“What’s Wild?”

Background

It’s time to explore the difference between wild and domesticated animals! Animals that are wild are called wildlife. Wild animals are animals that take care of themselves without depending on people. This means that they get their food, water and everything they need to survive on their own from the environment. Domestic animals are animals that rely on people to provide food, water and shelter for them. Domestication is a process that takes place over a long period of time and involves selectively breeding animals for the traits that we want.

The difference between wild and domestic animals may be confusing for children at times. For example, animals that live zoos are wild animals but their needs are provided for by people. These animals are a special example of those animals and are not how most of the animals of that species live. Encourage children to think about how most animals of the same species live.  Another example is dogs and cats that have been abandoned and are left to care for themselves. They are still domesticated animals; they are just no longer under the care of a person and are no longer tame.

Neighborhood Animal Walk

Start by asking children what comes to mind when they hear the words “wild animal”?  What are some wild animals that they have seen or know about? Can they think of any animals that are not wild? What is the difference? Do any of them have pets or know someone who has a pet?

Take children on a walk through the neighborhood around the school.  Watch for animals. When you see animals ask the children: Is that a wild animal or a not wild (domesticated) animal? Why do they think so? What is the animal doing? Keep a record of the animals that you see. Record the children’s observations.

Classroom (or outdoor space)

Read aloud to the children the two “A Day in the Life” stories on page 73 of the book Growing Up WILD. Have children act out the stories or use a felt board or other visual to make the stories come to life. Discuss the differences in the two animals’ lives. Ask: How does the dog get what it needs? How does the squirrel get what it needs? Which of the animals is the wild animal? What is the difference?

Provide an assortment of plastic and/or plush animals for children.  As a class sort them into baskets according to whether children think they are wild or domesticated. Some animals may fit into either basket (mice, rabbits) so you may need a third basket for animals that can be either.

Provide the felt board and sorting animals for the children during center time to explore and play with. Listen to the stories they make up with the felt board.

If you have a classroom pet allow children to take part in the care of the pet. If they cannot directly take part in the care of the animal they could help the teacher remember, gather supplies, or take turns observing the pet for the day.

For this and other great activities use Growing Up WILD’s “What’s Wild?”!

Book List

Auch, A. 2002. Tame and Wild (Spyglass Books Series). Spyglass Books.

Brett, J. 1989. Annie and the Wild Animals. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Child, L. 2007. I Want a Pet. Tricycle Press.

Giogas, V. 2007. In My Backyard. Sylvan Dell Publishing.

Greydanus, R. and L. Sweat. 1989. Let's Get a Pet (First-Start Easy Reader). Troll Communications, LLC.

Keats, E.J. 2001. Pet Show!. Penguin Group (USA).

Mastin, C., and J. Sovak. 1997. North America Wild Animals. Grasshopper Books.

Meyer, K. 2006. Wild Animals of North America: A Poster Book. Storey Books.

Rockwell, A. 1992.  Our Yard is Full of Birds. Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishers.

Ruurs, M. 2007. In My Backyard. Tundra.

Thornhill, J. 2004. Wildlife ABC and 123: A Nature Alphabet and Counting Book. Maple Tree Press.

Van Eerbeek, T. 2002. The World of Farm animals: An Early Encyclopedia for Beginning Readers. Balloon Books.

Wolf, J. and M. Hafner. 1996. Daddy, Could I Have an Elephant?. HarperCollins Publishers.

“Spider Web Wonders”

Background

Spiders are a very common form of wildlife. They are found in a wide variety of habitats as well as inside most buildings, even our homes. In fact, if you did a quick search of where you are sitting right now chances are you could probably find a spider somewhere close by. 

There are more than 37,000 species of spiders in the world and about 3,000 species in North America.  It is estimated that approximately 550 to 1000 species of spiders call Iowa their home. Of those spiders only two are possibly harmful to humans, the black widow and the brown recluse, and both are VERY UNCOMMON in Iowa. Most spiders are harmless to humans.

Many people think that spiders are insects but they are actually arachnids. They have eight legs, as opposed to insects having six, and they lack antennae. Spiders have spinneret glands in their abdomens with which they produce silk threads used for creating webs and capturing prey. Different spiders weave different webs. The orb-weaver spiders weave webs that are suspended in mid-air and are what most people think of when they think of a “spider web”. These spider webs are only one of many types of spider webs though and other spiders weave sheet webs, tangle webs and funnel webs, to mention just a few. Some spiders do not spin webs at all but instead actively hunt for their prey.

