Keepers of the Earth Lessons

Overall Activity

The teacher will narrate a ‘play’ of the seasonal life cycle of a wildflower. Students will begin curled up on the floor of a classroom (or outside!) as though they are seeds that have yet to sprout. Refer to Procedure for detailed instructions.

Grade Range and Relevant Iowa Standards: K - 2nd

• K-ESS3-1. Use a model to represent the relationship between the needs of different plants or animals (including humans) and the places they live.
• 1-LS1-1. Use materials to design a solution to a human problem by mimicking how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs.
• 2-LS2-2. Develop a simple model that mimics the function of an animal in dispersing seeds or pollinating plants.

Goals/Objectives

• Understanding of the life cycle of plants
• Understanding of plants responses to varying temperatures, day lengths, and levels of moisture as seasons change

Materials

• Construction paper, glue, tape, white confetti/shredded paper
• Dried beans for seeds; small paintbrushes with small containers of flour
• Children dressed as the following: a bee, the sun, a cloud with rain (spray bottle w/water), the wind with long streamers attached

Procedure

1. Ask your students to identify the seasons and the first thing they think about for each of the seasons to introduce the activity. Discuss the characteristics of each and the changes that occur throughout the year.
2. Tell the students they will go through a whole life cycle growing season pretending as though they are a wildflower as you narrate a play. You could pick a specific wildflower or give them choices, but make sure it is an annual. 
3. Before the narration of the play begins:
   • Each child creates a flower hat from construction paper that could be glued/taped to the top of another decorated ring of paper that fits the head. These will be kept nearby each child during the play.
   • One child will make a bee outfit with wings, antennae, & three pairs of legs (consider birds or butterflies as well for multiple pollinators). The bee will need a paintbrush and flour (the pollen) to ‘pollinate’ the flowers. 
   • Other children will need to play the roles of the sun, wind, and rain and will respond to your cues as you read the play
   • Perhaps read through the play once so the children understand their roles and your cues
   • Then stand up front and lead the children through various movements as they complete a 1-year growing cycle of the wildflower
4. Children will begin as unsprouted seeds curled up on the floor or ground as you narrate the play copied below.

Extensions

• Refer to Iowa’s Nature Series for additional resources on plants & prairies
• Gather leaves during the fall or perhaps at other times of the year. Have students study their chosen leaf for several minutes, mix them up in a pile, and have them try to pick theirs out. 
• Make a leaf mobile through collected foliage from outside after pressing them with newspaper.
• Take clippings of plants as they are dormant outside and place them in water to see the ones that may bloom indoors. The ones that do respond may be more sensitive to temperature changes and the ones that have not responded may be more sensitive to day length changes (not affected by the warmth of the indoors). Use a sunlamp for the nonresponsive plants to induce a longer ‘day’ condition to induce blooming. This may work best when the dormant plants have experienced several months of short days & cold temperatures outdoors.

Prairie Connections (some information sourced from Iowa’s Nature Series)

• Compass plant is a highly recognizable flowering plant, an icon of the tallgrass prairie, and its range includes the entire state of Iowa. ‘Compass’ refers to the orientation of its leaves that face east and west for sun exposure. They are pollinated by various bees and frequently used as perches for birds as they can grow up to ten feet tall. 
• Consider the Compass plant (Silphium laciniatum) or other members of the Silphium genus like prairie dock or cup plant (they grow tall!) as examples for the students to create their flower hats or helpful visual displays.
• Prairie Roots: To help your students visualize the life cycle of how these plants return from dormancy year after year consider using prairie root displays and pictures from the attached link
• Irvine Prairie Wildflower Guide - Photos, names, and fun facts!

Wildflower Season Narrated Play

You are a seed resting in the soil. Winter is moving north and the soil around you feels warm and wet. Slowly you begin to unfold. Your root goes down into the soil and your sprout pushes upward. In a few days your leaves begin to unfold (their arms stretch out) and they poke up out of the dark soil into the bright, warm sun (the sun walks briskly across the room among the flowers). You grow taller and taller. You can feel the sap flowing through your veins. Your green leaves stretch wider and higher toward the sun (arms and fingers reaching higher).

As spring turns into summer, a bud forms on your head and finally opens into a beautiful flower (put flower hats on). Feel the long, hot days of summer (pause here as the sun walks slowly across the room) and imagine the patter of rain upon your leaves  and flower petals (pause as the rain cloud walks through the flowers and lightly sprays them with water, while the wind follows behind blowing the rain cloud along). On some cool mornings there are beads of dew on your leaves and petals glistening in the sun.

