This week's Step Outside guide is all about getting ready for winter! While it may seem like nature is starting to pause as the temperatures start to drop, some animals are hard at work preparing for the upcoming winter. As the cold sets in, the Muskrats are on the move searching for unoccupied marshland. They start building dome-shaped lodges in and around the mud of shallow lakes and dig dens deep into the banks of ponds and slow-moving rivers.

Animals like chipmunks retreat below ground to store their food and spend the bulk of their winter. Other animals like raccoons and skunks don't store nearly as much food, but rather rely on their body fat to keep warm during their extended periods of sleep. On the other side of nature, just as you begin to think all the flowers have disappeared, we see plants like the Witch Hazels start to bloom.

As you can see, there's quite a lot going on during this time of the year! Be sure to visit our November Step Outside Guides and try out some of the activities below to help take your learning outdoors and learn about some other happenings in nature this November!

Grades K-4

Winter is Coming

This resource teaches students about the seasonal adaptations of local wildlife through diverse activities that incorporate games, displays and habitat investigations. Students examine the changes in appearance and behaviour that occur in animals as they prepare for winter. They also learn that many Canadian animals need unique wintering habitats to survive the cold weather.  

Activities

• Introduce the topic of animal tracks by reading In the Snow: Who's Been Here with students. Discuss animal tracks and the clues animals leave behind
• Play outdoor detective, look for animal tracks, wing prints, tracks, trails, and impressions in the snow. Measure and record the size and pattern of the tracks left by animals
• Get outside and try to reproduce the four different walking patterns of animals 
• Create clay animal tracks or take a plaster cast of a wildlife track in the snow or mud

Grades 3-5

Movers, Sleepers, and Tough Guys: Wildlife in Winter

As Canadians, we know winter is harsh, but imagine what our native wildlife must go through! This lesson uses appealing activities to develop an understanding of winter survival mechanisms in animals. An active outdoor component also engages students in exploring the dynamic natural world that surrounds us in winter.

Activities

• To make it through to the next spring, animals have developed three different coping strategies: move out, sleep through, or tough it out. Read about the Movers, Sleepers and Tough Guys to learn who migrates, hibernates or adapts
• Get outside and participate in Keep Your Creature Warm, an activity that looks at the importance of good insulation for hibernating species
• Be a nature detective and look for signs of animal tracks and other natural treasures. Challenge older students with this Habitat Hunt

Grades 6-12

Providing a Backyard Feeding Station for Birds

This easy to implement activity provides a blueprint for building a winter bird-feeding station. Using readily available and inexpensive materials, students create different types of feeders to attract a variety of over-wintering birds and small mammals. This project provides opportunities for students to witness biodiversity and adaptation in their schoolyard and, at the same time, provide important wildlife habitat (food and shelter) at a very stressful time of the year.

Activities

• Build a winter bird-feeding station in your schoolyard. In winter, when food is scarce, birds need more energy than usual to keep warm. Learn how to make a variety of simple feeders or build a winter bird warmer
• Build a basic bird table and place by a window at school to feed and observe birds all winter
• Watch and identify birds that visit your feeder to observe which species eat which foods. Discuss why some birds choose different foods. Are there similarities between species that prefer the same foods? Try the Big Bird Buffet experiment to discover what foods birds like best

Grades 7-12

Wildlife Burrows

Wildlife use dens or burrows for many different reasons and purposes, such as shelter, protection, reproduction, etc. Some of the dens are temporary, and others are more permanent. In this resource, students will gather information about an animal and their burrow. After completing the research, they will develop a scale model including different chambers and their purposes of the burrow or den and present it to the class.

Activities

• Get outside and participate in the Winter Wildlife Game, a predator-prey game in which adaptations to the cold and snow conditions are highlighted. Both predators and prey must endure a series of winter conditions, which may result in their gaining or losing food cards 
• Research an animal that makes a burrow or den underground. Have students gather information about their chosen species, where do they live, their habitat and range, type of den or shelter, do they create a single hole, multiple rooms, how do they use the den or burrow, how are they adapted to create the burrow
• After completing the research, sketch out a plan for a model replica of the den or burrow for your animal

About Learning Inside Out

Above you will find a selection of activities, broken down by various grade levels. These guides will be released biweekly and archived on our Learning Inside Out page, so you can always access the full catalogue.

Some of the activities have been modified from resources on our R4R database, simplified and adapted for both outdoor learning in the school yard or at-home as needed. The activity descriptions above should contain all the information and links that you need!

We want this guide to work for you, so your feedback is invaluable to us.

Please complete the feedback form below, or email us at info@LSF-LST.ca.

Follow us on social media for continued weekly highlights & other exciting opportunities through the school year!

Please share widely with any parents and teachers in your life!