto groundwater

.91 m to 1.83 m less than .61 m

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Prairie Wildlife

The North AmericanSerengetiPrairies are home to a greatdiversity of animal life.

Common animals, such ascottontail rabbits, abound, whilethe highly endangered blackfooted ferret is also a resident ofthis ecosystem. The majority ofthe continent's waterfowl popu-lations live here and prairiesprovide stop-over grounds formany migrating bird species.Thousands of insect species aswell as the largest and fastestNorth American mammalsthebison and the pronghorn,respectivelycan be found onprairies. In addition, all threeprairie communities oncesupported grizzly bear and grayplains wolf populations.

A Home on the RangeAll of these prairie animals, andhumans as well, must meet thesame basic needsfood, water,shelter, and space to raiseyoungin order to survive. Theplace that an animal finds allthe things it needs to live isknown as habitat. Put inhuman terms, an area where aperson can buy or obtain food,work, go to school, and raisechildren is human habitat.Good quality habitat, where an

animal can easily meet its needs,is the single most critical thingto sustaining healthy wildlifepopulations. Although animalscan survive in poor qualityhabitats, the stresses of thesemarginal areas make survivalmore difficult.

While the basic needs for everyanimal are the same, eachanimal uses its resources indifferent ways to meet thesebasic needs. For some animals,a broad area can serve as habitat;for others suitable habitat maybe limited to a more specificarea. For example, a pronghornneeds habitat with plants to eatand open space to raise itsyoung. Shelter comes from itsfur coat, and water can beobtained from the plants it eats,if there is no open water avail-able. It is evident that habitatfor pronghorn covers nearly allof shortgrass and mixed grassprairies, A great plains toad, onthe other hand, needs habitatthat includes insects to eat, softmud in which to dig a shelter,and water in which to lay eggsand raise its young. Therefore,the habitat for the toad islimited to riparian corridorsalong streams, potholes, creeks,and ponds.

6

Animal AdaptationsPrairie animals, like plants, haveto deal with a set of determiningfactors: temperature extremes,fire, precipitation, wind, dangerfrom predators, and exposedlandscapes. And like plants,they have developed a range ofadaptations to live with theseconditions. For example, manyanimals are able to get all of themoisture they need from theplants they eat rather thanrelying on being able to findopen water to drink. In addi-tion, the following adaptationshelp prairie animals to thrive inan often harsh environment:

Burrows, underground holesused by animals, allowanimals to escape from firedanger, temperatureextremes, and somepredators. Prairie dogs,woodchucks, groundsquirrels, weasels, mice,voles, coyotes, and badgersdig their own burrows;snakes, burrowing owls, andblack-footed ferrets often

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move into prairie dogburrows.

Speed helps animals catchprey or evade predators onthe open plains. The swiftfox can run 60 km/hour (37m.p.h.), the coyote and thejackrabbit can run 64km/hour (40 m.p.h.), andthe pronghorn reach speedsof over 86 km/hour (53m.p.h.), faster than anyother North Americanmammal.

Group living offersprotection to prairie dogs,bison, pronghorn, andwhite-tailed deer. In part,this gregarious social

behavior is another way forwildlife to defendthemselves in areas where

there is little cover.

Nesting on the groundunder shrubs protects birdssuch as longspurs, meadowlarks and lark buntingsfrom predators andsummer heat.

rabbits, and prairie dogs arethe color of dried prairiegrasses.

Keen eyesight is atremendous advantage toprairie animalsthe ability toeffectively scan the openlandscape for dangerprovides those animals a"leg up" on predators.Pronghorn eyesight is saidto rival a pair of 8Xbinoculars.

Migration, or movementfrom one habitat to another,is a survival strategy

practiced not only by birdspecies, but bison andinsects as well. Migrationmakes it possible to findenough food to survivewhen conditions change.

Ecological NichesEvery plant and animal on theprairie has its own ecological

nichethe unique role orset of relationships to

other communitymembers.

