Hibernation/Dormancy Objective: TEKS 9: The student knows that living organisms have basic needs that must be met for them to survive within their environment. TEKS 9B: TSW identify factors in the environment, including temperature and precipitation that affect growth and behavior such as migration, hibernation and dormancy of living things. Background Information: Organisms everywhere, both plant and animal, are subjected to stress from their environment. In order to avoid this, some animals migrate vast distances, while others are just stubborn enough to stay. These animals change their behavior and the habitats they stay in in order to try and reduce environmental stresses. Taking on an inactive state, or dormancy, they have a lower rate of metabolism than normal, which enables them to conserve energy and place few demands on their environment. As animals feel temperatures becoming cooler, and sunlight gets less and less each day, they know it is time to hibernate/go dormant. These same (in reverse: temperatures warming and sunlight getting more each day) factors let animals know when it is time to come out of hibernation/dormancy. Dormancy and hibernation each involve a decrease in body temperature and little body growth. Although bears and other animals are said to undergo hibernation, they are able to wake, move around and eat on warmer days. Some bears even give birth during winter.
Materials: Clear plastic tub toy turtle small twigs, sand and leaves HIBERNATION/DROMANCY CUP: 1 styrofoam cup/student 1 popsicle stick or straw/student hibernating animal pictures (see last pages of this lesson ) To copy more hibernating animal pictures, go to http://www.enchantedlearning.com/coloring/hibernate.shtml Procedure: 1. The class will list ways people get ready for the cold of winter (turn on heat, get warm coats, stock up on food). Ask how animals get ready for winter. (Their answers will help you find out what they already know about this topic.) Tell students, to survive Talk about animals that have their fur grow a thicker more protective coat to insulate them from the cold winter temperatures. Just like animals, people need to bundle up for winter too. You might say, "The bear has a --- coat, Kevin has a --- coat. The fluffy red fox has a warm winter coat and I can wear a red coat too! The fluffy red fox needs a warm winter coat, just like me and you. The frisky gray squirrel has a warm winter coat and I can wear a gray coat too! The frisky gray squirrel needs a warm winter coat, just like me and you.
The old brown groundhog has a warm winter coat and I can wear a brown coat, too The old brown groundhog needs a warm winter coat Just like me and you! 2. Ask Help students learn that the hibernating animal must eat a lot to put on body fat. This helps them survive going for many weeks/months without eating or drinking. Hibernating animals must also sleep without using the restroom. 3. How do we know when winter is over? Changes in temperature, kinds of precipitation (snow/hail/sleet) and the amount of sunlight each day let all animals know when the seasons change. [We will have a lesson on these factors in a future week of study on seasons and weather. But it will help to discuss them at this time as well.] 4. Using some of the pictures on following pages and in Animals That Hibernate, introduce students to some animals that hibernate or go dormant. Once again, point out to students the reasons for hibernation/dormancy are: kinds of precipitation (snow/hail/sleet), changes in temperature, and amount of daily sunlight. 5. Tell students to imagine what it would be like to sleep through the winter. Discuss with heart rate, and breaths per minute. Have students lie down on the carpet and count how many times they breathe per minute. Have them imagine what pulse, which should be anywhere between 80 and 130 beats per minute. Now have the student imagine that his or her heart was beating only 5-10 times experiences. 6. Take a plastic turtle and a plastic see-thru shoe box with lid to illustrate hibernation. Place 1 layer of twigs, leaves, and sand in the bottom of the shoe box --put the turtle in - -then the remaining twigs, leaves and sand on top of him. Make sure students can see the turtle "sleeping" inside. Label the top of the box: S-h-h! I'm Hibernating. Set the box on the counter until Spring, when we will wake him up.
7. Give each child one of the hibernation pictures with its information about the animal. Students will make a Hibernation/Dormancy Cup Puppet. They will present them to the class, telling what their animal does to survive the cold. OPTIONS: A student will keep his animal inside the cup, but tell its characteristics until the class can determine which animal is hibernating inside the cup. OR have students use various materials to make a home/diorama for their animal using boxes, plastic tubs, or other containers. Take them on a nature walk to gather real world materials for their habitats. They may use cotton balls, etc., to simulate snow. Or this could be done at home. Hibernation Sort Play a hibernation sorting game. Using various animal pictures, have students sort the animals into different categories, such as animals that hibernate and animals that do not. After your students study migration, they may make two categories: animals that survive the winter by migration or hibernation. Have students label their categories and paste them onto poster board to display for the rest of the class. Hibernation Skit Divide students into pairs or small groups. Have some students imagine they are tree squirrels and other students imagine they are ground squirrels. Explain that tree squirrels stay awake in the winter, while ground squirrels
hibernate. Have pairs or groups write skits where the tree squirrel describes what winter is like to the ground squirrel. Students can also write skits where the ground squirrel describes what hibernation is like. These skits can be scientific, with students sharing their observations of winter, or descriptive, with students sharing all the funny things humans & animals do during the winter (sledding, caroling, catching snowflakes on their tongue, etc). Students can perform the skits in front of the class. To extend the activity, students can write skits about how other animals survive through the winter. Students may discuss animals that grow thicker fur, etc. Discussion: - How do some animals survive the cold weather of winter? - Do all animals hibernate/go dormant? - Do the hibernating/dormant animals stay in their home habitat or go to another habitat for summer? - How do animals know when it is time to hibernate/go dormant? - Extensions: * Host a Hibernation/Dormancy Day (wear pajamas?), where students share information about hibernation/dormancy with other classes. the end of hibernation. Discuss what happens to animals when they come out of hibernation and what may or may not be different about their environments.