One day a bee buzzes over and she is covered with pollen from other flowers. She nips nectar and gets pollen from your flower and she leaves pollen from another flower to help your seeds grow. (Bee buzzes around to each flower using the paintbrush to dust pollen [flour] onto each flower’s head).

The days grow short during the fall (sun walks briskly across the room) and one morning you find that frost has frozen your leaves and you are shriveled up (they take off the flower hats and fold arms). But now you have seeds where you had none before. (Go around and place seeds in their hands). One day a cold, hard wind blows (wind blows through the plants) and your seeds shake loose and fall to the soil (they let the seeds drop to the floor or ground). There is not much left of you now and the days are very short (sun runs through the flowers). You are a dead, dried up brown stalk when the first snow comes (cloud comes through throwing shredded paper or white confetti for snow). But in the soil your withered roots are resting the seeds that will make new life when the long days, warm weather, and rainstorms come again in the springtime.

Overall Activity

Visit with your class a natural place several times, using a variety of senses or intellectual stimulations (refer to Procedure for further instructions). Keep records of these visits in some way that best fits your students (journal, iPad, pictures, etc.) and extend or share your experiences with others.

Grade Range and Relevant Iowa Standards: K - 2nd

• K-LS1-1. Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive (Kindergarten)
• 1-LS3-1. Make observations to construct an evidence-based account that young plants and animals are like, but not exactly like, their parents
• 2-LS4-1. Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats.

Goals/Objectives

• Developing connections and relationships with a natural environment
• Enhancing sensory perceptions and awareness skills
• Understanding and recording observations of the importance of organic life

Materials

• An outdoor area near school such as a wetland, field/prairie, or woodlands
• Optional: Journals, magnifying glasses, clipboards, litter cleanup bags, pencils/paper, paint, crayons, plant field guides, collection boxes, technology, water, first aid kit

Procedure

1. Find a natural area (preferably quiet) that your class can visit and re-visit periodically. During your first visit to this area each child will pick a special spot for themselves. Have them sit quietly for 5-10 minutes (or longer).
   1. It may help to take a walk through this area first and have them make mental notes of what they see, are comfortable, and less restlessness occurs once their special spot has been chosen
2. Regroup as a whole with your class and have students share an experience from their locations. 
3. For each repeated visit to this area, consider having students bring a natural gift to their special spot such as a leaf, soil, a berry, etc.

Suggested activities or sensory experiences in their spots (consider using these as choices for your students):

1. Become an insect. Lie on your stomach as close to the ground as possible. What does it look like, feel like, sound like, smell like? While outside or back in the classroom draw a picture or write a short description of this experience.
2. Pretend as if you are part of the nature around you and one with it while sitting upright. If you move, do it very slowly. Children may find insects or animals come closer to them.
3. Pick a plant growing near you and study it carefully with all senses, not merely sight. Could be a tree or a single blade of grass. 
4. Write a poem of your area using your senses of sight, sound, smell, touch, and hearing. 
5. Lie down. Close your eyes and only use hearing/sounds to make observations of your experience.
6. Draw a picture of your place. If a student does not see insects, animals, and is disappointed simply remind them to think about what may be there when they are NOT. Use their imagination to add animals into the natural habitat of their space/drawing.
7. Visit at different times if possible and take pictures of each student in their special space. Make a classroom board showcasing your students’ connection to nature. 
8. After all the visits have been made, have your students create stories, songs, plays, or reports from their collections and memories.

Extensions

• Refer to Iowa’s Nature Series for additional resources on the diversity of Iowa’s landscape, from vertebrates & plants to state symbols & prairies
• It isn’t necessary to re-visit the initial area repeatedly but will greatly assist in cultivating a sense of place, community, and connectedness to nature and each other
• If time and geography allows, repeat this activity with multiple different locations so that children can see the variability and biodiversity of their natural areas (this will scaffold to older children and Iowa State Standards)
• Encourage your students to do this on their own and care for their special natural environment near their homes. Assign a special project in this vein that perhaps can take the place of a task that is difficult for them to accomplish in the classroom (Differentiation)
• Collections, drawings, poetry, journals, etc. can be displayed alongside photos of students in their spaces

Prairie Connections (some information sourced from Iowa’s Nature Series)

• Check out the wildflower Teacher Resource page from the U.S. Forest Service filled with other activities & species biodiversity pages
• To find a prairie location near you: Iowa Prairie Network
• Nature Journaling lesson from the Fish & Wildlife Service & the Prairie Wetlands Learning Center with options, extensions, and other field activity ideas for journaling categorized by grade level
• The ecosystem that is prairie and the plants that grow within it create the fertile soils that are the basis of Iowa’s economy. Throughout history people have relied on these diverse plants and the wildlife they support for food and medicines. Prairie ecosystems are used by grassland-adapted animals as a critical habitat and these organisms contribute to sustaining the biodiversity present in these special areas across Iowa.

