E.C.O.: Becoming Snowshoe Hares

On Wednesday, we wrote and drew in our E.C.O. journals, telling about what we know and what we want to learn about snowshoe hares. Then, on Thursday, we went out to the woods for a lesson about snowshoe hares and the adaptations that help them survive during the winter in Vermont.  

First, we tried to jump like snowshoe hares.  We learned that hares can bound up to 12 feet in a single leap and that they have been clocked running up to 30 miles per hour on ice!  We discussed how their hind feet are covered in fur and how they can spread their toes apart to increase the surface area of their feet.  These special features allow them to walk on top of snow when many other animals sink into the deep snow. 

Next, we played a predator/prey tag game as we became hares and their various predators, such as foxes, coyotes, and owls. 

 

 

For our main lesson, we learned about how snowshoe hares change colors which allows them to camouflage themselves in their habitat during different seasons.  Students worked in small groups, taking turns being a brown snowshoe hare, a white snowshoe hare, or a predator. The "hares" hid their fabric hares somewhere in their "territory".  Then, the predator had to try to find the hares. Groups kept track of which hare was easier to find. Students discovered that in the late fall, there were good places for both the brown and white hares to be camouflaged, such as on the snow, under or near a fallen tree, and in an area with lots of smaller trees or branches.

 

 

We also saw some real snowshoe hare tracks in the snow!