Additional Considerations and Options

Additional Considerations and Options

  • Use native plants whenever possible.
  • Incorporate xeriscaping concepts to reduce demands on water and other natural resources, and to help foster a stronger concern for water conservation in Kansas.
  • Incorporate feeding stations to bring wildlife into view where they can be identified, observed, counted and recorded.
  • Use bird nesting boxes to observe behavior and reproductive activities.
  • Utilize brush piles to provide cover and nesting sites for wildlife.
  • Consider weather stations to help correlate weather to habitat conditions and animal behavior.
  • Construct an area with animal tracks pressed into clay or cement to help students learn to find and identify tracks in the wild.
  • Incorporate trails and interpretive signs to offer students a chance to learn about wildlife by preparing material.
  • Consider time capsules to relate current wildlife issues to future students.
  • Consider fencing, if needed, to ensure protection of the site.
  • Include teachers, administrators, maintenance staff, students, parents, and community resource people in the planning, implementation, and maintenance of the site and development of learning activities.
  • Apply learning activities that are site-specific and encompass many disciplines, such as science, math, art, writing, and social sciences.
  • Utilize or modify site activities from KDWPT Wildlife Education Service (WES) learning activities and from programs such as Project Learning Tree (PLT), Project WILD (PW), and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) activities, along with those offered through the Kansas Association for Conservation and Environmental Education (KACEE), Project WET (WET), and various other workshops.
  • Establish a Wildlife Reference Center (WRC) in the school to house WES and other curricular materials, field and lab equipment, texts, references, field guides, etc.