Nature Activities - Awaken Enthusiasm

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Awaken Enthusiasm

Focus Attention

Direct Experience

Share Inspiration

Owls & Crows

A. Awaken Enthusiasm

B. Review of concept

C. Day / clearing or road

D. 6 or more

E. 5-13 years

F. Rope, 2 blindfolds (of different color)

This is an excellent game for reviewing newly learned concepts. Divide the group into two equal teams, the Owls and the Crows. Have the teams line up facing each other about four feet apart, place a rope between them. About 15 feet behind each team, place a bandanna which designates Home Base. The leader makes a statement aloud, and if the statement is true the Owls chase the Crows, trying to catch them before they reach their Home Base. If the statement is false, the Crows chase the Owls. Anyone caught must join the other team. Before you begin, practice by giving a few easy statements, and asking the players to just point to where they'll run.

Since the players will be continually changing sides, it's helpful to mark clearly the way to run if the statement's true or false. You can use a blue bandanna to signify the true direction - "true blue" and a red one to show false. Or you can use signs or natural features and say something like "true tree" or "false fence."

If the answer isn't obvious to the players, or they forget which way to run, you'll get some of the Owls and Crows running toward each other, and others running back to their Home Bases. During the pandemonium, the leader should remain silent and neutral. When the action has calmed down, he can reveal the correct answer.

Your statements, however, should be as precise and accurate as possible for the age and experience of the players. For example, if you say the sun rises in the east, would that be true? For younger children it might be. But older students probably know that it is the earth's rotation that makes it appear that the sun is rising.

Here are some sample statements: Sensory: "The wind is coming from behind the Crows." Conceptual: "A deciduous tree keeps its leaves all year long." Observational: (after showing them a leaf) "The leaf had five points and five veins." Identification: "This seed comes from an oak tree." Other statements you might want to use are: warm air rises; habitat ... means where a plant or animal lives; birds have teeth; and, ducks, turtles and squirrels are warm-blooded.

* from Sharing Nature with Children, (c) 1998 by Joseph Cornell

Pyramid of Life

A. Awaken Enthusiasm

B. Balance of nature, food chain, biological magnification

C. Day/clearing

D. 6 or more

E. 7 years and up

F. Pencils and paper / plant & animal names on cards

This game requires at least six players. Give each child a slip of paper and have him secretly write on it the name of a plant or animal that lives in the area. The players are going to build a pyramid, just as they might do in gym glass; but don't tell them this until after you've collected all the slips of paper.

Now the fun begins: "From what source does the earth get its energy? ... From the sun! ... Right. What form of life is the first to make use of that energy? ... Plants! ... Right again. Now we're going to build a pyramid." A few groans may be heard when the "plant children" realize their fate.

"The plants will be on the bottom, because all animals depend on them directly or indirectly for food. All the plants kneel down here on all fours, close together in a line. Now, as I read off the animals from the slips of paper, tell me whether they are plant-eaters or meat-eaters. All the plant-eaters (herbivores) stand in a line behind the plants. All the meat-eaters (carnivores) stand in another line behind the herbivores.

There will nearly always be more children in the upper-level groups than in the supporting plant levels; it's a lot more fun to be a bear or mountain lion than it is to be a dandelion or a muskrat. Humility, alas, seldom stimulates the imagination. With so many tops and so few bottoms, it will be impossible to build a stable pyramid. Some of the predators will just have to forfeit their exalted status. Challenge the children to reconstruct their own pyramid into one that will easily support all its members. (Tell them the bigger children can change to plants if they wish.) Clearly, the higher up in the food chain, the fewer the number of animals there are. Demonstrate the importance of plants by pretending to pull one of them out of the pyramid.

Another way to play the Pyramid Game is to hand out to each player a card with the name of a plant or animal written on it. It's more fun if you choose interesting and amusing plant and animal names-like baby blue eyes, Virginia spring beauty, common horsetail, and hog-nosed snake. If possible, have all the animals and plants be from the same habitat. Writing down the names on the cards also allows you to fix the ratio of plants, herbivores, and predators. Along with the name of a plant or animal, write on each card a Roman numeral (plants, I; herbivores, II; predators, III; and a large predator, IV.) For a group of twenty-six players a suggested ratio (plants to top predator) is, 14 - 7 - 4 - 1.

