“Habitat Detective”

Seeing Green

Get the scoop on your region’s native habitat and find out what you can do to help wildlife thrive.

Past

Stand outside your school and look around. Now close your eyes and try to imagine the landscape as it appeared several hundred years ago. Was the grass greener? What animals were around? Check out these sites to learn about the native species of your region of the U.S.:

Wildlife

National Wildlife Federation (http://www.nwf.org/affiliates)

Fish and Wildlife

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (http://www.nctc.fws.gov/fedaid/mat/website/statelinks.html)

Wildflowers

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (http://www.wildflower.org/links.html)

Butterflies

The Butterfly Zone (http://butterflies.com/guide.html)

Present

What does the landscape near your school look like today?

1. List ways in which people have changed the landscape (buildings? basketball courts? roads?), and consider how habitats for wildlife have been affected.
2. Have some landscape features remained the same?
3. Draw a rough map of the area around your school. Be sure to include any parks, gardens, or other places that planners and communities have set aside to conserve natural resources.
4. Keep a journal of the birds, plants, and other wildlife you see on or around school grounds. You can learn how to conduct a bird census at BirdSource (http://www.birdsource.org). Are these plants and animals native to your region? Were any introduced?

Future

You’ve considered the past and the present. Now look into the future and see how we can have a positive effect on the landscape—and on wildlife.

• Check out the guidelines of the National Wildlife Federation’s Backyard Wildlife Habitats project (http://www.nwf.org/nwf/habitats/) to restore natural habitats and take a look at how other students have transformed their school grounds into National Wildlife Federation certified habitats (http://www.nwf.org/habitats/schoolyard/sample/
  llewellyn.cfm).
  
  

  Here are some more ways you can encourage biodiversity:
  
  

• Create a Community Wildlife Habitat with the National Wildlife Federation (http://www.nwf.org/habitats/community/index.html).
  
  
• Plant a butterfly garden. Visit The Butterfly Zone (http://www.butterflies.com).
  
  
• Plant trees or create a pond. Check out Natural Resources Conservation Service (http://www.nhq.nrcs.usda.gov/CCS/Backyard.html).
  
  
• Conserve a habitat for birds. Visit Audubon Online (http://www.audubon.org/).
  
  
• Get tips on how to attract wildlife, including lists of foods birds commonly eat, from the Windstar Wildlife Institute (http://windstar.org/wildlife).
  
  
• Find out how to incorporate the four essentials for wildlife into a habitat. Visit the National Wildlife Federation (http://www.nwf.org/habitats/schoolyard/basics/provide.cfm).
  
  

Future Perfect

Draw or paint a picture of how your school grounds could look if you restored or added natural habitats.

Adapted from the 1996 Geography Awareness Week teacher’s handbook. © 1996 National Geographic Society.

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