This week in the outdoor classroom, we shifted our focus to the broader concept of how plants help animals. To that end, we had the kids play a relay game in their House Table groups. Each group had 39 animal cards ranging from insects to bears (with lots of little critters and birds in between). The goal of the activity was for kids to place their cards in the bin of the correct "host plant" that would be eaten or used by that particular animal. For instance, monarch caterpillars ONLY eat milkweed leaves, but many animals eat acorns produced by oak trees.
One player from each team would run to the basket of the host plant they believed the animal on their card needed (be it seed, leaf, bark, flower or fruit) and then run back to tag the next player. While waiting for their runner, the next person in line took the next animal card and could confer with their team as to which host plant basket they should sort their animal into so they would be ready when their turn to run came.
Overall, all teams got more cards sorted into the correct bins than into incorrect ones. The House Tables each got points based on their final tally. We will be continuing this study of how plants and animals depend on each other through the next few weeks with a look at energy webs.
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