*Bear Caves Use a lunch size paper bag. Cut an arch out from the open end (one side only) This makes the opening for the cave. Let children glue cotton balls all over the top for snow. Photocopy a small bear, let children color and cut out. Glue bear to a craft stick. The bear can go in and out of his cave. ~Submitted by Cheryl's Sweethearts ChildCare *A Bear Hibernating in a Cave Materials needed: 1 small paper cup 1 brown pom-pom 1 piece stiff paper (about 3x5) cotton balls glue Directions: The cup is the cave. Have children tear a small half circle piece off of the cup starting at the cup rim. This is the opening to the cave. Glue pom-pom in center of stiff paper piece. This is the bear. Put glue on the rim of the cup and place it on the stiff paper with the pom-pom inside. Spread glue on the outside of the cup and the stiff paper around the cup. Pull cotton balls to stretch the fiber to look fluffy. Place this on the glue that is on and around the cup. This is snow. Your project will now look like a bear curled up in a cave to hibernate for the winter. ~Submitted by Cheryl's Sweethearts ChildCare * Journal Writing: Pros and Cons of Hibernation Would your child like to hibernate through the winter? Why or why not? Help your child make a pro-and-con chart to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of hibernating. What would your child miss by sleeping through the winter? Where would your child hibernate? How would he or she prepare for hibernation?
Hibernation Songs Tune: Are You Sleeping Bear is sleeping, bear is sleeping In the cave, in the cave. I wonder when he'll come out, I wonder when he'll come out. In the spring, In the spring. Birds are flying, birds are flying In the sky, in the sky. I wonder when they'll come back, I wonder when they'll come back. In the spring, in the spring. (tune Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star) HIBERNATION, HIBERNATION SLEEP ALL NIGHT, SLEEP ALL DAY NEVER, EVER GET UP NEVER, EVER GET UP 'TIL ONE SPRING DAY COMES ALONG 'TIL ONE SPRING DAY COMES ALONG (tune Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star) Sandy Ground Squirrel stows away Acorns for a snowy day Plans to sleep the winter through. One night's good enough for you. So, cuddle on my shoulder, dear; Feel my heartbeat; Mother's near
Hibernation Tune: Allouette Chorus: Hibernation, time for hibernation, Hibernation, time to go to sleep. In the winter, where's the bear?
Mr. Bear Tune: If You're Happy And You Know It Mr. Bear says all he wants to do is sleep Now that winter's here and snow is very deep He has curled up in his den And we probably won't see him Till the spring when all he'll want to do is eat!
ANIMALS THAT HIBERNATE GROUND SQUIRRELS (GOPHERS) Ground squirrels come out of their dens in April and May. Their babies are born about a month later. The babies come out of their homes in early June. The young are active all summer. In September, s temperatures get colder and daylight grows less each day, the gopher knows it is time to hibernate. There is less food to be found, so the gophers go into hibernation. HABITAT: - They can be found in many different habitats in North and Central America, including fields, prairies, grasslands, and even your yard. SHELTER - They dig a burrow, or hole, with many tunnels, openings, and different rooms ( called chambers ). If a predator ( enemy ) comes in one hole, they can escape out another hole. FOOD - The Richardson's Ground Squirrels store some food during hibernation. They wake up every 10 to 14 days and have a snack.
Some BATS are hibernators. As temperatures get colder and daylight grows less each day, bats know it is time for hibernation. In the fall, large flocks of Big Brown Bats find shelter for the winter. The bats hang upside down and pull their wings and tails close to their bodies to keep warm. Their body temperature drops and they seem to be dead. Bats hibernate from October to April, waking up once a month. Bats like to hibernate in warm buildings and are able to squeeze through a hole the size of a thumb. Bats are the only main hunters of night-flying insects. One bat can eat between 600 and 1,000 mosquitoes and other insect pests in just one hour. They catch and eat them as they fly through the air. FROGS hibernate at the bottom of streams and ponds where the water does not freeze. They need to keep their skin wet, so they don't go far from water. They eat fish, small mammals, other amphibians, and insects. The frogs that live in colder climates hibernate. As temperatures get colder and daylight grows less each day, frogs will begin to hibernate. Some dig holes or find cracks in logs or rock areas. Their heartbeats and breathing slow down and their bodytemperature reaches close to the outside temperature. Some frogs hibernate under water. Frogs hibernating under water don't breathe air. They get their oxygen from the water through their skin.
