Educator - Prairie Resources

Konza Materials Available for Educators. The Autumn Calf

  • The Autumn Calf
    • A children's book (grades K-5th grade) based on a true story about a bison calf that was born at Konza Prairie in the autumn rather than in the spring when most bison babies are born. This calf's survival is in question because winter is coming and it hasn't had very much time to grow and gain the weight it needs to survive the long, cold winter.
    • Concepts covered: migration, animal life cycles, seasons, prairie plants and animals, use of fire to manage a prairie.
    • Email Konzaed@ksu.edu to request your free copy of The Autumn Calf.
  • Curricula based on The Autumn Calf - may be used with the book or separately:

Konza Prairie weighs each of the bison in the herd every year. These worksheets work with actual bison weight data and have the students answer questions about the bison herd by looking at the data set. Level: Elementary and Middle-school. Makes visualization of data easy.

      • Bison Weight Activity. Answers
        • Topics covered: Math, Science, Agriculture
        • Concepts covered: animal care and husbandry, growth of animal bodies as they age, weights as an indication of age and gender, averages, use of numbers to indicate the health of an animal and a group of animals.
      • Bison Weight Over Time. Answers
        • Topics covered: Math, Science, Agriculture
        • Concepts covered: subtraction, averages, maximum number, minimum number, difference in animal bodies between genders, scientific hypotheses.
      • Bison Weight Data

 

  • Where Has All The Water Gone? Water worksheet

Water is essential for life on the prairie. Water usually arrives on the prairie in the form of rain during the spring and summer thunderstorms. The water in the creek at Konza Prairie comes from two places: runoff of water from the hills after a rain and secretion of water from underground springs. This worksheet introduces the student to the importance of water on the prairie and takes them through a story of the creek and investigates why the water in the creek seems to be getting lower over time.

Where Has All The Water Gone?

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