K-4 Activities: Wildlife Refuges
National wildlife refuges are lands set aside for wildlife. Some animals live entire lifetimes within a single home refuge. For many others, a refuge might serve as a place to rest and feed during a long migration. Many wildlife refuges serve other needs, too, such as space for military training and grazing of livestock, natural water purification, recreation, and a place where people can retreat from urban environments. You can help your students start to understand what these special places are for and to appreciate the wildlife refuges or similar sanctuaries near their homes.
Rest for the Weary
Students could begin by talking about trips they have taken. Where did they stay when the trip was long? Work in the idea of needing a safe place to sleep and a place to get meals once in a while, as well as gasoline if traveling by car.
Migratory birds make long journeys as well. Using a map of North America, have students decide what routes birds might follow as they travel from Alaska and Canada to Central and South America. Show them the actual flyways on the map here or in the October 1996 issue of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC magazine. Ask them questions about places en route. What must the birds have during their journey? Safe places to rest and food to eat. Where can the birds find food to eat? Since many of them are waterbirds, they need lakes and rivers and marshes. Older students can identify refuges that are near heavily populated or urban places and discuss where the migratory birds might stay if there were no such places set aside for them.
Hop, Skip, and a Jump
After youve begun to discuss refuges with your students, map out several routes in the halls or on the playground. Place circles and squares of different sizes where students can step. Name these spots after refuges in your area or on a chosen flyway. Let your students pretend to be a flock of birds traveling the length of a flyway and remind them that they must find places to rest during their trip. Let them migrate one at a time or in small groups and have a celebration when they all reach their destination.
Next remove a few of the refuges, making it a challenge to travel the entire path. Then remove a few more, making the spaces to cross too long for most of the students to jump. Now only a few of the larger students can complete the journey. Let students talk about what they felt like when they couldnt go on and how comparable long stretches might impact migratory bird populations. Point out that since people have altered so much of the land over which migratory birds must travel, the existence of wildlife refuges along the flyways might mean the difference between life and death.
If possible, lead a class field trip to explore a nearby wildlife refuge and meet some of the people who work there.
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