Please note that activities below are listed in logical order. In some cases, concepts in later activities build on concepts learned in earlier activities.
| Resource |
What’s it about? |
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here! |
A Special Place
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This activity helps students understand the need that humans and animals have for natural areas, and relates what happens to animals when these places are destroyed |
(104K) |
Who Am I?
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This is an entertaining activity in which students get a crash course in both schmoozing and ecology! Students are given a sign of a common ecosystem element (e.g. grass, hare, coyote, etc.) that hangs on their back, and have to mingle with other students to determine what plant or animal they are. (Illustrations provided courtesy of the Canadian Museum of Nature). |
(1.2 M) |
Weird Webs
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Students use a ball of twine to create a classroom food web that shows the interactions between the members of the ecosystem. (Use signs from “Who Am I?”) Teachers are provided with key discussion questions that help students appreciate the interconnections within the natural community and identify food chain relationships and energy flows within the “web of life.” |
(125K) |
We’re All Passengers
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The Passenger Pigeon was once the most numerous bird in North America – yet it is now extinct. Students learn how this happened and examine their own thoughts and feeling about extinction |
(141K) |
So What’s the Big Deal?
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Sure, it’s sad when a species goes extinct. But there will always be other species to take their place, won’t there? Well – no! This activity helps students understand that the earth is going through an extinction event greater than anything that has happened on the planet since the dinosaurs went extinct. |
(105K) |
Bio-What?!
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Bio-What?! What the heck is a “Biodiversity”!? The accelerating loss of life’s diversity is probably the most serious environmental threat facing the planet right now. In this activity students learn six reasons why we need biodiversity. |
(364K) |
An Uncertain Future
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Carnivores are indicators of ecosystem health. Using a number of maps, students compare the historical and present distribution in North America of a number of large carnivores, and try to deduce from this information what changes have occurred to the ecosystems in which they lived – and what the consequences might be for all the other organisms that share that ecosystem. |
(364K) |
What Used To Be Here?
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Much has changed since settlers from the “Old World” began pouring into North America just a few hundred years ago. This activity lets students compare their schoolyard with what used to be there, and takes them outdoors to the schoolyard or nearby natural area to investigate the area. |
(314K) |
What’s Protected?
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In this activity students examine the concept of protection, and investigate how we protect – or (perhaps more accurately in Alberta) fail to protect – our natural regions. |
(140K) |
How Do Species Become Extinct?
| Overhunting or poaching used to be the main human activity that caused a species to become endangered. In this activity students will learn that loss of homes, or “habitat loss” is now the main factor that puts species in North America – and across the world – in danger of extinction.
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(146K) |
What’s Endangered?
In Canada we care about endangered species – sort of. We keep lists of them. This activity introduces students to lists of endangered plants and animals kept by provincial and national governments.
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(70K) |
Choose A Friend
| It’s important to teach about endangered species; and its also important to make sure the students “got it”! The following lists a number of interesting and dynamic evaluation techniques, starting with “Choose a Friend”… |
(124K) |
Going Outdoors!
| Most environmental educators agree on one thing: it is impossible to cultivate a strong feeling of connection to the environment without going outdoors. This outdoor activity helps accomplish this. |
(88K) |
Edu-Action: Pen Power
| As someone once said: “The pen is mightier than the sword.” This activity contains a checklist of tips for writing effective letters. Many teachers require students to write a letter that expresses how they feel about nature, or particular environmental issues to a decision-maker (the choice to send the letter is up to the student). |
(77K) |
How We’re Connected
| It’s easy to look outwards, to try to fix blame on others who you think might be at fault – whether we’re referring to endangered species or to other things in life. In this activity, students are encouraged to take a hard look at their lifestyle choices and the impact of those choices …
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(134K) |
Natural Regions of Alberta
This is a one-page map of Alberta showing our Natural Regions.
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(192K) |
