Pages

Sabtu, 01 Juni 2013

Winter Learning Activities

Winter Learning Activities

Field trips outdoors can provide lots of fun, educational activities during the chilly winter months. Explore nature, covered in snow and ice. Learn what kinds of animals are in your area during the winter, and what foods they eat. See if you can safely explore and look for signs of these animals, without putting yourself at risk for encountering a dangerous animal such as a bear.

Nature

    Learning to identify animal tracks in the snow is a great activity for people of all ages. Websites like Bear-Tracker have several different images of animal tracks that you can print out and take with you to help identify the various paw and hoof prints.

    Depending on where you live, you might spot deer, rabbit, fox, raccoon, beaver or skunk tracks. You can also have fun identifying trees, shrubs and berries. If you know what kinds of plants animals eat, you can search for their food sources and then look for tracks nearby. Rivers and streams are another good place to look, as animals in the area will regularly visit them for a drink of water.

Astronomy

    Stars and planets are often easiest to spot on cold, clear winter nights. Look up prominent planets and constellations, draw them on paper or print out images of them and then search for them after sunset. The Pleiades, Algol the Demon Star, the Beehive and the Andromeda Galaxy are visible with the naked eye and you can spot the Great Orion Nebula and the Double Cluster with binoculars or a telescope.

Crafts

    If it's too cold to venture outside, try winter-themed craft projects indoors. Reuse materials and recycle during and after your craft projects, to demonstrate the importance of being environmentally responsible. Using pinecones, twigs, dried leaves and other objects found outside, you can create educational displays showing the winter habitat and diet of local animals.

    For another crafty activity, spend time learning about various holidays that take place during the winter months, like Christmas, Kwanzaa, and Hanukkah. Use old cards, paper and scraps of material to make decorations or gifts for these holidays.

Solstice

    Study the history and significance of the Winter Solstice for various cultures and learn about the festivals and celebrations held on this day in your country and around the world. For countries in the northern hemisphere, this is the shortest day and longest night of the year and for many countries marks the official start of winter.

0 komentar:

Posting Komentar