Oh Deer! 

Introduction:

A variety of factors influence the ability of wildlife to successfully reproduce and to maintain their populations over time.  Disease, predator/prey relationships, varying impacts of weather conditions from season to season, accidents, environmental pollution, and habitat destruction are among these factors.  The most fundamental of life's necessities for any animal are food, water, shelter, and space in a suitable arrangement.  Without these essential components, animals cannot survive.  In this simulation the importance of suitable habitat as well as factors that may affect wildlife populations in constantly changing ecosystems will be examined.

National Standard Addressed:

Under the life science category this activity addresses the concept of reproduction and heredity.  It does this by looking at the factors that are necessary for deer to reproduce and live successfully.  Through this activity students will gain a better understanding of the conditions necessary for deer to survive.

Science in personal and social perspectives with the subtitle Populations, Resources and Environments is also covered by this lesson.  Students will begin to see how populations change over time and the effect it has on their environment. 

As a teaching standard, Designing and Managing the Physical Environment- New dimensions in time and space.  This standard is applied by the teachers. use of an area other than the regular classroom to do this activity.  Managing a classroom in a new setting is part of this activity.

Objectives and Benchmarks:

This interactive session shows the importance of habitats on the survival and reproductive success of a population.

Upon Completion students will be able to identify factors necessary for animals to survive and reproduce.

Materials:

Large Outside Area for Running            Chart/Overhead for data collection            Graph Paper

Advance Preparation:

Find a safe area to play game

Procedure:

We will divide the individuals in the class into "habitat" or "deer".  Once you have the groupings, have students go to the area designated for their group.  Habitat will include "food", "shelter" & "water".  Each person that is part of the habitat group gets to choose at the beginning of each round which component he or she will be during that round.  They will depict that component in the following manner:

WATER: Place hands over mouth

FOOD: Place hands over stomach

SHELTER: Make a "teepee" over head with arms

Each deer has to decide at the beginning of each round which component of the habitat it will be seeking: Water, food or shelter.  They will depict their choice in the same manner as the habitat group (see above).

During this choosing process both groups in a line are at opposite ends of the "playing field" facing away from the other group as to not see ahead of time what choices are available within the "habitat."  After both groups have chosen, and the appropriate gestures are being made, the instructor will tell both groups to turn around.  The deer then race (maintaining their gesture) to the habitat group to find the component that they are seeking for that round. There can be no changing of your component after the initial choosing until the beginning of the next round!

If a deer finds a match for it's component within the existing habitat, it survived to reproduce as well as "consuming" that particular component of the habitat.  Since the "habitat" individual that matched with the "deer" was "consumed" that person returns to the "deer" side, along with the original deer, to become the newest member of the deer population.  If a deer does not find a match for the component it was seeking, then it dies and becomes part of the existing habitat.  That individual will not return to the deer herd.  If a component of the habitat is not matched with a deer, it remains part of the habitat.  At the end of each round, the total number of surviving and newly reproduced deer should be counted to determine the population growth or decline. Record this number and share it with the class at the end of all the rounds.  This simulation continues to run for 10 rounds or until the deer population is zero.  At the beginning of each round, both the habitat and deer can make new choices for a different component.      

Have the students record their data in a chart and draw a graph of it for their lab notes.

Things to Consider:

Possible Integration:

Even though this is a biology lesson it can involve math by having the students make graphs of the data that was collected, showing fluctuations over time.

Critical Concepts:

Populations            Necessities for survival              Habitat            Limiting Factor