Shuffle the cards and pass one card to each player. If any players aren't sure what row to go to, they can look to see what Roman numeral they have. Here's how to play: "I'd like everyone who can make food from the sun, air, water and trace minerals to come forward and kneel in a long line..... Would all the plants please introduce themselves?..... (The plant players respond with their fun plant names like, black-eyed Susan!, ...Northern lady fern!,.... touch-me-not!, amidst great laughter.) Now, herbivores, come and stand behind the plants. Tell us who you are..... If you're a predator, make a third row and identify yourselves..... Is there anyone who lives at the very top of the food chain? Yes? Please tell us who you are? ... A bald eagle, .... then come and be the fourth row. Now that you have everyone in place, pretend that you are going to build a pyramid. (I say only pretend because its a little risky to build one with this many people.)

Explain to the group that there is a model in science that says that every time you go from one level to a higher one (i.e., plants to herbivores), only 1/10 of the biomass is retained. So for example, if you have one thousand pounds of plants, you'd have one hundred pounds of herbivores, ten of predators, and one of the top predator.

Now tell the group: "I've noticed that the plants are having trouble with some insects, so I'm going to spray with a pesticide. These bandannas that I'm placing on your head-one per plant-signify a particle of poison..... Now I'd like the herbivores to reach down and eat the plants. You do this by taking the plant's bandanna and putting it on the top of your head. Keep eating until all the plants are eaten.

"Poisons like herbicides and pesticides are dangerous to animals because when they're digested the poison stays in the animal's tissue. Let's now have the predators eat the herbivores....." (By now the players see where the game is going and are greatly anticipating what will happen when all the bandannas reach the fourth row.) "Now would the bald eagle eat the animals in the third row?" (The players laugh as the bald eagle-player now wears a large pile of bandannas as a hat.) "As we go higher up the food chain, more and more poison concentrates in the tissues of the animals. This process is called biological magnification. Birds like eagles, peregrine falcons, and pelicans and other animals, too, have been greatly harmed by poisons in the environment.....Where do you, as a human, fit into the food chain?"

* from Sharing Nature with Children, (c) 1998 by Joseph Cornell

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			Home Flow Learning ™ Nature Activities Programs Calendar of Events Sharing Nature Worldwide Country Coordinators Joseph Cornell Books and Resources Connections and More Information

	Nature Activities
	Awaken Enthusiasm Focus Attention Direct Experience Share Inspiration

	Owls & Crows A. Awaken Enthusiasm B. Review of concept C. Day / clearing or road D. 6 or more E. 5-13 years F. Rope, 2 blindfolds (of different color)


	This is an excellent game for reviewing newly learned concepts. Divide the group into two equal teams, the Owls and the Crows. Have the teams line up facing each other about four feet apart, place a rope between them. About 15 feet behind each team, place a bandanna which designates Home Base. The leader makes a statement aloud, and if the statement is true the Owls chase the Crows, trying to catch them before they reach their Home Base. If the statement is false, the Crows chase the Owls. Anyone caught must join the other team. Before you begin, practice by giving a few easy statements, and asking the players to just point to where they'll run. Since the players will be continually changing sides, it's helpful to mark clearly the way to run if the statement's true or false. You can use a blue bandanna to signify the true direction - "true blue" and a red one to show false. Or you can use signs or natural features and say something like "true tree" or "false fence." If the answer isn't obvious to the players, or they forget which way to run, you'll get some of the Owls and Crows running toward each other, and others running back to their Home Bases. During the pandemonium, the leader should remain silent and neutral. When the action has calmed down, he can reveal the correct answer. Your statements, however, should be as precise and accurate as possible for the age and experience of the players. For example, if you say the sun rises in the east, would that be true? For younger children it might be. But older students probably know that it is the earth's rotation that makes it appear that the sun is rising. Here are some sample statements: Sensory: "The wind is coming from behind the Crows." Conceptual: "A deciduous tree keeps its leaves all year long." Observational: (after showing them a leaf) "The leaf had five points and five veins." Identification: "This seed comes from an oak tree." Other statements you might want to use are: warm air rises; habitat ... means where a plant or animal lives; birds have teeth; and, ducks, turtles and squirrels are warm-blooded. * from Sharing Nature with Children, (c) 1998 by Joseph Cornell