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Camouflage, or beneficialcoloration, allows somespecies to blend in withtheir surroundings, makingthem nearly invisible topursuers. Many prairieanimals, includingwoodchucks, jack

An ecosystem with manydifferent niches reduces compe-tition between species, allowingmany different species to survivein the same area. Each prairiespecies has its own specificniche. Pronghorn and bison areboth important prairie grazers,found in the same prairiecommunities, but co-exist wellbecause pronghorn feed heavilyon sage, while bison grazealmost exclusively on grass.Hawks and owls both eat smallmammals, but hawks aredaytime hunters while owls areusually nocturnal. These twodifferent hunting strategies allowboth birds to eat smallmammals without depleting thepopulations, since differentsmall mammals are out duringthe day and at night. Conse-quently, in both cases, the twoanimals can co-exist in the samearea without competing forlimited food resources.

7

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NATIONAL The Incredible PrairiePicture Show


ACTIVITY

SummaryStudents will create a prairieecosystem mural

Grade Level:K 8

Time:2 hours

Subjects:Science, art

Skills:classification, comparison,construction, description,research

Learning Objectives:Students will be able to:

gauge their understanding

of the prairie ecosystem.

identify several basic

characteristics of theprairie ecosystem.

recognize the tremendousspecies diversity of theprairie ecosystem.

identify several commonlyknown prairie species.

MaterialsMap:America's Grasslands

(see page 8)

Prairie stamp art pane

nature magazines (e.g.Your

Big Backyard, Ranger Rick,

National Wildlife, NationalGeographic)

art materials: glue/paste,

butcher paper, scissors,

crayons, pencils,

construction paper

Background

As a grassland ecosystem, thedominant vegetation of theprairie is grass. However, thediversity of plant and animalspecies is astounding, reachingbeyond the well knownmammal species the buffaloand the black-footed ferret tothe mountain plover, the tigersalamander, and countless grassand insect species. On an acreof prairie, there may be amillion animals that eat grassesand/or plants. This activity willallow students to use their priorand newly found knowledge tocreate their own vision of theprairie.

PreparationGather nature magazines andbutcher paper.

3

Procedure

1. Ask students: What do thinka prairie looks like? What are itsmain characteristics? Havestudents brainstorm and make alist on a board.

2. Have students go throughnature magazines to findpictures of prairies and theiranimals. Share with them theGreat Plains Prairie stampartwork. Ask, How manydifferent kinds of animals andplants do you see here? Howmany kinds of habitats arerepresented?

3. Lead a discussion with yourstudents, using some of thesequestions, and others you maythink of:

How is a prairie differentfrom a forest?

Where are prairies found inthe U.S.? (Show Map 1 orhave students do their ownresearch.)

What makes up a prairie?What lives in a prairie?

THE INCREDIBLE PRAIRIE PICTURE SHOW I 6

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How is it important topeople? To animals?

Have humans changed theprairie? If so, how?

Have you ever visited aprairie? Where? What doyou remember about it?

4. Hang a large piece of butcherpaper along a long wall in theclassroom.

5. Introduce or review thefollowing terms: ecosystem (theset of interactions between living

and non-living things and theirenvironment), community (agroup of organisms), habitat (aplace where an organism can meet

its basic needs for food, water

shelter, and space to raise young.)

6. Tell the students that, as aclass, they will now create an"Incredible Prairie PictureShow," i.e. a prairie ecosystemmural. The mural should reflectthe landscape of the prairie andits plant and animal species.

7. Divide students into smallgroups and have each groupchoose one of the animals orplants from the prairie stamppanel to focus on. Instructstudents to first develop a list ofquestions they have about theirorganism (e.g., what kind ofhabitat does it use, what does iteat, what eats it, how does it

reproduce, how many youngdoes it have, etc.). Then, usingmagazines, books, and theinternet, students shouldconduct research to find out allthey can about their organism.

8. Once research has beenaccomplished, ask students todraw or cut out magazinepictures of their organism andthose related to it.

