Ungulate Predator Race game

Make a game board from a piece of 8 ½ x 11 piece of paper by drawing a grid of one inch or so squares. I did this on the computer by inserting a table 7 cells wide, each cell four or five lines tall.

Cut pieces of colored scrap paper to represent groups of ungulates. I used brown for the open area ungulates, black for the forest ungulates, and red for the predators.

Three players per board.

Each player colors a group of 3 to 7 of connecting cells/squares green. These green areas represent forest areas. Now color a green one square straight path from one forest area to another and to the top and bottom of the paper. These paths can not line up with each other and must be straight.

The large ungulates graze in the open or non green squares. They are too large to escape into a jungle which has many obstacles they would have to go over or under, most likely breaking a leg, therefore becoming dinner.

There are small ungulates, some as small as a medium size dog, or smaller. Most do not have any head gear. They are just the right form and size to dive into the thick of a forest or wooded area to escape predators. Their food is more specialized such as berries, flowers, buds, This type food is not as abundant as is the grass of large grassy open areas, so these ungulates to move as individuals, not as a heard.

All animals can move three spaces each turn.

Predators can move can move one space into any green area. Predators can move in any direction.

Large ungulates can move one space into any green area.  but they can only move in straight lines

Small ungulates can move anywhere and in any directions in the green areas, but can not move more than one space beyond the green

Animals do not have to move.

A predator captures by landing on the same space as an ungulate is on, at which time the predators stops to eat. This means if the predator captures in a one or two space move, then the predators turn is over

Players move three large or small ungulates, or one predator.

Large ungulates must move together.

Small ungulates do not move as a group.

Ungulates start first.

The first player to move the most surviving  ungulates from on side of the game board, and off the opposite side wins,

Each game boards can be saved and added to a newer one. As the total size of the game board grows so can the size of the herds each player moves per turn. Predators can also change from individual hunters to multi member group of hunters. As the number of predators working together grows then the number of ungulates captured in a single turn must go up to allow the predators to eat the food they need to have the energy to hunt again. As the game board area grows then number of spaces a ungulate herd needs to move changes, so that they can move to an area that is not yet eaten. This is up to you to decide. 

Remember the rules I provide are just a guide, which you can change to fit the facts you learn, as you read about different animals and how they live.

Tsunamis learning activity

Tsunamis in simple form a splash of water.

Materials

Square or rectangle shaped Tub 

Water

Objects to put or drop into water.

Set of dominoes, the more the merrier

Ping Pong ball or other light weight ball

12 inch by half inch piece of paper per student

one or two bricks or large flat rocks

Non water based markers

I first started learning about tsunamis while doing dishes at mom's command. So should you be asked to do dishes, it is not a chore but a chance to observe small tsunamis in action.

OR with a parent or guardian watching.

On a nice warm or even hot day take a tub that can hold water outside and drag out the water hose to a open area that can be flooded with water. Find other objects to drop into, float on, or push the water in the tub around with.

First fill the tub with water all the way to the top. This is the ocean. Now drop in a large object. What happens? The large object pushed water aside as it entered the full tub of water. That water had to go some where. That somewhere was out of the tub. No matter how careful you are, if your tub of water is full as can be. Anything else added will cause a flood of some sort and water will move from the tub to the area around it. 

How many different ways can you force water out of the tub? Don't refill the tub until  you can't splash any water out at all. Then try this activity again, this time placing dry objects around the tub. Can you form a wave that will get only the objects on one side wet? Two sides wet? Three sides? How do you control your waves?

If you have some way to make the surface of the water in the tub level with a surface that you can place different objects on, try the same activity above again.

With a tsunami some sort of land movement has caused a section of land to shove push on a section of water.  that section of water pushes on other sections of water and so on.

You can see how this happens if you line up the dominoes so that if one falls over it pushes the next, which pushes the next. If you set up the dominoes so that they run into a wall the wave stops. What happens to the last domino? what happens if you set up the dominoes so that each one barley touches the next when it has fallen? Set up the dominoes so that they are close together and place the ping pong ball at the far end of the line of dominoes then make the earth quake that starts your tsunami. What happens to your ball? Set up the dominoes so that each domino just touches the next. Set the ping pong ball at the end and start your Tsunami. What is the difference? Why?