Spider Walk

Start by asking children: Have you ever seen a spider? How did you know it was a spider? What did it look like? What was it doing? Did it have a web? After your discussion take children on a walk to look for spiders and spider webs. Take magnifying glasses if available.  Spiders can be found in a variety of places, check trees, playground equipment, tall grasses and even places within your classroom and school building. When you find a spider ask the children to tell you what they see: How many legs does it have? What shape is its body? What color is it? Does it have a web? What does its web look like? Is there anything on the web? Record how many spiders you find and whether or not they had webs or not.  You can even bring along sketch books and pencils and have the children draw the spider webs and spiders that they find.

Classroom

When you return to the classroom encourage children to share their feelings and observations about the spiders you found. Together make a chart about the spiders you found, for example, show the number of spiders, or the number webs etc. Display it in the classroom.

Read a book about spiders together, try Diary of a Spider written by Doreen Cronin and illustrated by Harry Bliss.

Create an orb web on dark paper using cellophane tape for the “spokes” and double-stick tape for the “spiral”. Show children the tape web. Allow them turns to “tiptoe” their fingers across the web like a spider. What do they notice? Now have them “fly” into the web like an insect would and touch the web with their palm. What happens this time? Spiders don’t stick to their own webs because they “tiptoe” across their webs whereas prey flies into it hitting many sticky strands getting stuck. Discuss different spider webs. Look at pictures of different webs together.

Allow children time to freely play with spider and spider web pictures and toys/replicas of spiders.

Create spider webs using wax paper, yarn scraps, glue and water.  Put glue in a bowl, water it down until you get a soupy consistency. Give each child a piece of wax paper. Using the yarn scraps, dip them in the glue mixture and then place them on the wax paper to create a web pattern. Make sure the pieces of yarn are connected. Allow the webs time to completely dry. Once they have dried, gently peel the webs off of the wax paper, you now have a web that can be hung up. Decorate your classroom windows with the children’s spider webs!

For this complete activity and other great ideas, including songs and snacks, use Growing Up WILD’s “Spider Web Wonders”!

Book List

Berger, G., M. Berger and R. Osti. 2000. Do All Spiders Spin Webs? (Scholastic Q & A). Scholastic, Inc.

Carle, E. 1989. The Very Busy Spider. Penguin Group (USA).

Cole, J., G. Cole and R. Broda. 1995. Spider's Lunch: All About Garden Spiders. Penguin Group (USA).

Cronin, D. and H. Bliss. 2005. Diary of a Spider. HarperCollins Publishers.

Graham, M. B. 1967. Be Nice to Spiders. HarperCollins Publishers.

Kelman, B.D. 1995. Web Weavers and Other Spiders. Crabtree Publishing Company.

London, J. and R. Baviera. 1998. Dream Weaver. Silver Whistle.

Marsh, L. 2011. Spiders (National Geographic Readers Series). National Geographic Society.

McDermott, G. 1987. Anansi the Spider: A Tale from the Ashanti. Henry Holt & Company, Inc.

Merrians, D. and G. McKeown. 1977. I Can Read About Spiders. Troll Communications, LLC.

Monks, L. 2007. Aaaarrgghh! Spider! Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Parsons, A. and J. Young. 1990. Amazing Spiders (Eyewitness Junior).. Random House Children's Books.

Resnick, J.P. Spiders (Photo-Fact Collection Series). Kidsbooks, Inc.

Trapani, I. 1998. Itsy Bitsy Spider. Charlesbridge Publishing, Inc.

Winer, Y. and K. Lloyd-Jones. 1998. Spiders Spin Webs. Charlesbridge Publishing, Inc.

Helpful Links

Iowa Insects, Spiders and Other Invertebrates

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/IAN606.pdf

Spiders of North America

http://www.cirrusimage.com/spider.htm

BugGuide: Spider Info

http://bugguide.net/node/view/1954

Wikipedia: Spiders

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider

BugGuide: Spider Taxonomy

http://bugguide.net/node/view/1954/bgpage