winter survival

Recently the Lucia Wallace 4th graders went on a winter survival field trip at Call Park.  The students were met by Julie who is a naturalist for Kossuth County. First, the students learned about the acronym M.A.D. as they learned about how animals survive in the winter. Animals have three choices. They can migrate (M) which means the animals go south for the winter.  They can adapt (A) which could be hibernation or growing fur . They could also die (D). This usually happens after they lay eggs which hatch in the spring.  Next, the fourth graders were challenged to a survival test. Julie gave small groups of students gelatin in a film canister. The challenge was  to find a warm spot to keep their “animal” from turning into a solid and dying.  Students were given thick fur, thin fur, or nothing to see if they could keep their “animal” alive. After finding a warm spot for the animal the students went on a hike. They looked for animal tracks and skat. After hiking through the snow the students played coyote vs. rabbits. The rules are that the rabbits  hid using still movement and camouflage. Then the coyote pivoted on one foot and used descriptive language to try to find the rabbits. Lastly, the students returned to the original spot to see if their animal had survived. The winter survival trip was fun for all students.