Overall Activity

A specific plant outdoors will be observed throughout the seasons of the school year. Some type of recording of the seasonal changes should take place along with the responses to those changes. Showcase the experience through some form of presentation or story to the class, library, or whole school. Refer to Procedure for detailed instructions.

Grade Range and Relevant Iowa Standards: K - 5th

• K-LS1-1. Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive.
• 1-LS3-1. Make observations to construct an evidence-based account that young plants and animals are like, but not exactly like, their parents.
• 2-LS2-1. Plan and conduct an investigation to determine if plants need sunlight and water to grow.
• 3-LS1-1. Develop models to describe that organisms have unique and diverse life cycles but all have in common birth, growth, reproduction, and death.
• 4-LS1-1. Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.
• 5-LS1-1. Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water.

Goals/Objectives

• Develop understanding of Earth’s seasonal changes and how plants respond to those changes (for older students analyze or model)
• Understanding of the various changes such as temperature and humidity, precipitation, the amount of light (day length)
• Understanding of the life cycle of dormancy, growth, and life of a plant
• Appreciation of Earth’s life systems (specifically plants) by spending time outdoors with them and learning about them

Materials

• Consider any or all of the following and what’s best for your students: 
  • Thermometers, hand lenses/magnifying glasses, paper/pencils, cameras, modeling clay, crayons/colored pencils, wind speed gauge, rain gauge, cloud or weather chart, staplers, seasonal clothes

Procedure

1. Depending on the size of your class, your students will choose a plant outdoors and adopt it as their class ‘Friend For All Seasons.’ This may require grouping students to allow for methods of recording changes
2. Your students should visit this plant’s location at least twice during each season to record their observations through drawings, camera photos, descriptions, poems, story prompts, etc. Students could make clay models or collages of their outdoor observations back in the classroom.
3. For every visit, students could bring something for their plant as long as it doesn’t disrupt the life cycle of growth such as a little soil, pebble, or leaf
4. Encourage students to use more than merely their sight to describe the plant and its changes. Does it have a unique shape but also smell or texture? Does it move a specific way with breeze? Be specific!
5. Have older students record precise measurements regarding the seasonal changes like temperature, wind speed, rainfall, cloud cover, and day length. Do this not only on days you visit but for weeks and perhaps months before you decide to visit to discover patterns and sequence to the life cycle. A basic weather app can help with many of these observations.
6. Regarding winter precipitation and snow cover: try measuring relative temperatures above and below the cover as well as the surfaces of the soil and even perhaps several inches deep.
7. Give students flexibility to create some form of compilation of their observations and experiences with their plant. Consider a booklet, a final report or fictional story, a physical model showing the seasonal changes, an interactive timeline of photos/video clips, or some other play or presentation

Extensions

• Refer to Iowa’s Nature Series for resources on plants, soils, & forests
• If in groups, consider rotating in a manner that is appropriate for your students where they can learn and teach one another about their ‘Friend For All Seasons.’ Student’s initial ‘friend’ will be theirs for the duration of the school year with additional scaffolding to learn about their classmates ‘friends’
• Create presentations of this project to present to the age or grade level below to highlight as something to look forward to for the rising youth

Prairie Connections (some information sourced from Iowa’s Nature Series)

• Many prairie plants bloom and are abundant in Iowa throughout the summer season when students may not be in school and aren’t visible in the colder/winter months as they become dormant. However, this presents a good opportunity to take your classes outdoors and complete some plant ID at the beginning and/or end of the school year. What changed? What stayed the same? What species were observed? Can you create some plant markers or labeling system on school grounds? Or maps? Perhaps focus on trees, shrubs, or grasses during the winter and have multiple ‘Friends.’
• Consider being an advocate for Good Neighbor Iowa and helping your school convert turf to prairie! The additional resources on this linked page include an info brochure on converting turf to prairie, the benefits of prairie, as well as establishing and maintaining the prairie restoration.
• Is your school close to a local prairie? Reference the Iowa Prairie Network to find out! 
• The prairies of Iowa are characterized by the rich diversity and not by one species or group. These plants (producers) are the base of the food web and provide shelter and food for many animals. What observations can be noticed in this vein on your school grounds?

Overall Activity

Record observations about flowers, the insects that pollinate them, the pollination process, & review the parts of a flower. Optional: Use a paintbrush to pollinate flowers and revisit them later in the season. Refer to Procedure for detailed instructions.