9. Once all groups havefinished, have each group take aturn to present their findings tothe rest of the class. Thepresenting group should showwhere they propose to placetheir artwork on the class mural.The rest of the class should beencouraged to ask ques-tions of the 1presenting group.

10. Once all groupshave adc)e their

components to the mural, askthe class to identify connectionsbetween the plants and animalsrepresented on the mural. Theycould draw arrows connectingpredators to prey, or between.other animals that depend oneach other. Ask the students ifany components are missing.Have students come up and addin any missing pieces to themural.

11. Conclude with a classdiscussion of the completedmural. Some sample questions:

Does your prairie ecosystemmural incorporate humans?Why or why not?

Do you think there are otherorganisms that should havebeen included?

Are there more prairieanimals than plantsincluded in your mural?

Why do you think that is?

Could the prairie animalsexist without the plants?

How do you think theprairie has changed overtime?

Would your mural lookdifferent if it had beencreated 100 years ago?

What might it look like 100years from now?


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ACTIVITY

WORKSHEET


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SurvivalScavenger 1.


ACTIVITY

(-2

Summary:Students learn about prairieplant adaptations through ascavenger hunt.

Grade levels:3 8

Time:45 minutes

Subjects:Science, Math, and Art

Skills:classification, comparison,description, observation


define the term adaptation."

identify adaptations plantsexhibit in the prairiegrasslands ecosystem.

understand how those

plant adaptations allowplants to survive and thrive

Materials:notebooks, or clipboards

and tracing paper

pencils

small bags (one for each

small group) including:

piece of waxed paper(= waxiness, droughtadaptation)

piece of fur (= hairiness,drought adaptation)

thin green ribbon(= narrow and/or curledleaves, drought and windadaptation)

doily or "snowflake" cutpaper piece (= finelydivided leaves and/orlow lying plant, droughtadaptation)

sandpaper (= roughleaves, grazing anddrought adaptation)

straw (= tubular grass-like structure, windadaptation)

quills (= spines, grazingadaptation)

velcro (= stickers,grazing adaptation andseed dispersal method)

cottonball "fuzz" (=seeddispersal method)

Background:

Faced with temperatureextremes, water availability, highwinds, fire, and grazing animals,prairie plants have evolved avariety of adaptations to helpthem stay alive and reproduce inthe prairie ecosystem. Manyadaptations exhibited by prairieplants serve "double duty,"reducing the impact of two ormore environmental conditions.For example, leaf hairs 1)

reflect sunlight whichdecreases the rate of evapora-tion, and 2) increase leafsurface area to "break up" thewind, lessening its evaporativepower.

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Due to scarce water and hightemperatures in the prairieecosystem, many prairie plantsshare strategies to cope with thedry conditions. Root systemsexploit limited moisture, leaveswith little surface area slowevaporation, round, hollowstems are strong and require lesswater to maintain, slendergrowing profiles minimize wateruse, and hard seed coats protectthe embryo from desiccation.This activity will help studentsgain an understanding of someof these adaptations.

Proce ure:1. Review the term adaptationwith students. An adaptation isany characteristic that helps ananimal to survive in its habitat.

2. Lead a discussion, asking thestudents:

r:1 How have you adapted toyour environment, i.e.found ways (strategies) tolive with the weather,animals, soils, etc? (Intoday's world, humans have

the ability to manipulatetheir environment so thatthey don't have to adapt to

certain given conditions;

we can, essentially, create

our own conditions.)

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Do plants and animalsinteract with theirenvironment in the samemanner humans do?

CI What are someenvironmental conditionsplants and animals have toadapt to in the prairiegrasslands?

Are there any uniqueenvironmental conditionsprairie grassland plants mustadapt to?

What are some ways plantsmight respond to thoseenvironmental conditions?

3. Divide your class into groups(2 - 3 students per group) andthen hand each group a paperbag filled with the "adaptationobjects" listed above. Explainthat these bags contain objectsrepresenting different prairieplant adaptations.

