Winter Preparations
INTRODUCTION
Winter in high latitudes can be severe for many mammals, especially for rodents that need to get food from under the snow. That is why many species of rodents prefer to hibernate in cold months. However, hibernation is not sleeping all the time, as many people think. Some mammals are really sleeping all winter. But most hibernating animals, as chipmunks, awakening up three-five times for a winter, eat and come back to sleep again. So they need something to eat this long time! That is why they need to prepare food for coming winter time!
Certainly, different species of rodents are preparing different kinds of seeds, nuts, berries, and some other kinds of forest food. But study of this narrow aspect of their life would be very deep. That is why for the running game we choose some common food that collects by rodents for a winter – nuts, seeds of herbs, seeds of trees, including pines, birches, maples, and some other similar kinds of food.
Knowing what kinds of food wintering rodents need for successful hibernation give a knowledge that is equivalent to knowing of wintering birds feeding. We would think about how to protect forest bush and trees that give such valuable food for animals.
RULES
Naturalist put different kinds of “food” on visible places on the ground and gives out papers with circles to each participant (or small group of participants). Participants have roles of rodents (for example, paper tapes with rodents names on it) and they must collect different kinds of “food” and put it to different sectors on the circle, each food particle to each compartment on the sector. Each participant (or small group) must collect 30 pine cones, 30 wheat seed boxes, 40 hazel nuts, 40 corn seeds, 50 herb seeds, 40 maple seeds, and 25 birch seed boxes. Time for collecting is very limited, as for rodents in natural environment. Also they compete (but no fight, as must be warned before the game) for food collecting. To be first, participants must be fast in running and, at the same time, very attentive for recognizing small particles of “food” on the grounds, and exactly those kinds that they recently need to fill all sectors of the circle.
Examples of hibernating rodents that can “participate”:
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Badger
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Gopher
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Chipmunk
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Mouse
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Prairie dog
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Marmot
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Hedgehog
Proposed Examples of “food” particles
Pine cone
Corn seed
Wheat seed box
Maple seed
Herb seed
Birch seed box
Hazel nut
Game set:
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14 Sets of food components, each contains
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30 “pine cones”,
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30 “wheat seed boxes”,
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40 “hazel nuts”,
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40 “corn seeds”,
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50 “herb seeds”,
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40 “maple seeds”, and
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25 “birch seed boxes”
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14 Circles with Food Sectors
Age: from 7
Game Photo Gallery
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