Grade Range and Relevant Iowa Standards: 2nd - 5th

• 2-LS2-2. Develop a simple model that mimics the function of an animal in dispersing seeds or pollinating plants.
• 3-LS4-4. Make a claim about the merit of a solution to a problem caused when the environment changes and the types of plants and animals that live there may change.
• 4-LS1-1. Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.
• 5-LS2-1. Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.

Goals/Objectives

• Understand the connection between pollination and seed formation
• Understand the various parts of a flower and their functions
• Understand the role of insects in the process of pollination

Materials

• Flower diagram showcasing male and female parts (with insect) (see below)
• Outdoors area to visit where flowers can be observed
• Clipboards or books for outside use; paper/pencils
• Paintbrushes
• Small stones or markers for flowers visited

Procedure

1. Find a detailed diagram of a male and female flower along with a bee to be displayed to your class in order to explain pollination (flower parts should include stamens, petals, anther, pollen particles, stigma, style, ovary, pistil, sepals) (diagram sample images below)
2. After discussing and explaining pollination, go outside to a field, garden, or visit an area with an abundance of flowers and insect activity
3. Have each student find a flower and sit a few feet away (group or pair students based on flower availability)
4. Observations last for 10-15 minutes, carefully recording what is seen, heard, insects that are visiting, etc. Students should use words, pictures, or whatever helps them learn and remember details about their chosen flower
5. Regroup as a class and share/discuss what was seen. Talk about the colors, shapes, sizes of the flowers, insects, or anything else that is represented by the area
6. Optional: If possible, point out male and female parts of the flower in real time with your class or groups of students. Use paintbrushes and carefully transfer pollen from male stamens to female pistils.
7. Mark some of the flowers visited with small stones and potentially revisit the area later in the growing season. Have other seeds or flowers formed nearby?
8. For a general follow-up, have students draw/write out stories and pictures imagining they are an insect traveling from flower to flower in the pollination process

Extensions

• Refer to Iowa’s Nature Series for additional resources on invertebrates, plants, & prairies
• Instead of merely explaining a flower and pollination diagram, consider a guided notes style explanation. Students will participate in active learning to fill in their own diagrams or draw their own diagrams to introduce the activity as explanation is given
• Students will invent their own flower, how it pollinates, the seeds produced, and an insect that helps the pollination process. Create a model with pictures and explanations of these new organisms
• There can be a common thought or misconception that ‘bees’ refer to simply honeybees. However, there are many native bumblebees that play an important role in pollination. Refer to the Bumblebee Conservation Trust page for helpful teacher resources.
• Have a scavenger hunt solely to search for insects outside
• Discuss, research, and report on how we can help our pollinators
  • Iowa Living Roadway Pollinator Posters
  • Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
• Attempt to find a cocoon or chrysalis outside to track in pictures the life cycle of a moth or butterfly

Prairie Connections (sourced from Iowa’s Nature Series and Iowa Living Roadway Trust Fund)

• Invertebrates are necessary for plant reproduction and growth and subsequently provide food and sources of shelter, fuel, and medicine that we depend on for our survival.
• Ways we can help our bees: reduce mowing & herbicide use in roadside ditches, provide habitat for nest sites, and plant native flowers (natives do not need fertilizer/herbicide and increases habitat for bees along with other invertebrates living underground in the enriched soils)
• There are approximately 118 species of butterflies & over 2,500 moths found in Iowa and many species of grasses and wildflowers act as hosts for them to complete their life cycle. Refer to our observation guides for Irvine Prairie on Grasses & Wildflowers.

Overall Activity

Students will listen to a rock story as they imagine they are becoming different kinds of rock over time. Identify & discuss the three major types of rock and the cycle through diagrams or pictures. Refer to Procedure for story, discussion points, and other details.

Grade Range and Relevant Iowa Standards: 4th - 7th

• 4-ESS1-1. Identify evidence from patterns in rock formations and fossils in rock layers to support an explanation for changes in a landscape over time.
• 5-LS2-1. Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.
• MS-ESS2-3 (6th) Analyze and interpret data on the distribution of fossils and rocks, continental shapes, and seafloor structures to provide evidence of the past plate motions.
• MS-ESS1-4 (7th) Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence from rock strata for how the geologic time scale is used to organize Earth’s 4.6-billion-year-old history.

