Note: click here or follow links in the drop down menu for answers to the questions posed and other resources.
Suggestions for Answers to the Questions Posed
In this section are some possible answers to the questions posed. Teachers will find the questions followed in bold text with brief answers. As a former science teacher and resource teacher as well as being the author of numerous books on wildlife and ecology I am well aware that the answers provided are not exhaustive.
The questions and the answers increase in complexity and detail as you were up through the grades. This reflects the Curriculum as it to spirals upward from simple, basic ideas to more complex ones. The concepts build on the previous foundation.
All well and good but the reality is that it may be well over a year (or more) before a student returns to study animals and in that intervening time much will have been forgotten. A grade 4 teacher might find, for example, that referring to questions and answers from grade 1 or 2 might be a good idea. This will help refresh the student’s memory and provide base on which to move on to more challenging ideas.
An ESL teacher may want to start with the simpler questions before moving on more difficult ones in order to grow the student’s vocabulary as it relates to science.
The videos themselves are intend to be observational. Although they are edited and may condense hours or days of watching/filming into seconds my goal was to create the illusion of the student being there making observing events as they unfold. It would be ideal to have the resources to take children out into nature (something we do provide with our educational programs) but if you cannot do it videos and other media area a great way to mimic this experience.
Before even going to the questions suggested encourage the students to pose their own questions.
Why? What? How? Where? When?
These are good words to begin their questioning. But even before they pose their questions get them to gather data by observing the videos. For example: The muskrat is swimming. It is late (or early) in the day. It has something in its mouth. Or: There are only two swans but there are a number of geese. The geese are noisy. The swans are quiet. The geese and the swans are in shallow water or mudflats.
From simple observations such as this students can come a myriad of questions.
After posing questions have the students try and answer them. Don’t concern yourself with the accuracy of their answers (yet). The point here is to get them to pose ideas. Once this is done they can test them by researching other media.
The questions that are provided with these videos are designed for teachers to use to spark discussion and to guide observations.
The answers are just a beginning. The depth to which your students delve into these videos is up to you and them. For every species seen in these videos there are volumes of research documents written by scientists and many of these volumes are from different perspectives; social, behaviour, biology, genetic, economic, conservation, preservation, evolution, ecology, phenology, photographic and many more.
Take a look at the bibliographies I referred to for some of the books I have written. Black Bears; A Natural History has well over 100 references listed.
The point is that you can select to do a very superficial lesson using the videos or you can go into great depth. Most users will not go much beyond the questions and answers provided here simply because there is no time in the school year to allot to much more than that. There are math lessons to teach history and geography (social science) classes, art and P.E. and so forth.
And maybe in the final analysis the videos are just watched and enjoyed. A peaceful minute or two away from the hustle and bustle of the real world.
Suggestions for Answers to the Questions Posed
In this section are some possible answers to the questions posed. Teachers will find the questions followed in bold text with brief answers. As a former science teacher and resource teacher as well as being the author of numerous books on wildlife and ecology I am well aware that the answers provided are not exhaustive.
The questions and the answers increase in complexity and detail as you were up through the grades. This reflects the Curriculum as it to spirals upward from simple, basic ideas to more complex ones. The concepts build on the previous foundation.
All well and good but the reality is that it may be well over a year (or more) before a student returns to study animals and in that intervening time much will have been forgotten. A grade 4 teacher might find, for example, that referring to questions and answers from grade 1 or 2 might be a good idea. This will help refresh the student’s memory and provide base on which to move on to more challenging ideas.
An ESL teacher may want to start with the simpler questions before moving on more difficult ones in order to grow the student’s vocabulary as it relates to science.
The videos themselves are intend to be observational. Although they are edited and may condense hours or days of watching/filming into seconds my goal was to create the illusion of the student being there making observing events as they unfold. It would be ideal to have the resources to take children out into nature (something we do provide with our educational programs) but if you cannot do it videos and other media area a great way to mimic this experience.
Before even going to the questions suggested encourage the students to pose their own questions.
Why? What? How? Where? When?
These are good words to begin their questioning. But even before they pose their questions get them to gather data by observing the videos. For example: The muskrat is swimming. It is late (or early) in the day. It has something in its mouth. Or: There are only two swans but there are a number of geese. The geese are noisy. The swans are quiet. The geese and the swans are in shallow water or mudflats.
From simple observations such as this students can come a myriad of questions.
- How are muskrats adapted for swimming?
- Why do they live in water?
- What was the muskrat carrying in its mouth?
- Where was it carrying it?
- What will it use it for?
- When are muskrats active?
- Why are the geese found in a flock?
- What ages make up the flock?
- Are the swans male and female?
- What species of swan is it?
- Why did both of these species of birds choose that mud flat to rest?
- Why are the geese noisy?
- What are they saying?
After posing questions have the students try and answer them. Don’t concern yourself with the accuracy of their answers (yet). The point here is to get them to pose ideas. Once this is done they can test them by researching other media.
The questions that are provided with these videos are designed for teachers to use to spark discussion and to guide observations.
The answers are just a beginning. The depth to which your students delve into these videos is up to you and them. For every species seen in these videos there are volumes of research documents written by scientists and many of these volumes are from different perspectives; social, behaviour, biology, genetic, economic, conservation, preservation, evolution, ecology, phenology, photographic and many more.
Take a look at the bibliographies I referred to for some of the books I have written. Black Bears; A Natural History has well over 100 references listed.
The point is that you can select to do a very superficial lesson using the videos or you can go into great depth. Most users will not go much beyond the questions and answers provided here simply because there is no time in the school year to allot to much more than that. There are math lessons to teach history and geography (social science) classes, art and P.E. and so forth.
And maybe in the final analysis the videos are just watched and enjoyed. A peaceful minute or two away from the hustle and bustle of the real world.