NatureWorks
| Series
Information |
Curricular
Areas:
Science and Environment |
| Length:
17/15-Minute Programs, CC |
| Grade
Levels: 3-7 |
| Web
Resources |
Teacher's
Guide |
|
Discover
the natural world and the connections that make nature work, when
student host Patrice Forrester and Senior Naturalist Dave Erler
of the Squam Lakes Natural Science Center explore the ways living
things interact with the environment. NatureWorks is designed to
align with state and national science frameworks and standards and
is a great way to introduce young people to the natural sciences.
Visit the web site for student objectives for each program, state
and national science standards, a teacher’s guide with hand’s
on activities, and other resources.
Episode
Descriptions
1 Adaptation — Jr. Naturalist Patrice looks at how plants
and animals are adapted to their environment: the unique adaptation
of the opossum and beaver. A visit to the New England Aquarium's
critical care ward shows how they are treating sea turtles that
have washed ashore.
2 Coloration — Coloration is a structural adaptation
that helps animals and plants survive in their environment: the
great horned owl and the skunk. A wildlife photographer explains
how color plays a role in photography.
3 Natural Communication — Animals communicate with visual,
auditory, chemical, and tactile signals: the red fox and how it
communicates using scent, songbirds, and frogs at the pond.
4 Migration — Animals migrate to find food or a place
to hibernate; others migrate to mate, give birth, or raise their
young. this program looks at banding some birds so they can be tracked
as they migrate and at three raptors, the broad winged hawk, the
red-tailed hawk and the snowy owl. Sara and Davis help with an annual
hawk count.
II. Communities
5 Habitat — This episode shows how all living things
need a habitat where their needs can be met, an artificial habitat
in the Nature Center’s aviary, the common loon and its habitat,
and a biologist floating a loon raft.
6 Marine Communities — Patrice looks at how life in
the ocean is organized in layers and life in a tide pool. A closer
look at estuaries finds the Wells Reserve monitoring soft shell
clams and green crab experiments.
7 Fresh Water Communities — Life in lakes, streams,
and wetlands shows first a snapping turtle then a closer look at
wetlands with biologist Beth Malcolm inspecting the growth of animal
and plant life in the wetland environment.
8 Terrestrial Communities — This program looks at tundra,
rainforest, grassland, taiga, temperate deciduous forest, and desert
biomes; the Red-Tailed Hawk and how it adapts to a variety of habitats;
the desert; and the diversity of plant life along a mountain trail.
III. Interdependence
9 The Wildlife Web I (producers and herbivores) — This
episode explores how plants make food and at how and plants and
plant eating animals depend on each other by looking the plant habitat
which provide food for moose and other herbivores. Students also
investigate and understand that organisms depend on other organisms
and nonliving components of the environment for survival.
10 The Wildlife Web II (herbivores and carnivores) —Herbivores
and carnivores depend on each other for survival using the example
of an insect eating predator and the gray wolf.
11 Decomposers and Scavengers — Investigating to understand
that organisms depend on other organisms and nonliving components
of the environment for survival, Patrice looks at the important
role decomposers and scavengers play in the natural world. Checking
on the progress of the decomposition of a dead gray squirrel and
a closer look at the turkey vulture help show what is recycled in
the wilderness.
12 Population Dynamics—A look at porcupine and white-tailed
deer populations show a variety of factors that determine population
and the limiting factors that can impact it. The program demonstrates
how agencies are helping to control deer numbers.
IV. Diversity
13 Niche — In segment one Patrice looks at how all organisms
have it’s own role, or niche in their environment. Every organisms
has its own niche in their environment from the pileated woodpecker
to the coral reef as they fill in the ocean. Students learn about
controlling the impact of beavers in urban areas.
14 Species Diversity —This program takes an overall
look at the wide variety of life found on earth. and the important
role species diversity play in maintaining a health environment
from insects in a field to life on a forest floor.
15 Invasive Species —A look at the mute swan and an
invasive seaweed in the waters off the Nature Center’s island
demonstrate the impact invasive species can have on an environment.
Students further investigate the impact milfoil has on aquatic communities.
16 Life at Risk — Factors that could endanger plant
and animals species are examined by investigating the wood turtle,
and the peregrine falcon. US Fish and Wildlife monitors the health
of Dwarf Wedge Mussels.
17. How to Use NatureWorks in the Classroom
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