Wolf Tracks (K- 2, 3-5)

Transcription

1 Wolf Tracks (K- 2, 3-5) At a glance Students will practice observation and computation skills by comparing the feet and tracks of Mexican gray wolves and elk in the Wolf Woods Exhibit. Grade(s) K-2, 3-5 Materials (take to Zoo) 1 student worksheet per student or pair of students Pencil Line art of Wolf Page for student s drawings Chaperone page Goal To learn to observe carefully and use the data gathered to solve mathematical problems. Objectives Student will be able to observe and record several important pieces of information about Mexican gray wolves Student will be able to collect data through observation and discussion, and Student will be able to analyze data for patterns and draw conclusions about numbers of toes (digits) on wolves and elk through math questions. Students will learn about relationships of predators and prey in a healthy environment. Math Days: Wolf Tracks Grades K-5, May 2009 Page 1 of 11

2 Academic standards Ohio Academic Content Standards for Mathematics (Grade: Indicators) Kentucky Core Content Mathematics Indiana s Academic Standards for Mathematics Number, Number Sense and Operations (K: 1,2,5,7,8,11) (1: 10a.,d.,16a.) (2: 7) (3: 5-7,8b.) (4: 11-14) Patterns, Functions and Algebra (K: 1a.) (1: 4,5) (2: 1,2,4) (3: 3) (4: 2,6) (5: 1,2) Data Analysis and Probability (K-2: 1) (3: 1,3) (4: 2) (5: 2,4) Mathematical Processes (K-2: A, B, E-G) Number Properties and Operations Number Sense MA-(EP-1.1.1) ( ) ( ) Number Operations MA-(EP-1.3.1) ( ) ( ) Data Analysis and Probability Data Representations MA-(EP-4.1.2) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) Algebraic Thinking Patterns, Relations & Functions MA-(EP-5.1.1) Number Sense (K.1.6) (K.1.9) (1.1.1) (1.1.10) (2.1.8) ( ) Computation (K.2.1) (1.2.1) (1.2.4) (2.2.1) (3.28) (5.2.1) Problem Solving (1.6.2) (2.6.1) (2.6.2) (3.6.2) (3.6.3) (3.6.4) (4.7.2) (4.7.3) (4.7.4) (5.7.2) (5.7.3) Data Analysis and Probability (4.6.2) (5.6.1) Math Days: Wolf Tracks Grades K-5, May 2009 Page 2 of 11

3 Background Mexican wolves usually live in packs that consist of adult parents called the alpha pair and their offspring of the last few years. Although the actual pack size is highly variable, gray wolf packs tend to have from six to eight wolves. Each spring a pack normally has one litter of between four and six pups which each pup weighing about 1 pound. Depending on conditions in the wild (such as the weather and natural predators) several of the pups will probably not survive the first year. This may represent as many as a loss of 40% - 60%. To help ensure the survival of as many pups as possible, the entire pack helps with their care. Wolves born the year before (sub-adults) help bring food to the pups and even baby sit so the alpha male and female can spend time hunting. An average adult gray wolf needs to eat about 2.5 pounds of food per day but it can eat 22.5 pounds at one time if the food is available. Gray wolves in the wild live about six to eight years but have been known to live up to 16 years in captivity. An adult female gray wolf weighs between pounds and adult males can weigh between pounds. Mexican gray wolves have been on the edge of extinction and are currently part of breeding and reintroduction programs. When you are in the Wolf Woods cabin, read with your students the information about what is being done to increase the numbers of these important predators. Activity Go to Wolf Woods and find the display table showing the footprint of a Mexican gray wolf and the footprint of an elk, the main source of food for wolves. The students will count the number of toes on the model of the wolf foot. By observing the wolf in her exhibit and/or looking at the drawing of the wolf from the math packet, the students will determine the number of feet each wolf has. They will also draw the foot print of a wolf on their activity sheet. Using this information, the students will answer the questions on their activity sheets. This information will be used back at school to solve several math problems. Discuss why it is so interesting to see these wolves in person. Help your students understand that there are only about 50 Mexican gray wolves living wild in this country. Talk about why it is important for the Cincinnati Zoo to provide a safe home for these wolves so that they can raise litters of pups. Some of these pups might be able to be released to the wild when they are old enough to take care of themselves. Your students will complete the Student Pages (part A) at the Zoo and (part B) back at school following the Zoo visit. Math Days: Wolf Tracks Grades K-5, May 2009 Page 3 of 11

