Weekly Summary: Winter Animal Shelter Building – Neutrons – Nature Study

Over the past couple weeks, we have been learning about how many different animals survive in winter climates. We have learned about birds and last week we dove deeper into some mammal adaptations. Today we put all the knowledge to the test. The instructions were minimal… they could use anything that has fallen in the woods or in the field, we provided boxes of various sizes and blankets/towels/shower curtain as our non-natural elements. The goal was to make a shelter for the animal of your choice, and at the end we would all visit each group’s shelter and get a “tour” with the group highlighting their thoughts behind what made their shelter best for their chosen animal. We also had outdoor thermometers so the ultimate goal was to make their shelter warmer than the “outside” temperature. I think they could have built for multiple hours, so some may have been disappointed they were unable to finish exactly what they had envisioned by the end of the day. But, it was very fun to see all their creative ideas and creative shelter construction. Some used previously man-made “shelters” they found in the field (a snow pile) or woods (half of a lean-to) and added on to make it better. Others made an original creations for squirrels/mice and fairies 🙂 I think the overall lesson was … it takes considerable time to create a truly warm shelter.