Maths

Small Fry Racing
Pupils catch small forest insects and watch them racing on a homemade racecourse. (Kindergarten - Grade 2)

Nesting Boxes for Birds
Pupils prepare nesting boxes for birds and place them in the forest. They can then record the life in and around the boxes. (Kindergarten - Grade 2)

Trees and Measurement
This activity helps to understand vertical and horizontal measurement of large objects.  Pupils learn how to measure the trunk, crown and height of trees and to compare measurements through graphs. (Grade 4-6)
Click here for an AskERIC lesson plan.

Small Fry Racing

From: Denmark, Skoven i Skolen
Grade:  Kindergarten to Grade 2.

Purpose
The pupils will:

• Collect and categorize different species of bugs, beetles and other insects.

• Watch and study the insects and how they adapt to moving in the racecourse.

• Practise measuring time during the races.

• Learn to talk about sizes, shapes, numbers and sequences (for example bigger/smaller, longer/shorter, thin, round, heavier/lighter, etc.) 

Preparations
You shoud produce a circular racecourse with a diameter of between 50 & 60 cm. The racecourse can be cut from a board of cardboard, linoleum something similar - but should be made from relatively thick (1 cm +) durable material. 

The racecourse must be white, so you might have to paint the board. The centre of the board marks the starting position of the small insects that are to race. Draw a circle with a radius of 6 to 7 cm around the centre of the board, and then paint this circle another colour.  

The perimeter of the circle must be painted with a 1 cm thick coloured line. This is the goal of the course. You can also choose to mark the halfway point with a thinly drawn line.

Let the pupils help with the measuring of the board - they'll have great fun! They should use needles, thread and a pencil to mark the starting point and the goal area. You should do the cutting yourself, as you have to use a sharp knife.

Preparations in the forest
You can choose to catch the insects by hunting or by using traps. 

If you want to go hunting, then separate the pupils in pairs. Each pair gets a metal spoon and a glass container (such as a jam jar). The spoons are not for digging but should be used by the pupils in their search for insects in the forest bed. Tell the pupils that they should avoid getting earth or other things than the insects into the glass containers.  

The small racing insects are most readily found beneath stones, branches or leaves on the forest bed and underneath the bark of old treetrunks. Please remember to replace the stones and pieces of wood after you have been searching for insects. Prevent the pupils from dissembling human built stonewalls!

Falltraps: If the pupils want to catch the insects with the aid of traps (submerged glass containers), then you have to set these traps on the day previous to the race. Try placing traps in different types of forests.

Remember you may need to obtain a permit to dig in the forest bed. 

It will of course be best if the pupils can set the traps themselves. It is important that the rim of the glass container is exactly level with the forest bed (see drawing): 

Compress the earth lightly around the rim of the glass container and avoid too much earth getting into the container. In order to prevent rainwater draining into the container (and drowning the insects) you can build a simple roof by using a board and four 3 to 4 cm tall supporting pillars.

Potato-traps:

The pupils could also make potato-traps. Some big potatoes are cut in halves and subsequently hollowed with a metal spoon or likewise. In the top half you should cut two entrance holes with a knife, and then you rejoin the potato with two 7-inch nails. The potato should then be placed at a selected place in the forest with the entrance holes placed at ground level.  

Experience has shown that falltraps yields the best results.

Important: remember to clearly mark the location of the traps, so that you can easily find them again. The traps must be emptied on the day following their placement so that the insects do not perish.

What to bring

• A circular racecourse.

• Stop watches, preferably one per group of pupils. Digital watches will be easier to read, but normal stop watches can also be used. Train the pupils in the use of the watches before you go to the forest.

• Falltraps: Jam glasses with holes punched through the lid (so that the insects can breathe), timber-board for roofs over the lids and large metal spoons (small shovels) for the digging of the holes.

• Potato traps: Big potatoes, metal spoon, knife and long nails.

• Insect hunting: Metal spoons and glass containers (alternatively you can use plastic containers). Remember to punch breathing holes through the lids of the containers.

• Deep white trays, one per group of pupils and 6 to 8 extra trays in reserve.

• Identification sheets with  the names of small insects in the forest (see pdf files below).

• Sourcebook(s) on smaller animals and insects of the forest.

• Pencils and paper.

• Reference sheet for the race: list the races in the columns (race 1, race 2, race 3 and so on) and the groups (group 1, group 2 and so on) of pupils in the rows. In every box you can then write which insect raced and who the "owner" was. You could possibly also write the name of the insect (the rocket, the cruel centipede, the killer snail, etc.) and of course also the time in which the race was finished.
  

How long should this activity take?
This activity should take about two lessons (including the capture of the insects) and two visits to the forest, if you want to set traps. The race itself takes one lesson.

