Animal Detectives - looking for clues

Source:

Wee Green Fingers Fun Pack (SNH); Craigellachie National Nature Reserve education pack (SNH); Natural Leaders (NTS & SNH)

Time

20 minutes or longer

You will need

Relatively undisturbed area of natural habitat such as woodlands, grassy area or riverside edge. 

Did you know?

You are much more likely to find evidence of animals than to see animals. This activity can make the children suddenly aware of all the unseen animals around them which rely on the area they are in, for food and shelter.

Before the activity

Discuss with the class the kind of clues you use to find out where people are or what they have been doing, without asking or seeing. For example:  You might get home and find a bike leaning against the house - so you know you have a visitor, if you recognise the bike, you can guess who the visitor is. Or your mum or dad might come into the house and know that you are home, before they see or hear you, because they see your school bag. How do you know a horse or a cow has been along a road? What kind of evidence do police collect at a murder scene?

Your local ranger may be able to accompany the class on the walk and to help with finding 'evidence' and interpreting the evidence. You could also take some tracks and trail identification books with you.

The activity

Walk as a group through your chosen area looking for clues and evidence of unseen animals. Look for feast sites, murder sites, homes, toilets and tracks! Check the ground for droppings and earth mounds or holes, check the bushes and trees for nests, signs of browsing, bark damage, check fallen cones and nuts and cherry stones for nibble marks. You might find some mammal hair caught on a fence or sticky sap on a tree, or fur, or feathers..... Lots of examples of what to look out for are given in the Looking for Clues work sheet (see downloads).

Suggested Follow up

Help with a squirrel or other mammal survey in your local area. See Additional Information for contacts.

Ask the children to write a report on their visit, from the point of view of one of the animals detected in the area. For example they could be the deer, squeezing through the fence wire and leaving a tuft of hair on the barbed wire, rubbing against a tree or browsing a rowan seedling, and then discovering that people (the class) had been in the wood. How did the animal know, what did it see and smell?

Downloads

• Looking for Clues – suggestion worksheet
• Wee Green Fingers Fun Pack  see the Animal Detectives card for younger children.

Additional Information

• Scottish Squirrel Survey
• Mammal Society 
• Bat Conservation Trust

Curriculum Links

Science - main

Age Range

1, 2,3