Barn Owl Beaver

Squirrel Fox

Animals that Adapt Cut apart, glue to index cards, punch 2 holes and insert string to make

necklaces

Barn Owl Beaver

Animals that Adapt Cut apart, glue to index cards, punch 2 holes and put string through to make

a necklace

Deer Hawk

Turkey Mink

Rabbit

Animals that Hibernate

Turtle

Black Bear Jumping Mouse

Frog

Brown Bear Chipmunk

Snake Bat

Badger Skunk

Animals that Migrate

Loon Robin

Monarch Butterfly Goldfinch

Salmon Caribou

Blue Bird Beluga Whale

Red Headed Woodpecker

Animal Descriptions Cut apart and put on backside of index card

Animals That Adapt Barn Owl

To survive cold winters, Barn Owls need to hunt successfully, and cannot survive long if they do not catch prey often enough.

Snow cover is a big problem for Barn Owls trying to make it through winter. Too many days of snow cover means not enough chances to find food. Mild

winters help the Barn Owls to avoid starvation Beaver

The under fur is very dense and traps a layer of air next to the skin for insulation.

To survive during the winter beavers eat the inner bark of trees.

Fox

During the winter a fox will grow a thicker layer of hair to help keep them warm.

A fox will change what it eats during the winter. While the fox eats fruits and grasses in the spring and summer, during the winter when those are not available a fox eats small rodents.

Squirrel Squirrels build nests out of leaves, twigs and other materials

that they find in their surroundings. The nests provide homes and help to keep them warm.

Squirrels gather food and stash it in hidden locations close to their nest, to be eaten later. Before winter comes, they fatten themselves up by eating a lot, and they grow a thicker fur coat. When winter comes, they keep warm in their nest, and mostly rely on their hidden stash of food for nourishment. If the weather is really cold, squirrels may share nests with one another in order to share body heat and keep warm.

Deer

During the winter deer eat woody plants because that is all that is available. Sometimes deer will dig under the snow to find grasses to eat. If winter lasts a long time than often starvation will kill the deer because of a lack of nutrient rich trees.

During the winter deer grow a thick coat of hair. Each individual hair is hollow. This is important because the hair acts as an insulator trapping the body heat that the deer generates.

Hawk

Hawks grow warm winter feathers to survive the winter. They continue to hunt for small rodents and often feed off of the carcass of dead animals.

Some hawks will actually migrate south if the winter becomes to snowy because it becomes difficult for them to catch the prey.

Turkey

In the winter turkeys will continue to roam in search of food. However, their diets change depending on what foods are available. During the winter months turkeys will eat whatever is available including plants, weed seeds, waste grains.

Mink During the winter a mink will grow thick layers of insulating fat

and has specialized fur that helps it keep warm. They eat more fish in the winter out of small streams or rivers that

are not completely frozen because the fish are slower and easier to catch.

Rabbit

Rabbits grow a thicker layer of fur to help keep warm in the winter.

Rabbits spend the winter looking for moss, twigs, bark, and leaves to eat.

Rabbits find shelter under houses, garages, brushy swamps, or bushes during the winter months to keep warm and hide from predators.

Animals That Hibernate Turtle

Most turtles go deep into a pond and snuggle down into mud and leaves at the bottom for the winter. While at the bottom the let themselves get cold so their bodies slow down. Once this happens they don’t need to eat anymore. Their heart slows down so that it only beats once every few minutes and they stop breathing through their lungs. They get the small amount of oxygen they need from the water.

Frog

Terrestrial frogs- frogs that primarily live on land- dig deep burrows in the soil below the frost line to hibernate in for the

winter. Many frogs will actually freeze during the winter months and

Look frozen and dead. However, frogs have a high concentration Of glucose in their organs that prevents the organs for freezing. When it begins to warm up again a frogs frozen portion will thaw and its heart and lungs will resume activity.

Black Bear Black bears sleep for up to 7months without eating, drinking, or

going to the bathroom. Black bears are able to sleep for long because of their thick

insulative pelt or fur. Their thick pelt helps to maintain a body temperature of 88 degrees which is only 12 degree different from their summer body temperature.

Jumping Mouse

Jumping mice put a large layer of fat in the fall to Prepare for the winter. They spend from October to April in an underground moss/grass/leaf nest.

