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Iganyana Bush Camp
Iganyana Bush Camp
Lesson Plan
Activity Title: Meet the Dogs
Goals:
To give students an opportunity to see painted dogs.
To introduce students to the natural history of the painted dog.
To help students understand why painted dogs are endangered.
To instil an understanding and appreciation of the following Educational Themes from the Iganyana Bush Camp Curriculum:
Educational Themes:
KEY CONCEPTS
3) Each species plays an important role (its niche) in the natural community to which it
belongs (its habitat).
4) Each species is adapted to successfully exploit its niche.
5) Painted hunting dogs and other endangered species usually become threatened due to
habitat destruction or unsustainable utilization by people.
7) Extinction has far reaching effects on ecosystems.
8) Sustainable populations of each species have a right to exist in healthy habitat. People
are obliged to protect endangered species and natural communities, not only for future
human survival, but also as intelligent stewards of the biosphere.
SECONDARY CONCEPTS
12) Human overpopulation is a leading root cause in environmental degradation. Family
planning is crucial to the future health of the biosphere.
13) Human and environmental health is directly affected by individual actions.
14) Everyone benefits from a healthy, well-managed environment that is utilized
sustainably.
Objectives: By the end of the activity, students will:
- Attempt to correctly answer the questions in the Dog Discovery Sheets number 1 and 2 in the Student Logbook.
- Participate in a activity group discussion about the above questions with an emphasis on the importance of dog conservation.
- Draw a reasonably accurate picture of a painted dog, with its physical adaptations labelled.
- Work in a small group to devise a plan to save painted dogs from extinction.
- Participate in presenting the above plan to their activity group.
- Participate in a discussion critiquing the plans of other subgroups.
- Propose what they themselves could do to help preserve painted dogs.
EEO Preparation:
Inform the head dog keeper of the times for this activity in enough notice for him to pick his off days accordingly.
Perhaps, for the students’ visits, the dogs should be in one of the two sections of the small enclosure that are nearest to the keeper housing. If this is best, request that the dogs be situated accordingly.
Check to make sure that there are no dogs for rehabilitation/release in the rehab facility or that there is any reason why it should be closed to bush camp groups. This situation could change at a moments notice. Ask the head keeper to alert you as soon as possible if there is a change. If there is a sick dog in the clinic, it may still be possible for bush camp groups to visit the site from the side opposite the keeper housing, so as to avoid disturbing the dog’s convalescence. In such a case, tell the guides to bring the students through the EE exclosure directly to that side, without approaching the clinic. If the rehab facility is closed altogether, make an alternative plan. One option may be for the head keeper to speak to the students on the activity deck veranda, especially if there are dogs in the big enclosure that he could attract to the veranda.
Be sure the head keeper has a laminated map showing past and present painted dog ranges. Work with the head keeper to ensure that his presentation covers not only care of the dogs, but also many of the dog facts the students will need to complete their dog discovery sheets.
Make sure the "Meet the Dogs" pocket folder, with the four laminated colour photos of painted dogs, is available to the camp guides.
Make sure at least one activity group set of PDR Children’s Booklets is available to camp guides. Decide and inform guides whether these booklets will be distributed or loaned to students.
Coordinate orientation and closure places for each activity for each guide/group so that two guides are not planning on using the same activity area. This activity requires the conference area for orientation and closure.
Guide Preparation:
At the end of the previous activity or meal, announce to your group where to meet you. Coordinate this meeting place with the other guides in advance, so no two groups are meeting at the same place. The dining room would be an ideal place to meet for this activity, since you will be following the big enclosure fence line to the rehab facility.
Be sure to have a pocket knife with you to sharpen pencils as needed.
Acquire the "Meet the Dogs" pocket folder and enough PDR Children’s Booklets for your whole activity group from the bush camp office, or the last camp guide that led the activity and leave them in the Dining Room for when you return with your group.
Activity Outline
Check Students
Describe Activity
Walk to Rehab Facility
Head Keeper Presentation
Student Questions
Draw Live Dogs, if visible
Logbook work in small groups
Return to Dining Room
Draw Dogs from Picture, if dogs were not visible
Label adaptations on drawings
Review logbook answers
Devise Conservation Plans in small groups
Present Conservation Plans
Orient Students to Next Activity
Student Orientation (Introduction):
Make sure all the students in your activity group are present and that everyone has their logbook/pencil.
