Teacher workshop- "Bright Lights, Big City" March 30th

Teacher workshop- "Bright Lights, Big City"

Sarah Foltz, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech

When: Saturday, 30 March 9am-1pm.

Location: Price House, 107 Wharton St. SE, Blacksburg. Parking in our driveway, on Wharton St., and within 2 short blocks on Clay St. @ spout spring parking strip & Church St. in the public parking lot. Admission is free. Engaging for all ages.

Urban areas are built for people, but animals make their homes here too. These activities explore differences between urban and non-urban habitats, the kinds of animals that move to town, the challenges (and opportunities!) of urban living, and how animals adapt to their new home. These activities are intended to help participants understand how human activities can alter habitats and thereby effect how and where wildlife lives.

Relevant Virginia SOLs

LS.9 c) Investigate and understand how organisms adapt to biotic and abiotic factors in an ecosystem.

Key concepts include adaptations that enable survival within a specific ecosystem.

LS.11 b - d) Investigate and understand the relationships between ecosystem dynamics and human activity. Key concepts include change in habitat size, quality, or structure; change in species competition; and population disturbances and factors that threaten or enhance species survival.

LS.13 c) Investigate and understand that populations of organisms change over time. Key concepts include how environmental influences can lead to diversity of organisms.

BIO.7 b) Investigate and understand how populations change through time. Key concepts include how environmental pressures impact the survival of populations.

BIO.8 d) Investigate and understand dynamic equilibriums within populations, communities, and ecosystems. Key concepts include the effects of natural events & human activities on ecosystems.

Activity 1: Urban vs. Rural

Participants will compare and contrast photos of urban and rural areas. They will choose specific characteristics of these habitats from a supplied set, and decide which habitat each characteristic best describes.

Activity 2: Who Lives Where?

Cards representing a variety of different animals, as well as clues about those animals’ natural history and resource needs, will be provided. Based on the information provided, participants will assign each animal to an urban or rural habitat.

Activity 3: Urban Challenges and Opportunities

Participants will match common characteristics of urban habitats to their potential effects on wildlife. They will then decide whether each potential effect is helpful or harmful to animals.

Activity 4: City Bird, Country Bird

Birds are one of the most visible and common groups of urban wildlife. Participants will examine data from research that compared urban and rural populations of birds and determine the differences between these groups. They will then explore possible long-term impacts of these urban-related differences on wildlife populations by matching the difference they’ve identified to potential effects on a provided list.

The SEEDS – Blacksburg Nature Center

With Contributing Partners:

Town of Blacksburg Dept. of Parks and Rec. & VT Dept. of Biol. Sci. Outreach

107 Wharton St. SE PO Box 824 Blacksburg VA 24063-0824 • (540) 552-3914 • discover@seedskids.org