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FOCUS : Three kinds of tree squirrels - gray, red and flying squirrels - occupy our forests, often competing for the same foods and shelters. Each kind has a special niche – particular habits and habitat preferences – which helps these squirrels live side by side. All are hoarders of food, hiding a supply for the winter, though each uses a different technique. Looking for signs of squirrel activity outside gives us a window into the lives of these busy animals.
Puppet Show – ‘ATree Party’: meet three kinds of tree squirrels and learn about their different food and habitat preferences.
Squirrel Sorting: compare the special characteristics and behaviors of three squirrel species.
Hands-On Squirrel Sets: examine different parts of a squirrel’s body, its tracks and sign, and consider how these relate to a squirrel’s daily life and its role in the ecosystem.
Signs of Squirrels Slideshow: view examples of squirrel tracks and sign as preparation for outdoor exploration.
Squirrel Search: look for squirrels, squirrel sign, and evidence of squirrel activity.
Where’d I Put That Acorn? model squirrel nut-burying behavior and consider its effect on the ecosystem.
Squirrel Highways: experience the challenges that squirrels face as they balance on thin branches while trying to fulfill their basic needs.
Squirrel Glide : visualize how far a flying squirrel can glide.
Journal Activity and Closing Thoughts: reflect on squirrels and their role in the forest.
Upper Grades Challenge – Glide Ratio: notice the relationship between height and gliding distance and relate this to flying squirrels.
SUGGESTED OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES
Where’d I Put That Acorn, Squirrel Search, Squirrel Highways, Squirrel Glide.
Unit Concepts/Ideas:
A.
Three kinds of tree squirrels with similar needs share the same role in the forest ecosystem.
B.
All store food for winter but in different ways: red squirrels and flying squirrels make larders while gray squirrels bury nuts individually
C.
Having different food preferences, and being active at different times of day, helps squirrels avoid competition.
D.
Their great agility helps squirrels avoid predators like owls and hawks.
Unit Vocabulary: predator, prey, adaptation, nocturnal, niche, herbivore, carnivore, opportunist, deciduous, coniferous, cache, drey, midden, larder-hoarder, scatter-hoarder.

Science Grade Expectations:
Grades PK-K A forest is “home” for a variety of plants and animals. Squirrels are living animals; they need food and water to survive.
Grades 1-2 Squirrels have a variety of physical features that help them get what they need to grow and survive in different environments. Squirrels depend mostly on plants for food. There are different kinds of squirrels that prefer different foods and that move in different ways.
Grades 3-4 Squirrels have certain physical and behavioral characteristics that help them to get what they need to survive in their environment. They can be identified by distinguishing physical and behavioral characteristics and can be sorted into groups using various features to decide which belong to which group. The details of the life cycles of different animal species, like the different squirrel species, are unique though they have common stages of development. An ecosystem consists of all the living and non-living things in a specific place. Organisms interact with one another in various ways besides providing food. The transfer of energy through food is necessary for all living organisms.
Grades 5-6 Squirrels have characteristics that help them find what they need to survive in their environment and provide for their survival: defense, obtain food, eliminate waste, reproduce. When the environment changes, some plants and animals with advantageous traits are able to survive.
The number and kinds of animals an ecosystem can support depends on the availability of food, water and other resources. The transfer of energy through food is necessary for all living organisms. The kind of food different species of squirrels eat varies. Availability of vital resources changes seasonally and influences behavioral patterns of a variety of animals.
Science Skills:
A.
Active listening and discussion to understand differences in the behavior of gray, red, and flying squirrels
B.
Examining different parts of a squirrel’s body and discussing how each feature is related to habitat, lifestyle, and role in the ecosystem.
C.
Comparing physical and behavioral traits of three squirrel species.
D.
Role-playing to understand the difficulties of meeting basic needs and avoiding predation.
E.
Observing signs of squirrel activity.
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
New York Standards: Standard 4: The Living Environment; Standard 1 Analysis, inquiry and design: Scientific Inquiry; Science Process Skills based on Standards 1, 4, 6 and 7.
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