	Pyramid of Life A. Awaken Enthusiasm B. Balance of nature, food chain, biological magnification C. Day/clearing D. 6 or more E. 7 years and up F. Pencils and paper / plant & animal names on cards
	This game requires at least six players. Give each child a slip of paper and have him secretly write on it the name of a plant or animal that lives in the area. The players are going to build a pyramid, just as they might do in gym glass; but don't tell them this until after you've collected all the slips of paper. Now the fun begins: "From what source does the earth get its energy? ... From the sun! ... Right. What form of life is the first to make use of that energy? ... Plants! ... Right again. Now we're going to build a pyramid." A few groans may be heard when the "plant children" realize their fate. "The plants will be on the bottom, because all animals depend on them directly or indirectly for food. All the plants kneel down here on all fours, close together in a line. Now, as I read off the animals from the slips of paper, tell me whether they are plant-eaters or meat-eaters. All the plant-eaters (herbivores) stand in a line behind the plants. All the meat-eaters (carnivores) stand in another line behind the herbivores. There will nearly always be more children in the upper-level groups than in the supporting plant levels; it's a lot more fun to be a bear or mountain lion than it is to be a dandelion or a muskrat. Humility, alas, seldom stimulates the imagination. With so many tops and so few bottoms, it will be impossible to build a stable pyramid. Some of the predators will just have to forfeit their exalted status. Challenge the children to reconstruct their own pyramid into one that will easily support all its members. (Tell them the bigger children can change to plants if they wish.) Clearly, the higher up in the food chain, the fewer the number of animals there are. Demonstrate the importance of plants by pretending to pull one of them out of the pyramid. Another way to play the Pyramid Game is to hand out to each player a card with the name of a plant or animal written on it. It's more fun if you choose interesting and amusing plant and animal names-like baby blue eyes, Virginia spring beauty, common horsetail, and hog-nosed snake. If possible, have all the animals and plants be from the same habitat. Writing down the names on the cards also allows you to fix the ratio of plants, herbivores, and predators. Along with the name of a plant or animal, write on each card a Roman numeral (plants, I; herbivores, II; predators, III; and a large predator, IV.) For a group of twenty-six players a suggested ratio (plants to top predator) is, 14 - 7 - 4 - 1. Shuffle the cards and pass one card to each player. If any players aren't sure what row to go to, they can look to see what Roman numeral they have. Here's how to play: "I'd like everyone who can make food from the sun, air, water and trace minerals to come forward and kneel in a long line..... Would all the plants please introduce themselves?..... (The plant players respond with their fun plant names like, black-eyed Susan!, ...Northern lady fern!,.... touch-me-not!, amidst great laughter.) Now, herbivores, come and stand behind the plants. Tell us who you are..... If you're a predator, make a third row and identify yourselves..... Is there anyone who lives at the very top of the food chain? Yes? Please tell us who you are? ... A bald eagle, .... then come and be the fourth row. Now that you have everyone in place, pretend that you are going to build a pyramid. (I say only pretend because its a little risky to build one with this many people.) Explain to the group that there is a model in science that says that every time you go from one level to a higher one (i.e., plants to herbivores), only 1/10 of the biomass is retained. So for example, if you have one thousand pounds of plants, you'd have one hundred pounds of herbivores, ten of predators, and one of the top predator. Now tell the group: "I've noticed that the plants are having trouble with some insects, so I'm going to spray with a pesticide. These bandannas that I'm placing on your head-one per plant-signify a particle of poison..... Now I'd like the herbivores to reach down and eat the plants. You do this by taking the plant's bandanna and putting it on the top of your head. Keep eating until all the plants are eaten. "Poisons like herbicides and pesticides are dangerous to animals because when they're digested the poison stays in the animal's tissue. Let's now have the predators eat the herbivores....." (By now the players see where the game is going and are greatly anticipating what will happen when all the bandannas reach the fourth row.) "Now would the bald eagle eat the animals in the third row?" (The players laugh as the bald eagle-player now wears a large pile of bandannas as a hat.) "As we go higher up the food chain, more and more poison concentrates in the tissues of the animals. This process is called biological magnification. Birds like eagles, peregrine falcons, and pelicans and other animals, too, have been greatly harmed by poisons in the environment.....Where do you, as a human, fit into the food chain?" * from Sharing Nature with Children, (c) 1998 by Joseph Cornell

	\| Flow Learning™ \| Nature Activies \| Programs \| Calendar of Evcnts \| \| Sharing Nature Worldwide \| Country Coordinators \| Joseph Cornell \| \| Books and Resources \| Connections and More Information \| Mailing List \| Sharing Nature Foundation 14618 Tyler Foote Rd. Nevada City, CA 95959 530-478-7650 e-mail: info@sharingnature.com