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THE AMERICAN BISON TODAY |
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ACTIVITIES:
1. Tell someone in your family about the problems park rangers face with buffalo herd at Yellowstone Park in the winter (pgs. 27-29). Then think of possible solutions that would be good for the ranchers, park rangers, and buffalo. Write up a proposal that could be read to a park planning meeting.
2. Write a poem about what it would be like to witness thundering herds in the 1700's or to be in a bison roundup. Try to capture the sound and sights.
3. There are many cowboy songs about the buffalo, such as, "Home on the Range." Learn one of these songs and sing it to the class. Bring in a copy of it, as well.
4. Make a buffalo mask, like the natives did, for religious ceremonies and dances. You can make it out of papier-mâché.
5. List some interesting facts about the buffalo on cards and make these for an exhibit.
6. When the Plains Indians hunted buffalo, they tried not to waste any part of the animal. Find out how the Indians used the meat, hide, bones, sinew, horns, hooves, and hair of the buffalo. Make a chart that shows each part of the buffalo and all of its uses.
7. Make a poster of the ecosystem food chain of a plains area. First draw a sun at the top. Then draw an arrow to the plants, grasses, and trees that grow there with solar energy. Then draw the bison eating the grass and so on. Involve other animals that lived there, such as, coyotes, ravens, and grizzly bears.
