Wild Animals and Wild Places Field Trip

NPS

Glacier is a wild place that protects: wild animals, plants, waterways, scenery, and quiet places to sit and observe nature. The animals here depend on this wild place for their home and they have special body parts and behaviors that help them to live here without help from people.

Grade: 1st grade
Locations: Apgar Village and St. Mary
Duration: 4 hours, view our Wild Animals and Wild Places Field Trip Schedule to see a basic outline for the day.
Group Size: 45 students total
Skills: Observe (using all senses), sort/classify, compare & contrast, role-play, match, count, communicate findings
Vocabulary: Food chain, herbivore, carnivore, natural world, natural resources, wild, domestic
Essential Questions:

• What makes a place wild?
• Why do we keep places wild?
• In what kinds of places do things live?
• How do living things get energy?
• What lives in wild places?

National and State Standards:
Montana State Standards
MT.SCI.K-12.3 Students, through the inquiry process, demonstrate knowledge of characteristics, structures and function of living things, the process and diversity of life, and how living organisms interact with each other and their environment.

Next Generation Science Standards
K-LS1-1 Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive.

 

Objectives

Students will be able to:

• Tell what national parks protect and name some natural features protected in Glacier National park.
• Distinguish between natural and un-natural objects.
• Differentiate between living (eats food, grows, reproduces) and non-living things in nature.
• Tell one thing that people can do to keep natural areas healthy (don’t litter, don’t feed wild animals, leave wild animals in their habitats, etc.)
• Explain the difference between a wild animal and a domestic animal- a pet or farm animal- and name three wild animals that live in Glacier National Park.
• Show or tell one thing people should do to be safe when hiking in a place that has wild animals (make noise, don’t hike alone).
• Look for simple food chains of organisms while in Glacier National Park and then draw a simple food chain.
• Observe skulls and pictures of Glacier animals and tell one characteristic of an herbivore and one characteristic of a carnivore.
• Draw a beaver and label the body parts that help the beaver to find food (get energy) and live in its habitat.
• Identify examples of Montana American Indians making use of natural resources.

 

Field Trip Logistics

Teachers wishing to have their students participate in the wildlife field trip must have their classes divided into groups of no more than 20 students. For example, a bus of 40 students would be divided into 2 groups of 20 students each.

 

Reserve Your Trip

Visit the Scheduling & Guidelines page to find the reservation form as well as tips for a successful day in the park.

If you have questions, email or call the Apgar Education Center at 406-888-7899.

 

Preparing for Your Trip

Students that spend time preparing for their visit get more out of a field trip to the park. Activities post-visit also help to reinforce information learned during the trip.

Once registered, we will email you a complete curriculum guide, including the following lessons:

• Pre-visit Lessons:
  • National Park Service Symbols
  • Who Eats Whom?
  • Surviving in the Wild
• Post-visit Lessons:
  • What is Wild?

Suggested supplementary materials:

• Background Information for Teachers
• Predator & Prey Traveling Trunk
• Bonus Activities: Vocabulary, songs, coloring pages, etc