Voices in the night
Description:
An owl hoots…You hear a strange, unidentified rustling noise in the brush
not too far away…eerie shadow surround you as the moon shines through the waving
branches—These are often things that happen to us at night and many times are
things that scare us. But with an understanding of these sounds and sights,
using all your senses to explore these nocturnal occurrences one will find
that the nighttime world is a fascinating place.
Theme:
When using all of your sense, there are many fascinating things that you can
discover in the night forest.
Objectives:
The student will be able to:
- Feel comfortable with the night and its activities.
- Explore the night using all their senses—night vision, touch, smell, hearing,
and their sixth sense.
- Describe two adaptations animals have in order to survive at night.
- Find out what nocturnal means as well as the types of animals are present
on the island.
Introduction:
Just as the quarrymen had to walk home in the dark at night without candles
or flashlights, we will do the same. As we continue to walk it will get darker
and darker, and we will have to rely on the same things the workers did for
many years — sense other than just sight. But if people here on Stockton Island
could do that every night, why are we sometimes afraid of the dark? Is it too
many scary movies, or is it because we can't see of fear the unknown? Do you
think that animals are afraid of the dark? Probably not, have any of you heard
the word nocturnal before? What does it mean? (define). What are some animals
you might find here on Stockton Island ? (Owls, loons, bats, moths, and bears).
Why are they nocturnal? (They have more protection and less competition for
food). What adaptations do they have? (better eyes, use other senses). Tonight
we are going to discover many things using all of our senses.
Body:
Vision
- What colors do you see? Pass around colored squares and ask them to guess
what color they are (using a flashlight, let them see the square). We cannot
see colors in the dark because they are formed only with light. We are
slightly colorblind at night and so are other animals. Colors toward the
red side to the spectrum are less visible than colors toward the blue end.
- We have receptor cells - rods for detecting light and cones for detecting
color. Night animals have more rods to take in more light at night.
Smell
- How many of you have a dog or cat at home? What have you noticed about their
noses? They are wet to attract smell better. That is why scents are enhanced
when it rains. They also have longer noses with more scent cells. Olfactory
cells-humans
- Smell musty logs, pine needles or leaves, soil, or other thing you can
find
- Wet noses and smell more of the same
Touch
- Stop and touch items in the feely bag, describe them and have the group guess
what they are.
- Feel the ground with their feet, ask them to look for changes on the ground
as they are walking (pine needles, leaves, water, muddy areas).
- Touch in animals-whiskers I cats, feathers on birds, amphibian skin, reptiles
jawbone that detest vibrations.
Hearing
- Listen for animals moving, water in lake, spring peepers, winds, etc.
- Cup hands around your ears- fox ears, also try opening your mouth-it opens
up the eustation tube between the ear and throat and enables you to pick
up noises better. Also try closing your eyes.
Sixth sense
- Does anybody know what it is? Using all your sense to “feel” something. There
will be two people hidden- one with camouflage and one with colors-see if you
can find both-THEY WIL NOT JUMP OUT!-sent one at a time-wait at the beach.
Back at the beach
- Lighthouse presentation
- Bat and Moth game (Sharing Nature With Children,
Joseph Cornell)
- Watcher in the Woods Game
Conclusion:
Humans used to have well developed night senses. How often are you out using
those senses at night? (cars, street lamps) Rarely are we in a place where
there are no lights. How about during the day? Do you use your senses then?
We are going to be asking you to use your senses in the next couple of days
so “keep your fox ears on and your noses wet!”
Materials:
- Bag
- Color squares
- Bandanas
- Various objects