Autumn Series #3
Mammal Study: Horse
Inside Preparation Work:
1. Read pages 274-280 in the Handbook of Nature Study (Lesson 67). Please note that this section has references to evolution and preview for appropriateness for your family. (Alternate book selection: Album of Horses by Marguerite Henry.) Choose a few of the suggestions from Lesson 67 to focus on when you have your Outdoor Hour time observing horses.
2. Anna Botsford Comstock suggests reading an introductory story about wild horses. She lists The Pacing Mustang from Wild Animals I Have Known. I found this online for you: The Pacing Mustang
Ideas for Comparing a Horse and a Dog (or other mammal)
Please see Autumn Challenge #2 for more explanation about comparing and contrasting as part of the Outdoor Hour Challenge.
• Compare the head and neck.
• Compare the length of the legs and how they walk. How many toes are there?
• Compare the coats.
• Compare the teeth if you are able to see the horse’s teeth.
• Compare the placement and the shape of the ears.
• Compare the tails and how they are used.
Outdoor Hour Time:
Use you Outdoor Hour time to observe a horse or other mammal. This time of year many families visit farms to pick apples or pumpkins and the farm may also have a horse to observe. Look for horses as you drive your normal route through your local area. You may be surprised to spy a horse to observe, even from a fence line. You will be successful with this challenge if you do the preparation work and then use your time to observe any mammal up close. Keep in mind the suggestions from the lesson for observation as well as the comparison ideas above.
If you do not find a horse to observe, you can by all means observe another mammal and look it up in the Handbook of Nature Study. Try to compare whatever mammal you observe to another mammal, gaining some practice at your observation skills.
Follow-Up Activity:
Discuss your mammal observations and then make a journal entry. You can use the horse notebook page that accompanies the Autumn ebook or a blank page in your nature journal. If you observed another mammal, you can use this free mammal notebook page from a previous challenge.
Links for horse related information:
Don't forget to enter the special Backyard Birds DVD giveaway! See this entry for more details.