Goals/Objectives

• Review or identify the key differences between the three main types of rock
• Understand & identify the various aspects of the rock cycle
• Discuss the weathering of rocks and the relationship to soils

Materials

• The story ‘Rock to Rock: A Fantasy Journey,’ a rock cycle diagram of your choosing to display during story and discussion (sample below)
• Optional: Pencils, crayons, colored pencils, & paper; samples of three basic types of rock to be passed around classroom

Procedure

1. Read the story copied below as students sit quietly with their eyes closed. 
2. Stress that the events of the rock cycle occur over thousands and millions of years
3. After reading the story, discuss the breaking down of rocks into smaller fragments over time form the basis of our soils. Weathered rocks, animal remains, and decaying plants are the makeup of organic matter that build our layers of soils (primary succession). Soils, of course, support our plant growth and make life on Earth possible.
4. Optional: Have students draw pictures of their rock journey experiences from having listened to the story.

Extensions

• Refer to Iowa’s Nature Series for more resources on soils & geology
• Consider finding map data to analyze, interpret, and describe the patterns of Earth’s features (mountain systems, volcanoes, etc.)
• Is it possible to find a natural area near school to visit with your classes to record measurements and/or make observations on erosion? Either through water, snow/ice, wind, or vegetation?
• Start class rock collections by size, shape, or other attributes and compare your classes through various displays or presentations
• Go outside school to an area with plenty of rocks and have each student find one that is relatively small <1-2 inches. They learn their rock through size, weight, & shape and write their initials on it. Put all rocks into an enclosed bag to see who can find theirs through sense of feeling alone. Do this as a warm up activity to begin class or cool down at end of class
• Create a slideshow or real-life display of rocks under ultraviolet light

Prairie Connections (some information sourced from Iowa’s Nature Series)

• Prairies we’re familiar with today in Iowa developed over the last 12,000 years as a result of the current interglacial period (time between glaciers) in which northward migration of plants and animals occurs.
• The primary soil parent material of Iowa is glacial till which simply means the natural geology of a place and the material forming the soils. Investigate what materials were left behind from glacial advance and retreat. What are they made of and how do they form? Did prairies change these materials and how?
• Iowa bedrock is sedimentary limestone, shale, and sandstone but large rocks & boulders you may see lining certain fields of Iowa are igneous. How did these rocks get there and are they as out of place as they seem?
• The weathering, erosion, and deposition involved in the general rock cycle is also influenced by the types of plants and animals in an area. Research what was present at our last glacial retreat and how it changed over time.
• Relevant graphics follow ‘Rock to Rock’ story from Iowa Nature Series Educational Graphics

Rock to Rock Story

Imagine that you are a rock as big as a baseball. Your home is on a sunny hillside and you can see down into a deep valley with a river roaring far below. You like your home. Sometimes it is very hot there. Can you feel the sunlight warming you?

    During the winter you get worried about the ice that freezes in the crack on top of you. This crack grows bigger each year because the ice pushes hard on the sides of the crack.

    One spring it is very wet, more wet than you can ever remember. The rain pours in little streams rushing down the hillside. Feel the water flowing over you and into the soft mud below. 

    Suddenly you feel a rumbling and the Earth begins to shake. You look uphill and a large wall of mud rushes down and sweeps you up. You begin to roll down, down, down into the valley. Ow! You hit another rock and you split along the crack. Now you are two halves rolling down the hill.

    Splash! You land in the river. For days and days you are pushed by the swift, strong waters. Rolling and bumping along you are getting all broken up into gravel and sand. Finally the river enters the ocean and your many pieces settle onto a large, flat area along with millions of pieces of sand, gravel and silt.

    Some pieces settle on top of you and you are getting squished. You yell out, “Stop pushing!” but more and more weight presses down. Your pieces get pushed and stuck together with other pieces. You are now hardening and becoming a sedimentary rock. 

    The pressure grows and you begin to get warmer and warmer. You change color and form into many hard crystals. Now you're a metamorphic rock. 

    You keep getting pushed farther down. It is hot. It is boiling hot! Everything begins to melt and you are part of a hot mass of melted rock called magma deep underground. It seems like forever that you are part of this big melted sea of rock. Will you ever see the sun again? You want to be back on your hillside feeling the hot sun and cool wind and rain. 

    Wait, you’re being pushed up and the Earth is shaking and rumbling again. You can feel yourself rushing higher and higher. Fire, ash, dust, and steam surround you and, with a loud explosion, you burst up out of the top of a volcano. Red-hot lava is all around. You are a scalding, steamy piece of lava shooting through the air when, suddenly, you land on a high point of the volcano away from the hot flow of lava below. 

    Slowly the volcano begins to quiet down and the lava cools and hardens. You are now a cold, grey igneous rock on top of a high volcano looking down at a river flowing far below. When the dark ashes blow away and the sky clears, the sun comes out and warms you high up on the volcano -- your new home.