Jumping mice wake every two weeks to stretch and go to the bathroom.

Brown Bear

To hibernate, brown bear dig beneath the roots of a large tree to create their dens by chewing up obstructing roots and throwing out rocks and dirt.

In late October or early November the brown bear will enter its den and will get no water or nourishment for the next 5 to 6 months.

In order to survive the winter months the brown bear must eat enough food in order to store huge amounts of fat on their body.

Chipmunk

During the summer months, chipmunks store enough food to last them through the winter. They wake up periodically to eat their nuts or seeds.

Chipmunks live in underground burrow during the winter to stay warm.

Snake To survive the winter some snakes head underground to

hibernate, while others gather together in a sheltered place like a log.

Snakes increase their food intake before hibernating and because they are cold blooded their metabolism slows down drastically.

Bat

Bats hibernate in caves, building, old mines, or hollow trees. They build up fat during the summer so that they can

live throughout the winter. Bats often hibernate in groups. They hang upside down

alone or in groups. When a bat hibernates, its body temperature drop until

It is about the same temperature as it is outside.

Badger

Badgers hibernate but go into temporary hibernation which means they have a few awake times during the winter to eat food from their burrows.

Badgers live in underground burrows during the winter. In the fall badgers will eat more so they can sleep for

weeks at a time without waking up.

Skunk

Skunks hibernate in dens that are lined with leaves. They plug up the opening of the den so that their heat stay in and some of the cold stays out.

Often times, on a warm day skunks will wake up and look for food and then return to their den.

Animals That Migrate Loon

Loons travel between 1,300 and 1,700 miles to migrate. Some loons can travel as much as 572 miles in just 3 days.

Loons spend the winter season along the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf Coasts.

Robin

Robins migrate in search of food rather than changing temperatures. Fruit, earthworms and insects are the robins main source of food. They will return when their food sources become available.

Robins fly south for most of the winter.

Monarch

Monarchs migrate to Mexico each year in order to survive. They cannot live in cold temperatures.

Monarchs fly up to 2,500 miles to a warmer climate. They are the only insect that can fly that far.

Goldfinch Migrate primarily to Texas and Florida in the cold months. They migrate because of the cold weather and also because

of food sources. Goldfinches eat seeds, grasses, and wildflowers.

Salmon

Salmon travel thousands of miles to migrate. Millions of them migrate together entering the Gulf of Alaska from nearby rivers.

Scientists are not exactly sure why salmon migrate.

Caribou Caribou travel to the Boreal Forest or other wooded areas

to migrate. Although the weather is also cold in these areas there is much less snow and the tree cover provides shelter to the caribou.

Thousands of caribou travel hundreds of miles together in search of food sources.

Bluebird Bluebirds migrate south for the winter in search of better food. They feed on berries which are scarce in the northern regions of

the U.S. during the winter months. Some bluebirds travel as far as Texas when migrating.

Beluga Whale

The Beluga Whale migrates both north and south. Some whales travel thousands of miles. Many migrate in the fall when the ice pack begins to advance.

Red-Headed Woodpecker

The Red-Headed Woodpecker migrate south during the cold months of the year in search of food. Their primary food source is acrons and beech nuts which are not found in the northern parts of the U.S. in the cold months.

They will often travel hundreds of miles in search of food.

Question Cards Print and cut apart questions and glue them onto index cards

Adapt –Print 4 copies

1.How do you know your animal

adapts to its environment?

2. What do you do you think your

animal does to adapt to its environment?

-Check the back of your card for information

3. What is another animal that adapts

to its environment in the same way your

animal does?

4. Talk to other group members and ask

them about their animal.

Migrate –Print 4 copies

1.How do you know your animal

migrates during the winter?

2. Where do you think your animal

migrates to during the winter?

-Check the back of your card for information

3. What is another animal that

migrates during the winter?

4. Talk to other group members and ask

them about their animal.

Hibernate –Print 4 copies

1.How do you know your animal

hibernates during the winter?

2. What does your animal do

in order to hibernate in the winter?

-Check the back of your card for information

3. What is another animal that

hibernates during the winter?

4. Talk to other group members and ask

them about their animal.