Wildlife Watch

Have your kids lead a one-day or long-term community wildlife count in your own backyard or a park near your home. Prepare a form for recording data and conduct fieldwork together, making sunrise, midday, and sunset observations. The data form could include the following components:

• names of observers,
• location of observation,
• time of observation,
• description of observation area (including the vegetation, terrain, proximity to roads and buildings, and weather conditions at the time of observation), and
• animals observed (domesticated and wild).

Compile the results of the fieldwork and chart various animal sightings on a sketch map. Discuss patterns of observations. Identify the most numerous species, times of greatest animal activity, rare or unusual species, and so on. Discuss issues of overlapping habitats and shared resources among species, including humans. Explore the notion of cooperation and conflict among the local animal residents.

Gary Miller of F.W. Cox High School in Virginia Beach, Virginia, contributed family activities for this Geoguide.