Post by Woody Williams on Jun 15, 2007 17:12:33 GMT -5
Teach kids about wildlife this summer
Easy backyard summer wildlife education ideas
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-EDITOR'S NOTE- Supporting photos and cutlines at: www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/stuff/gallery/backyard_wildlife.html
"I'm Bored" are among the most dreaded words heard by parents of schoolchildren during summer.
But the "I'm bored" syndrome can be cured with a few inexpensive and educational ideas that can help wildlife.
Look for fun lessons in your own backyard, a hangout for all kinds of critters.
Watch and learn about the noisy blue jay with its curious collection of calls, the unique rollie-pollie bug -- Indiana's only all-terrestrial crustacean, the gymnastic squirrel, and all sorts of strange insects, spiders and toads.
All these critters need food, water and shelter. Here's how to learn and help.
Food
---------
Plant a small food plot for common backyard visitors. Sunflowers are a good choice. They can be planted throughout the summer, are easy and inexpensive to grow, and the blooms burst with color.
First, get your kids involved in preparing the area to be planted, and then let them sow the seeds (usually about an inch deep and 6 inches apart). Talk with them about what the plants will need to grow. Borrow a biology book and learn why some plants have flowers. Ask them to water the sunflowers and record the birds that visit them. Chickadees, cardinals, finches and sparrows like sunflower seeds. Your kids will too.
When the seeds are ripe, let the kids harvest some of the seeds and roast them. Put a single layer of kernels in a shallow pan to roast for about 40 minutes, maybe a little longer, in a 300-degree oven. To season, add one teaspoon of margarine or melted butter for each cup of roasted kernels. Stir until coated and salt to taste.
Shelter
----------
Squirrels loaf and sleep in leaf nests on tree branches. Rabbits hide in the brambles. Even the tiny toad needs to escape now and then, so build him some shade. Turn a flowerpot upside down and prop it on a rock, away from direct sunlight. Coffee cans and margarine tubs also work well.
To add a whimsical feel to your flowerbeds, have your children paint the outside of the cans or clay pots. Let them choose their own designs. (Remind them to turn the pot upside down so their designs will face the way they intended.)
When the toads are taken care of, let the kids create a shelter of their own. You'll need climbing pea seed or bean seed, several wooden stakes, a 5-foot wooden pole, some sturdy string and a green thumb.
First, drive the wooden pole into the ground. Next, place the stakes around the pole to create a circle of about 4 feet. Tie string from the top of the pole to each stake, and plant the seeds near the stakes. When the shoots begin to grow, guide the vines up the strings.
In no time your kids will have a hideout of their own to share with wildlife.
Water
-----------
If you don't have a birdbath in your yard, make one from old terra cotta pots and a large saucer, a caulk gun and silicone adhesive.
Stack the pots one on top of the other. Start with the largest on the bottom to give your birdbath stability, and end with the clay saucer on top. Glue the pots together with silicone adhesive, then attach the saucer to the top pot.
Make sure that it is centered and level. Next, paint your birdbath or leave the pots their natural color.
Count how many birds are using the birdbath. Keep handy a bird identification book to learn about your feathered visitors. Check the water every now and then for mosquito larvae. Using a magnifying glass, observe the larvae's unique snorkeling lifestyle for several minutes, and then change the water before they become mosquitoes.
Fun Summer Nature Lesson
--------------------------
Learn about Indiana's only all-terrestrial crustacean, with a Pill Bug 500 and a pill bug farm.
Indianapolis may have the Indianapolis 500 race with high-speed cars on Memorial Day, but you can have the Pill Bug 500 with speedy critters any day of the summer.
Pill bugs, also called rollie-pollies or sow bugs, are tiny, flat, bug-like animals with a bunch of legs and flexible armor. They really are not bugs, but are terrestrial isopods, and belong to the class Crustacea. Familiar crustaceans include crayfish, lobsters and shrimp. When disturbed, these wiggly isopods sometimes roll up into a tight ball the size of a tiny sweet pea.
Rollie-pollies are usually plentiful and easy to find in yards. Look under logs, flower pots, or old leaves near rich soil. Pill bugs don't bite, so carefully pick up several and protect them in a paper cup or old medicine bottle. Did you find different kinds of pill bugs? Did they all have the same number of leg pairs?
Next, have your kids get a big piece of paper or cardboard and draw a big circle, maybe by tracing a dinner plate. Then, have your kids draw a small circle in the center of the larger circle, maybe by tracing the bottom of a paper cup. You now have your race track.
Give each kid a container with a pill bug. At the count of three, shout, "GO" and each kid can gently place his pill bug into the small center circle. The first bug to reach and cross the big outer circle is the winner. Did some rollie-pollies roll up and hide, while different kinds ran fast, or maybe played possum?
When done, put the pill bugs back where you found them. Or start an easy pill bug farm and learn about the important natural role these animals have in helping to break down and decay organic matter.
Place the pill bugs in a jar with dirt, leaves and a dark damp hiding spot. Make sure the jar is in the shade and is always humid because pill bugs breathe through gill-like structures. Be careful to avoid standing water and significant condensation. Under such conditions, pill bugs will reproduce and live for many years.
Keep the pill bug jar near an identical jar without pill bugs. Observe the different rates of litter breakdown and conversion to a dark, rich humus. Compare the rates of breakdown of leaves from different plant species.
----------------------------------------
Backyard wildlife habitat ideas for kids courtesy of the National Wild Turkey Federation and Indiana DNR State Parks and Reservoirs Interpretive Services.