How to do it
The pupils should be split into small groups to catch the unsuspecting insects (alternatively they could set their clever traps in the forest). Set a specific time for this exercise. They should be told to look for "turbo-insects", but you don't have to specify this further! Each group should catch at least one insect per pupil preferably more. 

When the pupils return you'll all look at the insects together and sort them into groups. You could for example sort them according to expected speed. The slow ones should be in one group, the medium-speed in another group and the fast ones in the last group. 

The pupils should then split the insects between them, so that each pupil has one insect. Surplus insects should not be set free just yet, but kept in reserve. The surplus ones are likely to be the slowest of them all, and can thus also serve as examples for description of slower insects. Ask the pupils to describe the differences between the different groups of insects.

It is important that the pupils get the opportunity to explain how they sorted the insects and why they chose to sort them as they did. They should be encouraged to describe the insects, and why they think that some will be faster than others. 

The pupils should also describe: where they found the different insects, what they think the insects eat and maybe also give their chosen insect a name. Use the indentification sheets below which can be downloaded as pdf files.

ID Sheet 1	ID Sheet 2	ID Sheet 3

The race!
The race itself is held in the forest. A pupil from each group races his/her insect against an insect from each of the other groups. 

The insects that should race are each placed on the starting position in a glass container placed "bottom-up" in the centre of the course. When all are ready the pupils will say "Ready, steady, GO" and one will lift the glass. The "owner" of the insect will handle the stop-watch and follow the insect visually. Each "owner" must be able to recognise his/her group's insect, even though several examples of each species may take part in the same race. 

Pupils will stop the stopwatches when their insect reaches the goal in the perimeter of the circle. The time (in seconds) is referred to another pupil, who will note the timing of all insects in the group on the notesheet that has been prepared for the event (see above).  

The winner can be the insect that passed the racecourse in the shortest time. Alternatively the winner can be the insect that won all its races - including the final race! 

If you want to end with a final race, then you have to catch the winners of each separate race, while the losers are set free. Note whether the insects are as fast in the finals as they were in the original race. 

You could also determine which group had the fastest insects in total - for example as measured by the total timing for all races. Do the calculation in seconds, and you could use a pocket calculator. 

When you're back on the school premises you can calculate the results in minutes and seconds on the chalkboard. 

After all the competitions are over the pupils should release the insects carefully.  

On your return to the school you could prepare a diagram depicting the results of the races including names of the insects, groups, timings and so on.

Background
This is normally a very exciting activity that will engage all the pupils. There are good opportunities for all pupils to express their experiences from the race in spoken language - both during the sorting of the insects and during the description of the insect by the pupils. 

The speed of the insects
Many of the predators are adapted to active hunting of prey. Some can move fast on the forest bed (Ground Beetle, Hunting Spider). Others have a flat body (Centipede), so that they can squeeze underneath bark and stones to get to their prey.

Prey like Millipede and Woodlouse move relatively slower - note the coordination of the legs of the Millipede. 

Even though an insect has adapted to fast movement across the forest bed, it doesn't necessarily win the race. Experience how the race develops yourself - and see who the little winner might be?

Nesting Boxes for Birds

From: Denmark, Skoven i Skolen  
Kindergarten to grade 2

Purpose  

• The pupils should work with standard measures (centimetre) by measuring wood and sizes of drilling holes (diameter).

• The pupils work practically with simple geometric forms, numbering and registration of numbers.

Preparations  
Talk to the pupils about the birds of the forest (and gardens) and about hole nesting birds. These birds nest and breed in holes, like, for example, old woodpecker holes or nesting boxes. You can help these birds by building nesting boxes in which they can breed. Many smaller birds also use nesting boxes as shelters during the winter.  

You should calculate how much timber you will use. This depends on how many boxes you chose to build. It is good to involve the pupils in making the calculations. The timber must be bought and brought to the school.  

It will be exciting for the pupils to go to the timberyard, as they will both experience new surroundings and can take part of the selection and buying of the timber.  

Remember to book the woodwork room of the school, if you don’t have a tool area with carpenter’s benches and tools in the vicinity of your classroom. It will be helpful if two teachers can assist the pupils, as they will be measuring, sawing and hammering!  

Also remember to get permission to place the nesting boxes in the forest (or even inside the school area).  

What to bring?  

• Copysheet of the work-plan and nesting box

• Unplaned boards of Spruce or Pine

• Work-plan and drawing (see below in 'How to do it')

• Pencils and rulers

• Tools such as saws, drills, sandpaper, hammers and nails

• Rope/string and screw eyes

• Steel wire or nylon string for the attachment of the lid of the box

• Waterproof, broad pen for Indian ink or a carpenter’s pen

• First aid box

How long should this activity take?  
4-6 lessons for the building of the boxes, two lessons for the placement of the boxes in the forest and as many lessons as you like for observations of life and recording of activities in and around the boxes.