4. Ask each group to determinewhat plant adaptation eachobject in the bag represents.Before they go outside and find"matching" adaptations, theyneed to come to consensusabout what each object repre-sents to them.

5. Bring them outside, to anarea with a large number ofplants. Set boundary limits,where they can roam and look,

in the schoolyard/ prairie/field.Once boundaries have beenestablished, ask them to identifyas many different plants as theycan find that exhibit the adapta-tions represented by the objectsin the bag.

6. Students should sketch theplant and label the adaptation.They should also note wherethat particular plant was found

near a stream, on an eastfacing slope, for example be as

specific as possible.

7. Encourage groups to try tofind additional adaptations(those not represented by theobjects) to share with the group.

8. Before the students sharetheir findings, have each groupshare their object definitions, i.e.what adaptation did each objectin the bag represent to them?

9. Lump common definitionstogether and ask students tocount the number of plants theyfound that exhibit each adapta-tion. Ask each group to sharetheir findings.

10. Wrap up with a discussionabout students' findings:

Which adaptation(s) weremost commonlyexhibited? Why do youthink you found thatparticular adaptation

more frequently thanothers?

Do you think that wherethe plant was found hadany effect on whatadaptations it exhibited?

Did you notice, or thinkof, any other adaptationsthat were not covered byyour objects? (Eg. wind-borne seeds, roots, etc.)

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NATIONALVOISILIFErtirpq tyntirotry-ere:A-MI.1mi The Early Settle

(7-Summary:Students gain a betterunderstanding of thechallenges faced by pioneersthrough literature androkplay.

Grade levels:4 8

Time:60 minutes

Subject:Social Studies, Language Arts

Skills:analysis, application,comparison, description,research


understand the majorreasons why people moved

to the Great Plains duringthe 19th century

identify some of thechallenges and hardships

faced by early settlers on

the Great Plains

recognize the similaritiesand differences betweenmodern day life and 19thcentury Great Plains life

Materials:"What's Changed?" worksheet

a shoe box for every student


ACTIVITY

Recommended books:Little House on the Prairie,

Laura Ingalls Wilder. 1999.New York: Harper Collins

Wagon Wheels. Barbara

Brenner. 1984. New York:Harper Collins (K 3)

Sarah, Plain and Tall.Patricia MacLachlan. 1985.Harper and Row (2 5)

My Prairie Year. Brett

Harvey. 1986. HolidayHouse, Inc. New York

Pioneer Women: Voices from

the Kansas Frontier. JoannaStratton. Simon andSchuster; New York;1981

Pioneer Children on theJourney West. Emmy E.Werner. 1995. WestviewPress; Boulder/San

Francisco/Oxford

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Sod Walls. Roger Welsch.J & L Lee Co.; Lincoln,NE; 1991

Prairie Visions: The Life and

Times of Solomon Butcher

(children's book) PamConrad Harper Trophy(division of Harper CollinsPublishers); New York; 1991

. . .If You Traveled West in a

Covered Wagon (children's

book) Ellen Levine,Scholastic, Inc.; NewYork/Toronto/London/Auckland/Sydney;1986

BackgroundThe 19th century Great Plainspioneers endured numeroushardships on their move westand subsequent settlement. So,why did they go west? Manyforces fueled western settlement,including manifest destiny (the

THE EARLY SETTLERSI

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feeling that the country shouldspread as far west as possible),

the Homestead Act of 1862, the"overcrowded" eastern seaboard,the displacement of people(including newly freed slaves)after the Civil War, gold, andthe lure of wide open spaces, toname just a few.