Overall Activity

Students will study a local song bird through its migration route, summer and winter grounds, and/or its seasonal locations using maps. Refer to Procedure for detailed instructions.

Grade Range and Relevant Iowa Standards: 6th - 8th

• MS-LS1-4 Use argument based on empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors affect the probability of successful reproduction of animals.
• MS-LS1-5 Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how environmental factors influence the growth of organisms.
• MS-LS2-4. Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
• MS-ESS2-5. Collect data to provide evidence for how the motions and complex interactions of air masses results in changes in weather conditions.

Goals/Objectives

• Understanding of birds using the ends of their migration routes as wintering and breeding grounds
• Understanding of North American flyways acting as general migratory patterns and routes
• Understanding and researching environmental factors/dangers birds encounter

Materials

• Maps of North & South America; map of 4 major North American flyways (2 copied below, 1 for waterfowl)
• Magazines or publications w/pictures of local songbirds; field guides
• Computers w/Internet access
• Fine point pens, paper, pencils, blank newspaper, cardboard, binoculars, glue, stapler

Procedure

1. Students will pick a local bird to study its migration routes and habits as well as locate breeding and wintering grounds on the America maps
2. Students should research the time periods in which their chosen bird leaves in the fall, when it returns in spring, and its seasonal locations
3. Create or collect various pictures of chosen bird
4. Use large sheets of paper or cardstock backed by cardboard to make general maps of North and South America
5. Map the flyways onto these cardboard backed America maps
6. Research the environmental hazards and dangers faced and draw these onto their flyway maps
7. Students should sketch in the migratory routes and patterns using various colors or lines
8. Pictures of birds can be placed at the geographic ends of their migration journeys for that appropriate time of year
9. Hang one or many of these maps up in the room and occasionally take your classes outdoors to mark observation sightings on their map murals

Extensions

• Refer to Iowa’s Nature Series for resources on vertebrates & prairies
• Visit eBird to help your students learn about places they could search for local bird species; allow them to report their findings for extra credit or as additional project research
• Take your classes on a field trip to a natural area known for bird activity
• Extend the experience to other wildlife and winter habits of fauna that undergo deep hibernation; keep logs of sightings and create reports of habits before winter and after spring
• Students can create collages or mobiles of their favorite birds

Prairie Connections (some information sourced from Iowa’s Nature Series)

• Migration is a strategy for Iowa’s birds to escape the cold temperatures and diminished food, many via the Mississippi Flyway. Some species such as the Dark-eyed Junco escape to Iowa from their northern breeding grounds while others may breed in Iowa and travel hundreds of miles to Central & South America. How can we protect their native habitats such as prairie and even the spillover into farms, cities, and buildings they’re not naturally adapted to?
• Planting diverse native prairie can be done in rural areas as well as in cities and towns where backyards and parks can provide important resources birds need such as food and shelter. Native plants also reduce soil erosion as well as pollutants to maintain clean waters for us and them. Good Neighbor Iowa promotes healthy and pesticide free lawn care as well as potentially converting turf to prairie.
• Converting just a small amount of land on crop fields to prairie strips or patches reduces soil erosion by as much as 90%. (Prairie on Farms)
• Research birds that use tallgrass prairie as their choice habitat. Are there any species of concern, threatened, or endangered species (Iowa DNR)? What is being done or can be done to help them?
• Use the Irvine Prairie Bird Observation Guide as a starting point for potential birds for your students to research!

Overall Activity

Work with students to research the background of endangered or threatened species in your region, country, or world in groups or individually. Get involved in efforts and calls to action to save or preserve some of the species researched. Give presentations of your findings to one another or local councils, libraries, or conservation groups. Refer to Procedure for more information and details.

Grade Range and Relevant Iowa Standards: 7th-12th

• MS-LS2-1. Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem
• MS-LS2-5. Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.
• HS-LS2-7. Design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity.
• HS-LS2-8. Evaluate the evidence for the role of group behavior on individual and species’ chances to survive and reproduce.

Goals/Objectives

• Establish with students a process of how to become involved in helping species survival
• Understand the various ways to inform others about environmental issues
• Students should gain skills and experience in researching, writing, and/or speaking through community or classroom presentations and discussions

Materials

• Some discussion points listed below in Procedure
• News articles, stories, videos that may showcase species’ sentience
• References such as Iowa's endangered and threatened species lists
• Internet and device access for research

Procedure

1. Possible introductory discussion points:

• Native Americans used burning to create more healthy habitat (food & cover) for deer and other animals and in turn controls the number of animals that were hunted.
• Threats and complications of animals and plants such as air pollution/water pollution, introduction of invasive species, destruction or fragmentation of habitats through our development, overpopulation and sharing of resources or space by us
• Discuss definitions and/or differences between Endangered, Threatened, and Special Concern. Iowa DNR Site
• Review extinct species such as the Passenger Pigeon, the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, or the Carolina Parakeet. Review a success story such as the recovery of many birds of prey from the ban of DDT.
• The level of hunting where sufficient numbers are maintained to ensure healthy populations is known as sustainable yield.
• Habitat preservation, limits or bans on hunting, pollution responsibility and prevention, or other sustainable practices.