4 Assessment Have the students turn in their completed student pages. Excellent Student completed the worksheet and achieved greater than 85% accuracy. Satisfactory Student completed all the worksheet and achieved between 60 and 85 % accuracy. Unsatisfactory Student did not complete the worksheet and/or achieved less than 60% accuracy. Math Days: Wolf Tracks Grades K-5, May 2009 Page 4 of 11

5 Zoo Math Days: Wolf Tracks Wolf Woods in Children s Zoo Student Page Grades K-2 Part A (at the Wolf Woods exhibit see your map) Go to the Mexican wolf exhibit and watch the wolf in its exhibit. Walk into the Trapper s cabin and find a model of the footprint of a Mexican wolf on the table in the middle of the cabin. The model footprint is the same size and shape as the live wolf s foot. Draw a picture of a wolf footprint. Make sure it has the correct number of toes. Can you see the toe nails on the model on the table? Be sure to draw the nails on your footprint. Mexican Wolf Foot print drawing 1. How many toes are there on the Foot print? 2. Could you see the toes on the foot of the live wolf? 3. How many feet does the Mexican wolf have? (If the wolf is not in view, look at the picture of the wolf in your packet.) 4. Now look at the foot print of the elk which is beside the wolf foot print on the table. How many toes does it have? 5. How many feet does an elk have? (You can look at the picture of the elk on the table beside the footprint to find the answer.) Math Days: Wolf Tracks Grades K-5, May 2009 Page 5 of 11

6 Part B (back at School): Use the answers from the questions you worked on at the Zoo while you were looking at the Mexican wolf to finish this worksheet. 1. How many feet does one Mexican wolf have? 2. How many toes would two wolves have? 3. How did you get that number? Math Days: Wolf Tracks Grades K-5, May 2009 Page 6 of 11

7 Math Days: Wolf Tracks Student Worksheet for Grades 3-5 Part A (at the Mexican wolf exhibit see your map) Watch the Mexican wolf in its exhibit. You might need to look all around the exhibit very carefully to find it. Then look at the footprint of a Mexican wolf on the table in the middle of the Trapper s cabin. 1. Write the number of toes that are on the model of the Mexican wolf s footprint. 2. How many feet does a Mexican wolf have? Look on the table beside the wolf foot print and find the elk foot print. This is a model of real elk s foot print. 1. How many toes are on the elk s foot? 2. How many feet does an elk have? (Look at the picture of an elk on the table beside the footprint.) 3. How many toes does an elk have in total? Draw a picture of an elk s footprint. If you haven t seen the live wolf in the exhibit yet, look at the picture of the wolf in your packet. Draw a picture of a Mexican wolf foot print on this page. Make sure it has the correct number of toes. Does the footprint show toenails? If it does, you will need to put nails on your drawing. Label the drawing Mexican Wolf Math Days: Wolf Tracks Grades K-5, May 2009 Page 7 of 11

8 Back at School Use the answers from the problems you completed at the Zoo to finish these math questions. 1. If a pack of 5 wolves was hunting one elk, how many footprints would have toenails and how many footprints would have two toes? Foot prints with toe nails Foot prints with two toes Draw a bar graph to illustrate your answers. 2. How many toes all together would there be? Discuss with your class four important things you learned about Mexican wolves during your trip to the Cincinnati Zoo? Are wolves really the bad animals that some stories say they are? Why do wolves hunt other animals? What do you think would happen if all the wolves were missing from an area? Would this be good for elk and other animals that wolves eat?. How did you get your answer? 4. Write a fraction that compares the number of toes on one wolf to the total number of toes on 5 wolves. 5. Write a fraction that compares the number of toes on one elk to the total number of toes on a herd of 6 elk. 6. On another sheet of paper draw a bar graph to show: a) the number of toes on one wolf foot b) the number of toes on all four wolf feet c) the number of toes on a pack of 5 wolves Math Days: Wolf Tracks Grades K-5, May 2009 Page 8 of 11