The damage a Tsunami does depends on how much water is pushed when the Tsunami is first started. How hard that water is pushed, and how long in needs to travel before it hits something.  

Give each student a piece of paper 12 inches long by half an inch wide. Have them make a circle with the paper. A Tsunami moving through the ocean is much like this loop of paper. Make a small tab at each end of the paper by folding about half an inch upwards. Form the loop again on a table, holding one tab with one hand and sliding the other tab along the table top. The tsunami is changing shape. If this were a ball of water it would spread out. Move your piece of paper so that it is about 6 inches from a wall and do the same thing. Here there is more water than can spread out. The flood will be thin as thin or shallow as the paper is because it has a huge place to spread out on. Have one student hold the tabs closer together and then an other push down on the top of the loop to make a table like form. In this model the Tsunami has come to a smaller area so if it made a flood taller than the first model where the paper was had room to lie flat.

 Stretch the piece of paper out on a flat surface or table and tape one end of the paper down. Slide the free end along the surface the table towards the taped end. Gently keep moving the free end up and over the taped end. How does the shape of the paper change? Why? 

Back to the tub of water. Measure and draw a line about two or three inches up the sides of the tub.  Add water to this line. 

This time add a glass of water to the tub. Pour the glass in slowly. What happens. Return the level of water to be even with the line. Pour different amounts at different speeds. Watch happens.  

Can you control how the water acts in the tub? Can you make it splash? Can you make the water rise fast but with out a splash?

Build an island with the bricks or rocks in the center of the tub. Add water half way up the island, mark the water level on the side of the tub. Add water again, and observe what happens. If you place your island in a corner or near the side of the of the tub how does this change what happens to your island and the town on it?

Now we have learned a bit about Tsunamis do you think you would want to build a home right down near the ocean? As for me I'll build high and drive to the beach. Then park with the front of my car pointed away from shore, and pin the car key to my shirt!

Earthquake learning activity for tots and students

Earth quake movements learning activity and game.

 

Materials needed

Large open play area

Foot long pieces of crape paper streamer, one for every two students.

Empty breakfast cereal boxes ideally one per student.

Cardboard tubes from inside paper towels or tubes of paper rolled up and taped two per student.

Small pieces of cardboard one per student

Tape or glue

 

There are at least four types of ground motions earthquakes make. The first called a P Wave, for primary wave. The P waves can be demonstrated by taking a normal step forward and a small step back, normal step forward and small step back. You expand and contract while moving away from a starting point. P waves can move through liquid.

 

The next type wave is an S wave or secondary wave. This wave can be demonstrated by walking forward while moving your body from side to side as you move forward. Step left then step right as you move forward along a straight line your body rather stiff. S waves do not travel through liquid.

 

Of the more destructive waves produced are the Love wave and Rayleigh waves, named for the men that discovered these elements of an earthquake. These waves travel along the surface of the ground. Both get weaker as the move away from the epicenter or starting point of the earthquake.

 

The love wave also moves from side to side but this time you should try to snake your body from side to side as you walk forward so that with one step your waist is to the left while your feed and head are to the right.

 

With the Rayleigh wave, the ground moves as an ocean wave moves with an added side to side element. So you will be moving your body up and down so that your head, if it could, would draw a circle in the air as you take steps from side to side.

 

Have students practice these movements while walking across an open play area.

 

Allow students to comment on how easy or difficult it is to do each of these movements, and what happens to their bodies while they are doing them. Then add the empty cereal boxes. Have students try walking normally while balancing the boxes on their heads. Then add the earthquake wave movements. Allow students to comment on what happened. Where did the boxes fall in relation to their body movements? Have the students hold their hands open flat with their palms up place the cereal boxes on their hands and repeat the earthquake wave motions. In all these  exercises students must stop once the box drops to the floor.

 

Collect the empty boxes.