Easy backyard summer wildlife education ideas
-----------------------------------------------
-EDITOR'S NOTE- Supporting photos and cutlines at: www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/stuff/gallery/backyard_wildlife.html
"I'm Bored" are among the most dreaded words heard by parents of schoolchildren during summer.
But the "I'm bored" syndrome can be cured with a few inexpensive and educational ideas that can help wildlife.
Look for fun lessons in your own backyard, a hangout for all kinds of critters.
Watch and learn about the noisy blue jay with its curious collection of calls, the unique rollie-pollie bug -- Indiana's only all-terrestrial crustacean, the gymnastic squirrel, and all sorts of strange insects, spiders and toads.
All these critters need food, water and shelter. Here's how to learn and help.
Food
---------
Plant a small food plot for common backyard visitors. Sunflowers are a good choice. They can be planted throughout the summer, are easy and inexpensive to grow, and the blooms burst with color.
First, get your kids involved in preparing the area to be planted, and then let them sow the seeds (usually about an inch deep and 6 inches apart). Talk with them about what the plants will need to grow. Borrow a biology book and learn why some plants have flowers. Ask them to water the sunflowers and record the birds that visit them. Chickadees, cardinals, finches and sparrows like sunflower seeds. Your kids will too.
When the seeds are ripe, let the kids harvest some of the seeds and roast them. Put a single layer of kernels in a shallow pan to roast for about 40 minutes, maybe a little longer, in a 300-degree oven. To season, add one teaspoon of margarine or melted butter for each cup of roasted kernels. Stir until coated and salt to taste.
Shelter
----------
Squirrels loaf and sleep in leaf nests on tree branches. Rabbits hide in the brambles. Even the tiny toad needs to escape now and then, so build him some shade. Turn a flowerpot upside down and prop it on a rock, away from direct sunlight. Coffee cans and margarine tubs also work well.
To add a whimsical feel to your flowerbeds, have your children paint the outside of the cans or clay pots. Let them choose their own designs. (Remind them to turn the pot upside down so their designs will face the way they intended.)
When the toads are taken care of, let the kids create a shelter of their own. You'll need climbing pea seed or bean seed, several wooden stakes, a 5-foot wooden pole, some sturdy string and a green thumb.
First, drive the wooden pole into the ground. Next, place the stakes around the pole to create a circle of about 4 feet. Tie string from the top of the pole to each stake, and plant the seeds near the stakes. When the shoots begin to grow, guide the vines up the strings.
In no time your kids will have a hideout of their own to share with wildlife.
Water
-----------
If you don't have a birdbath in your yard, make one from old terra cotta pots and a large saucer, a caulk gun and silicone adhesive.
Stack the pots one on top of the other. Start with the largest on the bottom to give your birdbath stability, and end with the clay saucer on top. Glue the pots together with silicone adhesive, then attach the saucer to the top pot.
Make sure that it is centered and level. Next, paint your birdbath or leave the pots their natural color.
Count how many birds are using the birdbath. Keep handy a bird identification book to learn about your feathered visitors. Check the water every now and then for mosquito larvae. Using a magnifying glass, observe the larvae's unique snorkeling lifestyle for several minutes, and then change the water before they become mosquitoes.
Fun Summer Nature Lesson
--------------------------
Learn about Indiana's only all-terrestrial crustacean, with a Pill Bug 500 and a pill bug farm.
Indianapolis may have the Indianapolis 500 race with high-speed cars on Memorial Day, but you can have the Pill Bug 500 with speedy critters any day of the summer.
Pill bugs, also called rollie-pollies or sow bugs, are tiny, flat, bug-like animals with a bunch of legs and flexible armor. They really are not bugs, but are terrestrial isopods, and belong to the class Crustacea. Familiar crustaceans include crayfish, lobsters and shrimp. When disturbed, these wiggly isopods sometimes roll up into a tight ball the size of a tiny sweet pea.
Rollie-pollies are usually plentiful and easy to find in yards. Look under logs, flower pots, or old leaves near rich soil. Pill bugs don't bite, so carefully pick up several and protect them in a paper cup or old medicine bottle. Did you find different kinds of pill bugs? Did they all have the same number of leg pairs?
Next, have your kids get a big piece of paper or cardboard and draw a big circle, maybe by tracing a dinner plate. Then, have your kids draw a small circle in the center of the larger circle, maybe by tracing the bottom of a paper cup. You now have your race track.
Give each kid a container with a pill bug. At the count of three, shout, "GO" and each kid can gently place his pill bug into the small center circle. The first bug to reach and cross the big outer circle is the winner. Did some rollie-pollies roll up and hide, while different kinds ran fast, or maybe played possum?
When done, put the pill bugs back where you found them. Or start an easy pill bug farm and learn about the important natural role these animals have in helping to break down and decay organic matter.
Place the pill bugs in a jar with dirt, leaves and a dark damp hiding spot. Make sure the jar is in the shade and is always humid because pill bugs breathe through gill-like structures. Be careful to avoid standing water and significant condensation. Under such conditions, pill bugs will reproduce and live for many years.
Keep the pill bug jar near an identical jar without pill bugs. Observe the different rates of litter breakdown and conversion to a dark, rich humus. Compare the rates of breakdown of leaves from different plant species.
----------------------------------------
Backyard wildlife habitat ideas for kids courtesy of the National Wild Turkey Federation and Indiana DNR State Parks and Reservoirs Interpretive Services.