9 Zoo Math Days: Wolf Tracks (Wolf Woods Exhibit) Chaperone Page Grades K-2 Part A (at the Wolf Woods exhibit see your map) Mexican Wolf Foot print drawing Go to the Mexican wolf exhibit and watch the wolf in its exhibit. Walk into the Trapper s cabin and find a model of the footprint of a Mexican wolf on the table in the middle of the cabin. The model footprint is the same size and shape as the live wolf s foot. 1. How many toes are there on the Foot print? 4 2. Could you see the toes on the foot of the live wolf?? 4. How many feet does the Mexican wolf have? 4 (If the wolf is not in view, look at the picture of the wolf in your packet.) 4. Now look at the foot print of the elk which is beside the wolf foot print on the table. How many toes does it have? 2 6. How many feet does an elk have? (You can look at the picture of the elk on the table beside the footprint to find the answer.) 4 Draw a picture of a wolf footprint. Make sure it has the correct number of toes. Part B (back at School): Use the answers from the questions you worked on at the Zoo while you were looking at the Mexican wolf to finish this worksheet. 2. How many feet does one Mexican wolf have? 4 2. How many toes would two wolves have? How did you get that number? There are 4 toes per foot. Each wolf has 4 feet. One wolf has 16 toes. Two wolves would have = 32. Can you see the toe nails on the model on the table? Be sure to draw the nails on your footprint. Math Days: Wolf Tracks Grades K-5, May 2009 Page 9 of 11

10 Math Days: Wolf Tracks - Wolf Woods in Children s Zoo Chaperone Worksheet for Grades 3-5 Part A (at the Mexican wolf exhibit see your map) Watch the Mexican wolf in its exhibit. You might need to look all around the exhibit very carefully to find it. Then look at the footprint of a Mexican wolf on the table in the middle of the Trapper s cabin. 3. Write the number of toes that are on the model of the Mexican wolf s footprint How many feet does a Mexican wolf have? 4 Look on the table beside the wolf foot print and find the elk foot print. This is a model of real elk s foot print. 4. How many toes are on the elk s foot? 2 5. How many feet does an elk have? (Look at the picture of an elk on the table beside the footprint.) 6. How many toes does an elk have in total? 8 Draw a picture of an elk s footprint. If you haven t seen the live wolf in the exhibit yet, look at the picture of the wolf in your packet. Draw a picture of a Mexican wolf foot print on this page. Make sure it has the correct number of toes. Does the footprint show toenails? If it does, you will need to put nails on your drawing. Label the drawing Mexican Wolf Math Days: Wolf Tracks Grades K-5, May 2009 Page 10 of 11

11 Back at School Use the answers from the problems you completed at the Zoo to finish these math questions. 1. If a pack of 5 wolves was hunting one elk, how many footprints would have toenails and how many footprints would have two toes? Foot prints with toenails 20 Foot prints with two toes 4 Draw a bar graph to illustrate your answers. 2. How many toes all together would there be? 88 Discuss with your class four important things you learned about Mexican wolves during your trip to the Cincinnati Zoo? Are wolves really the bad animals that some stories say they are? Why do wolves hunt other animals? What do you think would happen if all the wolves were missing from an area? Would this be good for elk and other animals that wolves eat? 3. How did you get your answer? 4. Write a fraction that compares the number of toes on one wolf to the total number of toes on 5 wolves. 5. Write a fraction that compares the number of toes on one elk to the total number of toes on a herd of 6 elk. 6. On another sheet of paper draw a bar graph to show: a) the number of toes on one wolf foot b) the number of toes on all four wolf feet c) the number of toes on a pack of 5 wolves Math Days: Wolf Tracks Grades K-5, May 2009 Page 11 of 11