2. The students will research the history and status of a jeopardized species in Iowa or region of the midwest. Refer to Iowa DNR site linked above for species lists. 

3. If possible, find groups, organizations, or scientists that are active in preserving species or species habitat and interview them. 

4. Use various sources of media and graphical displays to present findings to class, conservation boards, or younger student groups as appropriate

Extensions

• Refer to Iowa’s Nature Series for resources on plants, vertebrates, invertebrates, wetlands, and prairies
• Refer to other Programs and Projects on the Tallgrass Prairie Center web site to learn more about planting native Iowa species
• Create group or class-wide letters to write to government officials expressing the need for support and funding of the care of certain species in your area
• Volunteer at local nature preserves to assist with habitat restoration
• Create stories, pictures and/or models of extinct animals, reasons for how they became extinct, and what could have been done to save them
• Create slogans, posters, or bumper stickers of calls to action for a specific species of concern or ways to lessen environmental impacts

Prairie Connections (some information sourced from Iowa’s Nature Series)

• Some examples of endangered & threatened tallgrass plants are Large-leaved aster, Whiskbroom parsley, Eastern prairie fringed orchid, & Queen of the prairie. Reference the Endangered, Threatened, and Special Concern plant species list of Iowa. Students generally may want to focus on researching animals, however, strongly emphasize the importance of plant biodiversity and its connections to all living things. Why is it important to conserve plant species and not simply animal species?

• Consider using Botany Beginners as a resource for your classroom (10th-12th). Anyone who has a desire to learn how to identify native plants of the tallgrass prairie will find it useful!

   

Overall Activity

Read and discuss as a class the story of a young person who kick-started a conservation movement in 1970. Research local needs for outdoors/nature management and potentially become involved in a specific project if time or extension allows. Establish an ongoing class or school wide conservation group to connect to conservation projects.

Grade Range and Relevant Iowa Standards: 7th-12th

• (7th) MS-LS2-2. Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms across multiple ecosystems.
• MS-LS2-3. Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.
• (8th) MS-LS2-5. Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.
• MS-ESS3-3. Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.
• (High School) HS-LS2-7. Design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity.
• HS-LS2-5. Develop a model to illustrate the role of photosynthesis and cellular respiration in the cycling of carbon among the biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere.
• HS-LS4-6. Create or revise a simulation to test a solution to mitigate adverse impacts of human activity on biodiversity.
• HS-ESS2-6. Develop a quantitative model to describe the cycling of carbon among the hydrosphere, atmosphere, geosphere, and biosphere.
• HS-ESS3-3. Create a computational simulation to illustrate the relationships among management of natural resources, the sustainability of human populations, and biodiversity.
• HS-ESS3-4. Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems.

Goals/Objectives

• Understand the effects and impacts on the plants and animals within an ecosystem by human interaction
• Understand and apply that proper stewardship towards our environment means being active and taking a responsible role
• Construct arguments, models, or research that connect problems to solutions of the management of natural environments

Materials

• Copy of ‘Tree Peeps’ story below
• Other resources you wish to use in your class to connect your students to the local area and get involved with research, conservation minded projects, or volunteer opportunities; some ideas listed below in Extensions and Prairie Connections

Procedure

1. Have students take turns reading the ‘Tree Peeps’ story and lead a discussion about what trees and plants give to us and why it’s important to take care of them and our environment. 
2. If your class is familiar and comfortable with learning outdoors or about outdoor habitats, one could skip to step 3. If not, it may be helpful to consider the following after reading Tree People:
   1. Create a walkaround fill-in-the-blank about the TreePeople organization with knowledge/facts from their website, carbon sequestration topics, climate change, human impact on ecosystems, or a combination of all of these (could you do it outside scavenger hunt style?)
   2. Generally take your class outside for a walk around the school and ask them to take notes of what they see, things that could be improved, things that don’t need improvement, list the natural areas, is there a project potential on the school grounds, etc.
   3. Consider looking through the lesson A Special Place (K-2nd, above) which could be adapted using field guides, exploring local flora, and collecting and labeling specimens in groups
   4. Take a field trip to a local habitat or prairie!
3. Ask students to think about suggestions on how they can become involved in local habitat management. Do they have friends, family, or relatives that work in related fields? 
   1. Are there eroded banks, railroad beds, vacant lots, or roadsides that could use prairie restoration? 
   2. Reforestation or national forest where students can obtain permission to help plant trees?
   3. Portions of UNI’s campus that could use additional plantings and maintenance/care
   4. Start ‘small!’ Perhaps a school garden or creating composting stations to get your student’s feet wet
   5. As the educator, conduct a little research yourself and find some local projects they could participate in. If you can find examples of past projects, but none active, consider creating a mock conservation project task to plan and research from beginning to end
   6. Contact local soil and water conservation services or forestry services for seedlings so your class can schedule plantings in local areas
   7. Create a conservation minded school or class group for students to establish leadership and citizenship in the community. Allow them to conduct meetings, research, and volunteer