Like Native Americans, and theplants and animals of theprairie, the lifestyle of the 19thcentury prairie pioneer wasshaped by the landscape andclimate. Pioneers had to adaptto their environment inventnew devices and use availableresources to survive on theprairie. The early pioneerdwellings, sod houses, are prime

examples of "using what is avail-able," in this case prairie sod."Soddies" were usually oneroom houses built from toughslabs of prairie sod. "Breakingthe land" to plant crops was atedious and strenuous chorebecause prairie sod is made upof a thick network of plant rootsand soil. In 1846 John Deereinvented a steel plowwith a surface thatprevented dirt fromsticking to it,making it easier toconvert prairie tocropland.

Pioneer life was a hard life, espe-cially when viewed in contrastto the relatively "luxurious"lifestyle of those in settled(eastern) communities. Neigh-bors were now miles away ratherthan across the street. Sisters,uncles, parents, nieces, in-laws,and other family members werehundreds, and sometimes thou-sands, of miles from the prairielands now called home.Libraries, post offices, andchurches did not exist whenpeople first moved west, andmay not have been establishedfor some years after settlement.The muslin "ceiling" of sodhomes often caught snakes andinsects who lived in your roof.Schools and doctors were few,water was relatively scarce, bisonchips were used as fuel, and atrip to the general store oftentook several days. Crops wereperiodically decimated bydrought, fire, or grasshoppers;many families went broke andhad to abandon their land.However, the steady migrationand settlement of the plainscontinued. The mass migration

and settlement of the plainstransformed the land

prairie grasses were

replaced by

MOVERS

crops of cornand wheat,cattle

replaced bison, and NativeAmericans were forced ontosmaller and smaller tracts ofland. By 1890 the U.S. govern-ment officially declared the lastfrontier "closed."

Procedure:

1. Ask your class if any of them,and their families, have evermoved. Was the move downthe block, across town, to adifferent state, to a differentcoast?

2. Ask those who have moved"Why?" Why did they andtheir families move? Responsesmight include: to be closer toother family members, forparent's job opportunities, forbetter schools, and so on.

3. Ask all students, includingthose who haven't ever moved,what questions they might asktheir parents and siblings aboutthe place to'which they aremoving. Record student ques-tions/ideas. Depending on theage of the group, students maybe (have been) very involvedwith their family and its deci-sion to move. Possible ques-tions include:

What will the school I go tolook like?

THE EARLY SETTLERS I 12

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How far from ourhouse will the schoolbe?

Do we get to bringour pet (dog, cat,tarantula (!), etc.) withus?

Will I be able to visitmy friends?

Will there be sportsteams I can join?

Where is the closestshopping mall?

4. Ask the students whatthey might feel if they hadto move to a state or citythey had never seen.

5. Read aloud, or assignreading to older studentsfrom a fictional or actualaccount of 19th century life onthe Great Plains. (See "Recom-mended Books "under Materials

section.)

6. Using examples or charactersfrom the story, have the studentsuse the comparison worksheetto identify how their life issimilar to and different from thelife of the early settlers.

7. Divide the students intogroups of three. Ask them topretend that they are brothersand sisters while imagining thefollowing scenario.

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The year is 1875, tenyears after the end of theCivil War. Your family isliving on a small NewEngland farm near Boston.

While eating dinner, yourfather mentions that hejust received a letter fromyour aunt and uncle whomoved onto the GreatPlains three years ago.They have asked yourfamily to leave the Eastand join them on theprairie. Your Dad is

excited about movingwest. He says that he hasheard that under the

1862 Homestead Act,your family can claim160 acres of fertilefarmland at no cost.This would be muchbigger than yourcurrent farm. Althoughyour mother is

concerned about livingfar away from schools,churches, and friends,she misses your auntand would like to livenear her again.

8. Ask the students tothink quietly about howthey might react to theabove situation. Next,have the groups roleplayhow an after dinnerconversation with theirbrothers and/or sisters

might sound after learningabout the potential move. Afterseveral minutes ask the groupsto share what they learned, whatquestions were raised, what fearswere expressed from theirconversations.

9. Continue the scenario bytelling the students that their"parents" have decided to makethe move. Since they aremoving their entire household,space is tight and each siblingcan only bring those personalitems that fit into a "travel box.(Note: Parents would bring


+CAT 1:0. A L.WIITALETT.


