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Habitat Hike

Take a hike through a local outdoor space. As you walk through nature, take in your surroundings. What sorts of animals live in this environment? Where do they live? Find some animal homes and habitats, and carefully study them.

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Plan

  • Where are you going to go on your hike? When will you go on your hike?
  • What weather do you expect? How will you dress?
  • What should you pack?
  • How will you make sure that you Leave No Trace?
  • How will you make sure that you do not disturb any animal habitats?
  • How will you find and identify animals and their habitat?

Do

  • On your hike, keep your eyes peeled and stay on the lookout for different animals. Where do these animals live?
  • When you spot an animal shelter or home, take a closer look. What do you see? What kind of animal do you think lives there?
  • Animals change to better survive in their environment. These changes are called adaptations. For example, ducks have webbed feet to help them swim, and beavers have very strong teeth to cut through trees. Looking at each animal shelter and habitat, what adaptations do you think the animal has?
  • What animal shelters might be hidden from you? What signs of these hidden homes do you see?

Review

  • What do you know now that you did not know before?
  • How do animals build their shelters?
  • What differences did you notice between the different shelters you saw? The different habitats?
  • Where do you live? What is your habitat made of?
  • If you had to build a new habitat, what materials would you use?
  • What would it look like?
  • What did you like about this adventure? What did you not like? How would you do this adventure differently?
  • What elements of STEM were in this adventure? Science? Technology? Engineering? Mathematics?
  • Remember to submit your activities on our Scouts for Sustainability Take Action Map

Keep it Simple

Take it Further

  • What are some problems that are hurting animal habitats near you? Garbage on the ground? Trees being cut down? Learn about a problem affecting habitats near you and brainstorm a solution to help solve it. Then, as a team or Section, put your solution into action and help save habitats!