Activity Orientation: "We are now going to visit some of the painted dogs that are here at the CCEC’s rehabilitation facility. Some times painted dogs are injured or orphaned in the wild. Can anyone guess what usually happens to wild animals that are injured or orphaned? Because they are such an endangered species, we intervene rather than let nature take its usual course. Often injured painted dogs can be healed and quickly released back into the wild. Sometimes, the painted dogs must be kept for a long time, depending on their situation."
Activity Description: "We are going to walk along the fence line of the big enclosure, until we arrive at the rehabilitation facility. During this walk, we will be inside the Educational Exclosure. There are no big animals in this area, because the area is surrounded by a fence. As always, however, we should watch where we step and look out for snakes and fence support wires. As we approach the facility, I will ask you to be very quiet. The first part we will pass is the clinic for sick dogs, so silence is especially important there. But even beyond the clinic, we must remain quiet, so as not to disturb the painted dogs any more than necessary. These dogs are not tame. They are not pets. We cannot touch them. They will be on the other side of a fence from us. Some of these painted dogs are quite used to people, however, and may approach us close enough for us to see them well through the fence. The head keeper will decide whether or not it is best for the dogs for us to see them. He will tell us about painted dogs and how we care for them at the rehabilitation facility. We can also ask him questions to find out more about painted dogs in general. When we are through asking questions of the head keeper, we will return to the bush camp the same way we left."
"Does anyone have a question before we start walking?"
Delivering the Lesson:
Ask the students to stay together as you lead them to the rehab facility. Lead the students along the big enclosure fence line, directly from the dining room.
Halfway to the facility, remind the students to be quiet.
Lead the students to the keeper housing area and introduce them to the head keeper. Encourage the students to ask questions of the head keeper.
During the head keeper’s presentation, maintain student focus, if necessary, by calling on students (by name) who appear distracted, and asking them questions in a friendly manner.
After head keeper’s presentation is over and the students have asked all their questions, consider asking the head keeper some additional questions that pertain to answers the students will need to complete their two Dog Discovery Sheets.
If it is possible for the students to see the dogs, it would be ideal for this to happen after the head keeper’s presentation, so that the anticipation of seeing the dogs may help keep the students focused.
If it is possible to see the dogs for a prolonged period of time, instruct the students to try to draw the dogs in the box on the Dog Discovery Sheet #1.
Break the students into groups of four and ask them to turn in their logbooks to pages ____ and ____, if they have not already done so. Instruct them to discuss the questions as a group and answer as many of the questions as they can. Tell them that if they are sure they are stumped, they may ask the head keeper or yourself further questions. However, at this point it would be best to ask the students questions to help them arrive at the answers themselves, rather than just telling them the answers. An alternative would be to do this part back at the dining room and use the PDR Children’s Booklets as a source of answers. Depending on the availability of the booklets and the distribution plan, you may be instructing the your group not to mark in the PDR booklets at this point.
Once all the groups appear to have had adequate time, escort them back to the dining room and instruct each group to set together at a table.
If it was not been possible to see the dogs long enough to draw them adequately, pass out a painted dog photograph to each group and instruct them to complete their existing drawings, using the photographs as a guide.
Once the drawings are complete, instruct the students to label painted dog physical adaptations on their drawing.
Conclusion:
Review the answers to the two Dog discovery Sheets, by calling for volunteers to provide the answers, or assigning answers to groups. Encourage discussion about some of the answers, as appropriate. Be sure to stress the last few points of sheet #2 about the importance of dog conservation. Introduce the concept and importance of family planning as a conservation tool.
Once the sheets have been reviewed, ask each group to devise a plan to save the painted dog from extinction. Tell them each subgroup will present their plan to the rest of the activity group. Give them fifteen minutes to create their conservation strategies.
After each group presents their plan, congratulate them on the strong points of their plan. Tactfully encourage discussion from the whole activity group about each plan in such away as to avoid being overly critical.
Conclude by reiterating the importance of dog conservation and asking for volunteers to propose what they themselves could do to help preserve painted dogs.
Collect the PDR Children’s Booklets, unless the EEO has instructed you to distribute them at this point. There may not be enough for distribution, or the plan may be to pass them out to all the students at another time.
Tell students what they will be doing next and where/when to meet for the next activity. Remind them to bring their logbooks and be on time.
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