Burrowing In with Burrowing Owls (4-6)

The burrowing owl is a unique grassland species, whose Canadian population has declined by 90% since the 1990s. The owl is listed as endangered due to several threats that result in high juvenile mortality and low migration return rates. Through a variety of hands-on activities, we will learn about the burrowing owls’ habitat, diet, and head-starting project that the Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo has devised to recover burrowing owl populations. Students will reflect on the question “How can we improve our environment for burrowing owls and ourselves?” while acting as ‘conservation researchers’ for a day to learn some of the conservation techniques that are involved in saving this species from extinction.

Length: 90 minutes
Program times: 10:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m.
Maximum students: 32
Cost:

• October-March: $240
• April-June: $295

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Curricular Connections

Grade 4

• Living Systems:
  • Find and classify examples of local plants and animals based on appearance, habitat, and structures.
• Earth Systems:
  • Investigate conservation practices in natural and human-made areas.
  • Discuss the interconnectedness between human use of parks and conservation practices.
  • Describe examples of personal actions that contribute to conservation in daily life.

Grade 5

• Earth Systems:
  • Explain how climate can affect human and other animal activity.
  • Examine how weather conditions and animal behaviour can be used to recognize weather patterns and cycles.
• Energy:
  • Observe living things and objects in flight.
• Scientific Methods:
• • Discuss technologies that provide scientists with evidence that cannot be directly observed using the human senses.

Grade 6

• Living Systems:
  • Locate and responsibly examine a local ecosystem in nature using appropriate materials and tools.
  • Examine ways that plants and animals rely on each other to meet their needs.
• Earth Systems:
  • Describe possible effects of climate change on land, plants, humans, and other animals.

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