ark xplorer ges 10-12 i! ould you like to become a ark xplorer just like rankie ox? omplete the activities in this booklet to discover more about Manitoba s rovincial arks and the great ways for you to explore the outdoors. nce you are done, fill in the back page and return the book to become an official ark xplorer! My name is am visiting rovincial ark hat are your three favourite things to do in a park? 1) 2) 3) art of:
hat s up apiti? f you re ever in pruce oods in the fall, you might hear a high scream-like noise coming from the woods. o, there aren t goblins. hat noise is made by elk. uring the fall, male elk make a bugling sound that says to other male elks, his is my territory and you need not bother to come here. hey are also hoping that it will attract a female elk. hey also grow antlers every year. hey lose their antlers in the late fall or early winter and start growing a new pair in the early spring so that by the fall they are very large. he elk is related to the white tailed deer. he aboriginal people called the elk, wapiti. ross out any letters that appear more than once in the puzzle below and find out what wapiti means. V V M X J M J M earch in the and lowers ain actus rass abitat izard kink nvironment lope ind Juniper une ognose rairie nake itches room and pruce ater overed agon Q V M J X Q X J V ords to ind he pirit ands are over 10,000 years old. rnest hompson eton was one of the first uropeans to explore, write about and draw pictures of some of what he saw while hiking in the dunes. rom the list below, find the words of some of what you might see hiking in the dunes today. ow many other words can you find? f you need further assistance in completing these activities, look for a park interpreter at park programs and interpretive centres for help. 2
ight on eptiles! here are many different reptiles, amphibians and fish that make pruce oods their home. hese animals are called ectotherms because they can t maintain their body temperature. heir internal temperature will be the same as the temperature surrounding their bodies. hat s why you often see turtles or frogs sitting on a log in the sunshine to try and get warm. an you fill in the letters to find out the names of these ectotherms that live in pruce oods? ature s ood actory he mixed grass prairie here is made up of many different beautiful prairie plants. reen plants are special because their leaves contain chlorophyll, a green substance that helps the plant make food. tudy the diagram below to learn about the plants food factory. ach sentence below explains part of the diagram. rite the numbers from the diagram beside the matching sentences. 6) ood 4) eaf 3) nergy 1) arbon ioxide 5)xygen 2) ater and Minerals ater and minerals from the soil are carried to the leaves through the roots and stem. arbon dioxide from the air enters the plant through the leaves. nergy from the sun is absorbed by the chlorophyll in the leaves. he leaves use the sun s energy to produce food from carbon dioxide and water. he food produced travels through the stem to all parts of the plant. ome of it is used by the plant; the rest is stored. he food-making process releases oxygen into the air. ow read the sentences in order. n the blanks below, write the underlined letters as you come to them and discover the name of the food making process. 3
ot to ot onnect the dots to find one famous ectotherm that lives in the pirit ands. hen feeling threatened this ectotherm rolls over and plays dead! his adaptation helps keep it safe from predators that only eat live meat. reat to at here are many animals in pruce oods that only eat plants. hey are called. V here are also some animals that eat other animals. hey are called. V here are animals that only eat insects. hey are called. V here are some animals that eat both plants and animals. hey are called. MV n pruce oods every animal has their own unique food preference. ircle the animals that are plant eaters. ut a square around any that are meat eaters. Make a triangle around any that eat insects and draw two circles around those that eat both plants and animals. 4
Many ays to et ere hen ake gassiz drained, leaving behind ake innipeg, ake Manitoba and ake innipegosis and many, many rivers and streams, the aboriginal people traveled either by foot or by canoe. he early explorers followed their example. s more people came to settle another form of river transportation came about. teamboats showed up on the ssiniboine iver helping people get to this area along with their cattle and other farm animals to start a new life. elow is a picture of the lpha, one of the last steamboats to make its way up the ssiniboine iver before she ran aground on a sand bar in the pruce oods area. ou can read more about the lpha and see the actual prow that came from the boat by visiting the xhibit uilding. raw a line from the lpha to the items that you think settlers would have brought with them to settle in this new land. omewhere ver the xbow tems: crate of chickens tent trunk cow boards seeds horse tools furniture ox potted plant xbow lakes happen because aul unyan s giant blue ox, abe, pulls the rivers straight and leaves her big hoof prints behind... aul unyan and his blue ox may be a tall tale, but oxbow lakes do look like giant horseshoes. hen a river has been around for a long time, like the ssiniboine, it starts to meander, winding around and around until it almost makes a complete loop. ometimes this loop gets cut off and it creates a lake shaped like an oxbow. wo oxbow lakes you can see here in pruce oods are iche Manitou and Marshs ake. n the oxbows below, unscramble the words to learn what you can do in an oxbow lake. weda hfsi laspsh enoac wsmi 5
here he irds re ere in pruce oods there are many different abitats (homes) for many different kinds of birds. here is forest, wetlands, and prairie. ake a hike on any trail in pruce oods ark and discover the birds that are there. ou can borrow a bird book and/or a pair of binoculars from the ark entre if you like. ist two birds you either saw or heard. * arning: ird atching can become habit forming. t can lead you from your backyard to places all over the world looking for birds! ook ho s oming to inner? ere in pruce oods we have to remember that this is just your temporary home. here are others that live here year round. hey may become uninvited guests to your campsite. ill in the blanks to find out what you can do to keep unwanted critters away. tore your cooler, cooking utensils and in the trunk of your car. ut garbage in its proper. he ower of emmican n 1767 the first ine ort was built along the ssiniboine iver. his fort was a place where local ative people could trade furs for iron pots, steel knives and other items that were difficult to get. ventually, the most important trade item that the natives had was pemmican. emmican was dried bison meat that was pounded into a powder and mixed with fat and berries. he voyageurs who were traveling farther north and west used pemmican because pound for pound it was more nutritious than fresh meat and wouldn t spoil during the long canoe trips. 6
ark xplorer rossword 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 cross 1. pruce oods has many different types of habitat including forest, wetlands and. 5. hen trying to identify a bird sometimes listening to its can give you a clue. 6. he aboriginal name for elk. 9. hat reptile in pruce oods plays dead when feeling threatened? 10. n animal that only eats meat is called. 11. ome settlers arrived here traveling on this. own 1. lants make their own food. his process is called. 2. iche Manitou ake is one of these. 3. ou keep your campsite clean so you don t invite this animal for dinner. 4. eptiles, amphibians and fish are all. 7. he voyageurs carried this with them because it is a highly nutritious food. 8. he hognose uses this to burrow under the sand to either keep cool in the summer or keep warm in the winter. eed a int! ll the answers are hidden in your booklet. sk an nterpreter! o you have a question for a park interpreter about a plant that you saw during your visit? end us your questions and we will answer them and send it back with your completed booklets. My question is: 7
heck off the boxes of each activity you have completed. eturn the completed booklet to receive your official pin and certificate. (our book will also be returned to you.) id you enjoy doing this activity book? f so, you can do other Junior aturalist / ark xplorer books at the following locations: hiteshell pruce oods irds ill ecla rand each ark xplorer hecklist of ctivities: My hree avourite hings... earch in the and hat s p apiti ight on eptiles ature s ood actory ot to ot reat to at Many ays to et here omewhere over the xbow here the irds re ook ho s oming to inner he ower of emmican rossword sk an nterpreter ark xplorer: dult: ompleted booklets can be returned to campground offices, park interpreters or mailed to the address below: ark xplorer rogram c/o pruce oods ox 900, arberry, Manitoba 0 00 hild s ame ddress ity rovince ou are almost an official park explorer! ostal ode manitobaparks.com