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Wolves in
Winter
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Subjects
Biology
Graphic Arts
Language Arts
Technology
Objectives
The student will:
• Identify, verbally and in writing, the
breeding month for wolves with 100% accuracy.
• Calculate the due date for the pup’s
birth on the calendar.
• Calculate the date for Denning
on the calendar.
• Compare the due date to Denning
on the calendar.
• Calculate the date for Localization
on the calendar.
• Compare the due date to Localization
on the calendar.
• Hypothesize, in writing, the reasons for
multiple dens.
• Use research to evaluate his/her hypothesis
about multiple dens.
• Hypothesize, in writing, why pups can
smell when they are born but cannot see or hear.
• Use research to evaluate his/her hypothesis
about the sense of smell.
• Calculate the date for weaning on the
calendar with 100% accuracy.
• Calculate the dates for the move to the
rendezvous site on the calendar with 100% accuracy.
• Compare, in discussion and in writing,
wolf socialization to human socialization.
• Calculate 20 weeks for winter coat and
permanent teeth on the calendar.
• Hypothesize, in writing, the skills gained
by wolves during play.
• Hypothesize, in writing, why the pack
teaches pups to hunt the way they do.
Materials
If
I Were a Wolf
Lesson Plan (pdf)
Calendar
Template (pdf
| Word
| rtf)
Calendar
Answer Key (pdf)
Computer Lab, if available
If
I Were a Wolf
events worksheet (pdf)
If
I Were a Wolf rubric
(pdf)
Wolf Families
Resources (pdf)
Wolf Pup
Development Resource (pdf)
Wolf
pups Resources info (pdf)
Butcher paper
Glue, colors, and scissors
Student note
sheet – Hypothesis
vs. Facts (pdf)
Background for Students
In order to survive, a wolf learns different skills.
What do you think a wolf must learn? How long
does it take before a wolf can survive on its
own? Many human parents make records, take pictures,
and keep a calendar of the special events and
developments in the lives of their children. What
would this look like if we were to do the same
for a wolf pup?
Procedure
Note: This activity can be done as printouts or
in a computer lab with Word.
The Instructor will:
1. Have students assemble a calendar of a wolf’s
first year of life, either on paper or in the
lab.
2. Have students select a date in January as
the date that the alpha pair mated. (Instruct
them to pick a Monday in order to make the rubric/assessment
more efficient.)
3. Have students calculate from January the
dates for denning, localization, birth (due
date), weaning, winter coat, and permanent teeth
and mark them on their calendar.
4. Have students hypothesize, on their Hypothesis
vs. Fact sheet the following questions: Why
do wolves have multiple dens? Why is smell the
only sense that wolf puppies have at birth?
What skills do wolf puppies learn from playing?
Why do packs teach pups to hunt with dead mice
and other small animals.
5. Have students then compare the similarities
and differences between growing up a wolf and
growing up a human.
Assessment
If
I Were a Wolf Rubric (pdf)
Resource
Yellowstone Wolves –
In the Wild. Halfpenny, James C. Riverbend
Publishing, 2003. |
