THE TRUE STORY OF NICKEL, The Baby Buffalo Who Thought He Was A Dog Thematic Teacher’s Guide: Science By Nancy Savage and Andrea Krull, Jefferson County School District, Ralston Elementary Patterns and Illustrations by Kathy Parks 1. Draw a Venn diagram of overlapping circles to contrast buffalo and bison. Resource: Bison Bits #1, #30 @ www.nickelbuffalo.com. Nature’s Children: Bison by Laima Dingwall. Grolier, Conn. 1986. 2. Draw a Venn diagram of overlapping circles to contrast horns and antlers. Resource: Bison Bits #11, #32, #33 @ www.nickelbuffalo.com. A First Look at Animals with Horns by Millicent Selsam & Joyce Hunt. Walker and Company, New York. 1989. 3. What animals are bison related to? Resource: Bison Bits #34, #35 @ www.nickelbuffalo.com. Nature’s Children: Bison by Laima Dingwall. Grolier, Conn. 1986. 4. What do bison, mountain goats, muskox, bighorn sheep and Dall’s sheep have in common? Resource: Bison Bits #36 @ www.nickelbuffalo.com. Nature’s Children: Bison by Laima Dingwall. Grolier, Conn. 1986. 5. Name the two types of North American bison. Resource: Bison Bits #37 @ www.nickelbuffalo.com. Nature’s Children: Buffalo by Dan Doyle. Grolier, Conn. 1997. 6. How do bison communicate? Resource: Bison Bits #42 @ www.nickelbuffalo.com. Buffalo Sunrise, The Story of a North American Giant by Diane Swanson. Sierra Club Books for Children, CA. 1996. 7. How does the snowplow nose help the bison in winter? Resource: Bison Bits #39 @ www.nickelbuffalo.com. The Bison by Carl Green and William Sanford. Crestwood House, MN. 1985. Nature’s Children: Bison by Laima Dingwall. Grolier, Conn. 1986. 8. What is a beefalo? Resource: Bison Bits #29 @ www.nickelbuffalo.com. Buffalo, The American Bison Today by Dorothy Patent. Clarion, New York, 1986. 9. How much did Nickel weigh? How big do the largest bison get? How big were prehistoric bison? Resource: Bison Bits #25 @ www.nickelbuffalo.com. The Bison by Carl Green and William Sanford. Crestwood House, MN. 1985. 10. What were the uses of bison by Native Americans? Today? Resource: www.nbabison.com has a complete listing. 11. Why must the herd be kept to only 30 bison? Resource: Bison Bits #49 @ www.nickelbuffalo.com. 12. The squirrels hidden on each page are Abert’s squirrels. They live near ponderosa pines. Name other kinds of squirrels and where they live. 13. The NY City tourists recognized the breeds of dogs that Cruiser and Mickey were on page 12. Name other breeds of dogs. 14. Find a book on Colorado wildflowers and identify the ones in the picture. Use a wildflower guide to find columbine and Indian paintbrush. What wildflowers grow where you live? Draw pictures of them. 15. Give an example of imprinting, as on page 7. Why is it important for newborn animals to stay with their mothers? Resource: American Bison by Ruth Berman. Carolrhoda Books, Inc., MN. 1992. 16. What are the four compartments of a bison’s stomach? Resource: Bison Bits #43 @ www.nickelbuffalo.com. American Bison by Ruth Berman. Carolrhoda Books, Inc., MN. 1992. 17. Before the early settlers, who were the enemies of the bison? How do bison protect themselves? Resource: Bison Bits #50 @ www.nickelbuffalo.com. The Bison by Carl Green & William Sanford. Crestwood House, MN. 1985. 18. Look at the animal hoof prints on pages 3, 12, 22, and 23. Find and draw the footprints of other animals in the book (e.g., pages 24 and 32): rabbits, moose, deer, elk, bighorn sheep, skunk, fox, raccoon, mice, birds. 19. Marty got milk from the zoo’s mother buffalo (page 7). How does the zoo help people with their animals? In what ways do zoo animals help people in the community? 20. Nickel slid across the kitchen floor because of the way his hooves are made (page 11). How are hooves made? Name other animals with hooves. Resource: A First Look at Animals with Horns by Millicent Selsam & Joyce Hunt. Walker and Company, New York. 1989. 21. What is a propane tank (page 15)? