1. Oh Deer! A game to learn about limiting factors

2. Information to know before we start:
What are the most important things that animals need to survive?
Food
Shelter
Space
Water
In today’s game we will be learning about three of these: food, shelter and water

3. Game rules I will divide you up into 4 groups – numbered 1, 2, 3, or 4
When we go outside, all 1s should stand together on one side of a line and the rest of 2,3 and 4 will stand together in one group on the other side of a line
1s are deer, and 2,3 and 4 will be the different parts of the habitat (food, water or shelter) that an animal needs to survive
Each part of the habitat has a special symbol: PRACTICE
Food – hands on stomach
Water – hands over mouth
Shelter – hands over head like a point / upside -down v – shape
*When we get outside to the plaza by the library, I will show you where to stand

4. Game rules continued…
The goal is for the deer to get the ‘resource’ they need to survive: MATCHING
The deer must run to the other side and match up with the habitat part they are looking for. You must high-five when you match-up.
After high-fiving, run back to the deer side with your resource. The habitat person becomes a deer.
Do not tell anyone what resource you are looking for.
If a deer cannot find a matching partner, it ‘dies’ and they are recycled to become part of the habitat group
Each round I will be keeping track of the number of deer that are still ‘alive’, so we can create a graph of our results and see the changes in the deer population
We are going to play about rounds

5. Changes to deer population 8A

6. Changes to Deer Population 8B

7. Finally…what happened?
Answer these questions as your Science Journal for today: 1) From the game, what are some limiting factors that may affect the population? 2) Do wildlife populations stay the same or do they fluctuate (change a lot)? 3) What do you think would have happened if I introduced a ‘disease’ (someone that could catch you when trying to run back to your deer side) ?