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clothing and household items,the travel box would includeonly other personal things.)

10. Ask each student to bring ina shoe box (their modern daytravel box) filled with the itemsthey would take on theirjourney west. Give students acouple of days to think aboutand assemble their travel box.

11. Once all of the students'travel boxes are completed andbrought in, display them aroundthe room a few at a time so allstudents can view them.Another option is to have thestudents stand next to his/hertravel box and explain whyhe/she chose to bring the itemsincluded in the box.

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Extensions

Using the "What'sChanged?" worksheet, askstudents to predict howthose categories will remainthe same or change forpeople/society in the 23rdcentury.

Ask students to researchinventions that affected lifeon the Great Plains duringthe middle and latter half ofthe 19th century.(Examples of topics mightinclude John Deere's steelplow, barbed wire) Then,have students speculate how,and if, those inventions havehad any impact on theirlives.

Ask students to write astory about traveling westinclude the family'smotivation for moving, thethings they would takewith them, what theyexpect to find.

Ask students to write lettersto folks who are still "backEast" after they get to theirnew "prairie home"describing the journey andwhat they found when theygot there.

Have students write mockjournal entries for the tripor for the first year ofhomesteading.

I7THE EARLY SETTLERS I I4

WIWALIFE


ACTIVITY4

What's changed ? A closer look at pioneer and modern lifeDirections: After reading a book or a part of a book about I 9th century life on the GreatPlains, compare and contrast your daily routines to pioneer life.

house structure

methods of travel

daily chores

food

food preparation (cooking)

family life

friends

shopping

religion

play

19th Century Life 2Ist Century Life

entertainment

unforeseen dangers

schooling


1 10 tiVi9UNLIVEMit::.inAI I t;


National Wildlife FederationResources for Educators

.1WIRM.V.I.V.WIVIN,IPMAMMIIMS.44,,A,R,SR.5.169.MNICYJWSWINI4116X

Prairie/Grasslands Educational KitThis activity guide is only a brief sample of NWF's Prairie/Grasslands educational kit.The kit contains detailed background information, more than 20 complete interdisci-plinary lesson plans correlated to national standards of learning, and a how-to guidefor creating your very own Schoolyard Habitats project and certifying it by theNational Wildlife Federation. For more information or to order the complete kit inthe 2001-02 school year, contact National Wildlife Federation at1-800-247-7387 or visit our website at www.nwf.org.

Beyond PrairiesNational Wildlife Federation also produces classroom curricula kits and teacher work-shops on a number of exciting topics including: habitats, how to create a schoolyardhabitats project, endangered species, wetlands, water, smart growth (urban sprawl),northern forests, wolves, and bears. For information on workshops and purchasingcurricula, contact us.

National Wildlife Federation produces three award-winning children's magazines:

Ranger Rick (for ages 7-12)

Your Big Backyard (for ages 3-7)

Wild Animal Baby (for ages 1-3)

To order, call 1-800-611-1599 ororder on-line at www.nwf. org

PRAIRIE STAMP ACTIVITY GUIDE CREDITSWRITERS:

Fran Blanchard,Plains Conservation Center

Sara Griffen Hoofnagle,National Wildlife Federation

EDITOR:

Sharon Katz Cooper,National Wildlife Federation

19

I 16

J.S. Department of EducalionOffice of Educational Research and Ithprovement PERO

National Library of Education (NLE)Educational Resources information Center (ERIC)

NOTICE

Reproduction Basis

ERIC

This document is covered by a signed "Reproduction Release(Blanket)" form (on file within the ERIC system), encompassing allor classes of documents from its source organization and, therefore,does not require a "Specific Document" Release form.

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DOCUMENT RESUME AUTHOR TITLE INSTITUTION · the highly endangered black footed ferret is also a resident of. this ecosystem. The majority of. the continent's waterfowl popu-lations