 

Once they have master these movements have them each decide on an earthquake wave movement to use. Or to make sure all waves are present number the students from one to four and those students with number one are P waves, those with two are S waves, Those with three are Love waves and those with four are Rayleigh waves. Have students hold a one foot piece of crape paper streamer by the ends between two students. Stretch out so that the streamer is stretched a bit, making a continuous line of students connected by the streamers. Student streamer, Student streamer.

 

On your word have the students start moving away from the start of the earthquake or the earthquakes epicenter. Students must stop moving once the crape paper is ripped. Pick up the pieces of crape paper streamer and toss the shortest and hold the longest between students and repeat the game.

 

Discuss what happens and why.

 

Have the students first hold a paper tube and place a piece of paper on the tube, then move across the play area using one of the earthquake movements. What happens?

 

Give students a second paper tube and have them attach it in any way they want to the first tube and repeat the earth quake movements. Which structure survives the longest? Will it survive all wave movements?

 

Why? Can students build a better earthquake proof structure?

 

Think of Japan and other places that have earth quakes. What do you think should be done to help reduce damage from earthquakes or things that happen because of earthquakes?

Ungulates, food, and predators game

Materials

large open play space

masking tape

crape paper streamers

pieces of colored paper about three inches square

Player Skills 

color recognition

counting skills

Ungulates are animals with hoofs. We think of these animals as horses, cows, dear, sheep, goats, bison, even pigs. There are some members of this family you would not think of as a hoofed animal when you see them, such as elephant,  aardvark, hyrax, tapirs, rhino, and hippos.

Ungulates must by nature eat and run. To have the energy they need and because the food they eat is at times dry, stringy and not full of easy energy, they must eat a lot. So they spend a great deal of time eating, and to survive, thinking of running.

Although most are large animals, there are still other animals out there thinking dinner, when they see ungulates eating.

Game preparation

Mark a space in the center of the play space equal to about one fourth the total play area with the masking tape. If you are going to have to remove the tape make sure to fold over the ends a bit to give you an easy tap to grab. This area is where the best food grows, so where our ungulates want to eat. Now mark a space at the outer edge of the play space as the safe zone. This is were the ungulates will run to to be out of the predators reach.

Place the colored pieces of paper in the food area and mix them up well, these are different types of food.

One of the players is the hungry predator the others are hungry ungulates.

The ungulates are given a length of crape paper to attach to their waist.

To catch an ungulate the predator must grab the crape paper.

Players must not bump into each other, which is not the natural thing they would do, but for safety sake a rule to this game. If there is bumping then those players are out for two or three rounds.

The predator stands by the instructor and the ungulates are allowed to go eat. When the ungulates are eating the instructor tags the predator and the predator goes on the hunt and tries to grab an ungulate's crape paper. The other ungulates not wanting to be eaten scatter to the save zones.

If the predator catches an ungulate, the predator becomes an ungulate and the ungulate a predator. The game is played until all have become a predator or the instructor thinks its best to quit. 

The ungulates that make it to the safe zone count how many pieces of food they have. Those that have the most win that round.

After a few rounds of ungulates eating any type of food, up grade the game. In life some ungulates prefer  a certain type of food, and even have teeth specialized to chew this type of food, so now the ungulates must pick one color of food that is the only food they can pick up.

The next time the predator hunts,  the ungulates that have the most of their colored food win. If an ungulate has eaten a different color, oh dear they must sit out a  round. For who knows that bit of food may have been the death of him or her!

You can allow the predators to hunt in prides, packs, or families. This will of course effect the health of the herd.

Some ungulates are shaped just right to shove into a forest thick with fallen trees to escape the predator. I'm thinking of the tapir. If there is time set up a ring of obstacles such as empty boxes to allow the ungulates to scatter between. Predators are allowed only through a few special marked spaces to get to an ungulate.

The game continues as before. 

There is nothing that says the ungulates can't have a watcher in the herd that helps the herd keep and eye on the predators but this is something the ungulates should think of themselves.  Should this happen the watcher should also have to pick up food. They need the energy to escape so a number of pieces of paper should be decided on that the watcher must pick up before the herd flees to safety. 

Experience is a good teacher.

A bit of guided observation by the players of this game may help in understanding the life of an ungulate in the wild.

Have fun!