Four Winds Nature Institute
4 Casey Rd. Chittenden, VT 05737
802-353-9440 www.FourWindsInstitute.org
Ecosystems – STAYING WARM – Teaching Outline
Focus: In northern climates, ecosystems are very different places in the winter with shorter days,
colder temperatures, and plants making little or no food. Even so, many warm-blooded animals stay
active throughout this cold season, conserving body heat by seeking out shelter or putting on extra
fur, feathers or fat. For small animals, a layer of snow can provide some protection, and the energy
stored in dormant plants and cached food provides the nutrition they need to get through the winter.
Opening: Ask what is different about the outdoor world in winter (colder, wetter, snowy, less food,
plants not producing, etc.)
Temperature Equalizes: see how a warm object loses its heat until it is the same temperature as its
environment.
.
Puppet Show “Mice-capades”: identify some of the challenges of winter life, and some ways that
active animals stay warm and find food in winter.
Keep in the Heat Experiment: compare the insulating properties of different materials.
Upper Grades Challenge – Heat Trap (gr 5-6): compare and graph the rate of cooling in
insulated and un-insulated containers.
Animal Round-up: play an active game outside and think about some animals that are active or
dormant in winter.
Winter Animal Sign Search: look for tracks, tunnels and other signs of animals active in winter.
Snow Mammal Memory: learn interesting facts about mammals that take shelter under the snow
or underground.
Subnivean Scenes: make small dioramas depicting an animal’s home under the snow.
Journal Activity: write a story about an animal that stays active in winter.
Closing Thoughts: think about ways that people and animals stay warm in the winter.
SUGGESTED OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES
Keep in the Heat Experiment, Animal Round-up, Upper Grades Challenge: Heat Trap, Winter
Animal Search.
Unit Concepts/Ideas:
A. In winter, it is difficult for warm-blooded animals to stay warm and find food and water.
B. Body coverings like fur and feathers, and an extra layer of fat, help small animals to stay
warm.
C. Finding shelter protects small animals from severe cold weather and predators.
D. Some small animals use under snow (subnivean) areas as winter habitat where they tunnel
and find food, shelter and protection from predators.
E. Snow is an effective insulator that can hold in warmth and protect from wind and cold.
F. Animal holes and tunnels in the snow tell of winter subnivean activity.
Unit Vocabulary:
Winter habitat, Subnivean, Predator, Prey, Weasel, Vole, Shrew, Red Squirrel, Beaver, Insulation
Science Grade Expectations:
Grades PK-K Animals are living things. Fur, fat and feathers, finding food and shelter help animals
to stay warm in winter. Snow provides a protected “home” for some kinds of small animals that are
living and active during cold weather.
Grades 1-2 Animals are living things; they need food, water and air to survive. In order to survive
in a specific environment, animals need to be able to get the food, water and air that they need. All
animals depend on plants; some animals eat plants, and others eat animals that eat plants.
Grades 3-4 Living things have physical and behavioral characteristics that help them to live and
grow in their environment. Organisms can survive best only in habitats in which their needs are
met. Some kinds of small animals that live in cold climates meet their needs for survival by
tunneling under a layer of snow. Organisms interact with one another in various ways besides
providing food. Living things can be sorted into groups in many ways using various characteristics.
Grades 5-6 Organisms have characteristics that help them find what they need in their environment
and provide for their survival: defense, obtain food, eliminate waste, reproduction. Snow in winter
provides shelter and protection for small animals. Some kinds of small animals are adapted to
survive in and use subnivean areas as winter habitat. Food webs model the interdependent
relationships that organisms engage in as they acquire their food and energy needs. Living things
can be sorted into groups in many ways using various characteristics.
Science Skills:
A. Identifying the challenges facing small animals in winter ecosystems.
B. Discussing the benefits of fur, fat and feathers for animals that are active in winter.
C. Comparing and contrasting the insulating properties of fur, feathers, snow and other
materials, including manmade materials.
D. Identifying through active listening some of the animals that spend their time in or under
snow.
E. Creating a model of winter homes of animals.
F. Observing outdoor signs of animals active in winter.
Vermont Standards: Inquiry 7.1, The Living World 7.13, Universe, Earth and the Environment
7.15, Natural Resources and Agriculture 7.16, Listening 1.13, Questioning 2.1, Sustainability 3.9,
Understanding Place 4.6
New Hampshire Standards: Science Process Skills SPS1, SPS3, SPS4, Life Science LS1, LS2,
LS3, Earth Space Science ESS1, ESS2
Copyright© Four Winds Nature Institute-7/12.