Extensions

• Refer to Iowa’s Nature Series for resources on forests, plants, & prairies
• Study or research with your students habitat management in other areas of the world to learn how it can be specific to the region such as deforestation in the Amazonian rainforest, the spreading of invasive species in a region, desertification (spreading of the desert) in African countries. Find a topic that will appeal to you and your community of students
• Create a terrarium or some other mini-habitat that can be cared for and cultivated throughout your time with the students
• The Tallgrass Prairie Center can provide some level of guidance in the development of seeds, germination, & cold storage for plantings
• Encourage your students to keep records and care for the life of their yards over time. From the plants and grasses to the animals and everything in between
• Try to connect to other local areas and organizations dedicated to conservation or nature education such as Hartman Reserve, Black Hawk County Conservation, or Iowa DNR. Connections and volunteer opportunities could also be made through Green Iowa AmeriCorps members, University of Northern Iowa students/faculty, or the Volunteer Center of Cedar Valley.

Prairie Connections (some information sourced from Iowa’s Nature Series)

• Glaciers, mountains, herbivores, and climate have all contributed to Iowa’s native grassland border-to-border ecosystem that is now present-day prairie. 
• Historically, prairie once covered about 80% of Iowa’s landscape, the largest in the nation. Today less than 0.1% of that prairie remains with some known as remnant prairie (true native prairie) that has not been reconstructed or restored and is extremely rare. High quality remnant prairie can contain over 300 species of prairie plants and minimum around 100 ~ by contrast a reconstructed prairie can have 20-100 (Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation).
• Prairie ecosystems can prevail on certain land for a very long time, however, woody vegetation almost always threatens prairie grasses and wildflowers through natural succession. In the absence of historical disturbances such as grazing animals and fires, woody plants can colonize and shade out prairie plants without proper management.
• The four main ways prairies are managed today are through prescribed fire, mechanical control (mowing/hand tools), biological control, and/or chemical control.

Tree Peeps Story

In the summer of 1970, 15-year old Andrew Lipkis was at a camp in the San Bernardino Mountains near Los Angeles, California. A naturalist told the campers that smog was killing the trees and that the forest would one day soon be gone. Air pollution decreased the level of green chlorophyll in leaves. Chlorophyll is the substance that enables plants to form food from sunlight. The reduced chlorophyll decreases plants’ ability to produce food and cause them to become weakened and prone to disease and insect attack. Soon Andy had organized fellow campers, who planted a camp parking lot and baseball field with Coulter pines, incense cedar, grass and shrubs, thus converting it to a meadow.

    Andy never lost his enthusiasm for what could be done with a little money and cooperation from many kinds of people. In 1973, he saved 8,000 seedlings from being plowed under by the California State Division of Forestry, and he organized area campers, scouts, and other volunteers to pot and plant these trees. To accomplish this, money had to be raised and topsoil donated; a dairy contributed 8,000 milk cartons in which to pot the trees, and volunteers rallied to pot and plant the 8,000 seedlings. The California Conservation Project, now called TreePeople, was born.

    Trees help the city by filtering particular pollution (such as soot and dust) from the air by shading buildings to save energy, preventing erosion, beautifying the neighborhoods and countryside, decreasing noise, raising property values, and creating green areas for recreation. 

Then it was learned that the City of Los Angeles wanted to plant one million trees which, when mature, would filter out 200 tons (181.4 metric tons) of particulate pollutants from the air each day. But it would cost the city $200 million and would take twenty years to accomplish. TreePeople organized volunteers and got support from the mayor, celebrities, and an advertising firm. On July 24, 1984, TreePeople met its goal. Three years after the city released its findings on trees and air pollution, and four days before the 1984 Summer Olympics opened in Los Angeles, the one millionth tree was planted.