Day 4: Predator vs. Prey
Objective: Students will Identify the life cycle of a White-Tailed Deer and the threats it faces in predators
Materials:
Gather students on the rug to read the book Whitetail Deer by Laura Evert. Ask students throughout the reading to recall what each stage is called in a White-Tailed Deer's life cycle. Check for correct use of the words fawn, yearling, buck, and doe. Once students are comfortable with these terms tell you are going to play a game. Students who receive a red sticker will be the fawns, students who receive a blue sticker will be a Doe, students who receive a green sticker will be a Buck, and students who receive a yellow sticker will be the predator. Find an area (preferably outside) where students have room to run around. Lay out the hula-hoops around the area and in three of them place small paper cups. Explain that the cups represent food and water. In order to survive each student who is a fawn, buck, or doe must have 3 cups by the end of the game. The fourth hula-hoop is base so they must gather their food and bring it back there (you can only be holding one cup at a time). The predators will be running around and if they tag you, you are out; however, the Bucks can be tagged twice before they get out. The fawns can only move if they are accompanied by a Doe so the Doe's must either stay with the fawns or leave them at the base. Play this until students collect all the cups or everyone is tagged. Return to the classroom. Ask students: "Why do you think the Bucks got extra lives?" "Why did the fawns have to stay with the Does?" and "Did the Does stay with the fawns or did they go off on their own?". Discuss how the Bucks have large antlers and are very strong so they are a better match for a predator, the fawns on the other hand cannot protect themselves so they must stay with the Does. In all of the discussion make sure students are using the correct vocabulary and understand the differences between each stage in the life cycle. Hand out science notebooks and have students write a brief entry (paragraph long) about each stage and how they are matched against a predator.
Differentiation:
Students who are not able to write a whole paragraph on the life cycles can write a sentence or two and then draw a picture of one of the stages.
Assessment:
Collect science notebooks and check for understanding of each stage in the life cycle.
Resources:
Materials:
- Book entitled Whitetail Deer by Laura Evert
- Red stickers
- Blue stickers
- Green stickers
- Yellow stickers
- 4 Hula-hoops
Gather students on the rug to read the book Whitetail Deer by Laura Evert. Ask students throughout the reading to recall what each stage is called in a White-Tailed Deer's life cycle. Check for correct use of the words fawn, yearling, buck, and doe. Once students are comfortable with these terms tell you are going to play a game. Students who receive a red sticker will be the fawns, students who receive a blue sticker will be a Doe, students who receive a green sticker will be a Buck, and students who receive a yellow sticker will be the predator. Find an area (preferably outside) where students have room to run around. Lay out the hula-hoops around the area and in three of them place small paper cups. Explain that the cups represent food and water. In order to survive each student who is a fawn, buck, or doe must have 3 cups by the end of the game. The fourth hula-hoop is base so they must gather their food and bring it back there (you can only be holding one cup at a time). The predators will be running around and if they tag you, you are out; however, the Bucks can be tagged twice before they get out. The fawns can only move if they are accompanied by a Doe so the Doe's must either stay with the fawns or leave them at the base. Play this until students collect all the cups or everyone is tagged. Return to the classroom. Ask students: "Why do you think the Bucks got extra lives?" "Why did the fawns have to stay with the Does?" and "Did the Does stay with the fawns or did they go off on their own?". Discuss how the Bucks have large antlers and are very strong so they are a better match for a predator, the fawns on the other hand cannot protect themselves so they must stay with the Does. In all of the discussion make sure students are using the correct vocabulary and understand the differences between each stage in the life cycle. Hand out science notebooks and have students write a brief entry (paragraph long) about each stage and how they are matched against a predator.
Differentiation:
Students who are not able to write a whole paragraph on the life cycles can write a sentence or two and then draw a picture of one of the stages.
Assessment:
Collect science notebooks and check for understanding of each stage in the life cycle.
Resources:
- Interactive science notebook page
- Book entitled Whitetail Deer by Laura Evert
- This lesson is adapted from one molded in the the Project Wild workshop