Woodland toads live on land--in woods, fields, and gardens. They find shelter under leaves and dirt. As temperatures get colder and daylight grows less each day, toads will hibernate with other toads in winter. Hibernation begins in October when they find a safe, underground place to stay. They live on body fat they stored in their bodies during the fall. Some toads have hibernated for as long as three years. During the winter they freeze, but thaw out and wake up in the spring. Snakes: As temperatures get colder and daylight grows less each day, snakes look for caves, holes in the ground, or cracks in rocks to sleep in. A layer of dirt on top of their den helps keep them warmer or cooler. Snakes travel to one spot where hundreds of them can hibernate together to stay warm. When nights are cool, they will go out in the daytime, and lay on a rock in the sun until they warm up. and it needs less oxygen and energy. Its body temperature falls and breathing slows down. Snakes eat more food before they hibernate so that they can live on stored fat. These animals hunt for small animals to eat. They swallow their food whole. They have no teeth for chewing.
LADYBUGS: These great little garden helpers are called ladybugs. But they are not bugs - they are beetles. Ladybugs can be found in gardens, trees, shrubs, flowers, forests, weed patches and fields. Ladybugs fatten up for winter by eating plenty of aphids and pollen. These hungry little eaters eat small insects such as whitefly, mealy bugs, scales, mites, bollworm, broccoli worm, tomato hornworm and cabbage moths. As temperatures get colder and daylight grows less each day, Ladybugs will hibernate. They spend the winter in a state of sleep, or dormancy. When Spring comes, in the southwestern U.S., so many of them gather on the ground that it looks like a blanket of red and black.
Grizzly Bears spend most of their time looking for food. The grizzly is North America's largest omnivore, meaning it eats both plants and animals. Most of grizzly's food is green vegetation, wild fruits and berries, nuts, and bulbs or roots of certain plants. Grizzlies also eat a lot of insects, sometimes tearing rotten logs apart and turning over heavy stones in search of the insects or their larvae. For meat, they prey on elk, moose calves or smaller mammals. Grizzlies also eat fish, such as trout and salmon. Bears eat and eat in the late summer and fall, so that they can store fat before going to their dens. As temperatures get colder and daylight grows less each day, Grizzlies begin looking for a place to dig their dens. They live in wooded mountain areas. Grizzlies often dig their dens under the roots of a large tree, in caves, or river banks. They will make the opening of their dens very small so other animals cannot get in. Grizzlies go into their dens in the fall. Their body temperature drops a little and their heart rate slows down. Their tiny cubs are born in the dens during the winter season. They can hibernate for as long as 100 days without eating or drinking. When they come out in the spring, bears are very thin and very hungry.
SKUNKS live in many different kinds of habitats. Skunks move into other groundhog, rabbit, or fox dens. They like to live near streams and ditches. Skunks do not hibernate for the entire winter. They take long naps when there are many days of cold temperatures. During these days of dormancy, they are able to live off the fat they stored in their bodies. During nicer weather, when the temperature rises a bit, they do come out and find food to eat. Skunks are omnivores, and will eat almost anything. In the wild they eat mainly insects, worms, fruits, berries, nuts, and some plants. Skunks dig up ground-nesting bees and eat almost everything they find in the nest. Skunks will catch mice, snakes, toads, and other small amphibians and mammals they come across. Skunks also eat dead animals and remains left by foxes, coyotes, wolves, and other hunters. Skunks will spray any animal that scares them. Their spray smells very bad and is hard to get off.
CHIPMUNKS like to live in the woods or in low shrubs. Chipmunks often have their winter burrows under trees. They usually live alone and build their nests underground. Chipmunks sleep in a nest made of grasses, leaves and plant fluff, which helps keep them warm in winter. During late summer, chipmunks gather seeds and nuts. They are able to carry large amounts of food in their cheek pouches. The food is stored in the den under their nests. As temperatures get colder and daylight gets less each day, the chipmunk knows it is time for winter. Chipmunk goes into its burrow to stay. Their heartbeats and breathing slow down and their body temperatures drop really low. With their bodies slowing down so much, the chipmunk needs less food to stay alive. These dormant times might last a few days, a week, or more. During winter, Chipmunks are able to wake up, eat some stored food, and then go back to sleep.
BEAVERS live in Canada and northern United States. They can be seen all the time in Maine. They also live in some parts of Europe and Asia. They build their homes underwater in rivers or streams. Their noses and ears close when they go in the water. Beavers sometimes dig burrows in river banks. If the water is not deep enough, the beavers will change the land. They make dams across streams and that keeps the water in and makes it deep for the beaver to live in. Beavers live in small huts called beaver lodges under and above the water. Their huts are made of twigs, and sticks and mud. During the winter beavers seal their dams with mud. Beavers fill the outside of their hut with mud so the winter wind and rain can't get in. The beavers build a room in their lodge that is above the water and then cover the floor with soft grass. They sort of hibernate there in the winter. But they do not hibernate all the time in winter. When they need food they wake up and go out through one of their tunnels. Sometimes they store the food in the lodge. After eating, they can go back into hibernation in their lodge.