How to do it  
Autumn is a good season for building nesting boxes and for placing them in the forest. The birds will then have the opportunity of sheltering in them during the winter. You will have proof that your work was well done, and that the boxes were well situated in the forest if the boxes survives possible storms during the fall season. As an added benefit, the boxes will be ready for use when the birds need them during spring.  

Let the pupils work together in groups of approximately 4 when they build the nesting boxes. They should all have been provided with a work plan and a drawing of the box, which they should have studied before commencing with the building of the box. Then the different parts of the box must be measured and cut from the boards.  

Wood required:

All edges, especially the ones which have been sawedshould be sanded with sandpaper.

Before you assemble the nesting box you should drill a hole in the front panel. The size of this “flighthole” will specify which kind of bird will prefer to breed in the box.  

Diameter of flight-hole for different species of birds:  

Blue Tit: 2.8 cm                    
Great Tit:  3.2 cm
Grey Sparrow:  3.4 cm
Forest Sparrow:  3.2 cm  
Coal Tit: 2.5 cm  
Marsh Tit: 2.5 cm  
Nuthatch: 3.0 cm
Crested Tit: 3.0 cm

How to assemble the nesting box:

• The first step is to nail the four sides together.

• Then you drill four to five small holes in the bottom of the box, so that rainwater can drain out.

• You must attach a wooden brick to the underside of the lid. This brick of wood must fit into the opening of the box.

• You should then put a nail halfway into each side of the box. The steel wire or a string of nylon will be attached to these nails, and will be used to tie the lid to the box.

• The screw eyes will be attached to the top corners on the reverse side of the box. The screw eyes will be used when you place the box in the forest.  

When you have prepared all the nesting boxes you should remember to mark each of them with a number that will be easy to see from the ground. The numbering can be done with either a waterproof ink pen or a carpenter's pen.

Placing the boxes in the forest: 
Now you will be ready to place the boxes in selected spots in the forest. If you place a box in a tree you should remember to hang it with a piece of rope, so that you don't damage the tree with nails. Never use nails or steel wire on living trees!  

The rope should measure 3 to 4 times the thickness of the trunk of the tree. When you place the box, the rope must be put around the tree-trunk twice. It is important that the rope is loose, so that the tree can grow without the rope damaging the bark. When you have tied the rope you can stretch it by using the box as a weight.  

There should be a distance of 10 -15 metres between each box, and the boxes must be placed so that a cat can't reach them! Do not place the box on a branch, as this will make it easy for a cat or another predator to prey on chicks or eggs. The flight hole should preferably be facing East or North, so that the sun won't be over-heating the box.  

Recording - keeping an eye on life in the boxes:  
You should start keeping an eye on the boxes from the middle of April. Both the Great Tit and the Blue Tit start laying eggs around the beginning of May. There is no guarantee that all the boxes will be inhabited. Note how many of the boxes are inhabited and how many are not.  

You should follow what is happening in the boxes on a regular basis. Note which kinds of birds use the different boxes. How often do the birds visit the box? What do they bring with them? Is it building material for the nest or have the eggs hatched already, so that the parents bring food for the chicks? Which kind of food do the chicks get?  

Pupils that could record how many times the grown-up birds bring food to the nesting box. This could be done in shifts of 10 minutes per person. They can, for example, mark each visit by the birds with a notch in a notebook. Also keep an eye on the weather.  

Further processing:  
When you have completed recording you should process your material. You could, for example, count how many visits the grown-up birds made to the box in a certain hour during each day that you were keeping watch. Were there differences from day to day? Was the weather different during these days? Compare the number of visits at different boxes, where different species of birds are nesting, and look for similarities and differences.  

Background: 
Nesting boxes can replace hollows and holes in trees, and thereby help different species of hole-nesting birds, and they can also be a help to the birds that need to shelter from the weather.  

There has been a general lack of old and rotting trees in the forests during the last decade. Modern forestry techniques have often removed such trees, as sicknesses and fungus are readily hosted in them. This has made it difficult for hole-nesting birds to find suitable nesting-places. This is especially a problem for different species of Tits and Sparrows.  

With the introduction of new flexible forestry techniques in different forests, other interests besides purely economic ones are also being taken into account. It is now also a priority to make room for balanced vegetation and animal life, as well as for recreational activities. The foresters now let some old trees die naturally from the roots, and these trees decompose slowly and are part of the whole life-cycle of the forest instead of being removed prematurely. The old dying and dead trees attract both hole-nesting birds and many different species of insects that can provide food for both birds and other animals.

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