Litter Critters

After searching for small animals living in the ground, use the OBIS Litter Critter Wheels to "match" the catch.

Group Size: Small or large

Suggested Age: 10 and older

Time: 45 min for the activity + 30 minutes if the groups constructs the Litter Critter Wheels

Consider…

• Site: Select a site with a thick layer of natural ground litter. Make sure it is moist and harbors a diversity of animals. Be aware that these areas may be as simple as a neglected pile of leaves against a building or most unmannered areas.

• Safety: Select a site that is not likely to harbor organisms that might be dangerous to humans. Demonstrate how to search under rocks or logs. To search under logs, roll the log toward you so the any animals under it will have an escape route away from you. To search under a rock, lift the opposite side of the rock, so that animals can escape away from you. Stinging or biting insects such as centipedes, large ants, and spiders should not be handled with bare hands. Participants should scoop them up with an index card or cup and observe the critters in a tray or plastic cup.

• Prep: Construct some litter shakers and Litter Critter Wheels (or have the kids do the wheels)
• Materials: Pencils, crayons, transparent tape, scissors, white-bottomed containers, plastic cups, bug box and/or hand lenses, 3 X 5 cards

Focus question: 
How many different types or organisms can you find in the leaf litter? What are the characteristics of these critters?

Learning outcomes:

• Leaf litter is home to many types of organisms.
• Litter critters are usually small, brown, and fast moving. Usually most are insects, but slugs, snails, isopods, centipedes, and other critters can be found in the litter.

Summary:
This is a good activity to introduce kids to this habitat that most are probably not familiar with. The participants search the litter at the site, capture animals they find in the litter, and match the animals to the different body part of their animals with the body parts found on the Litter Critter Wheel. The kids compare the animals they have found.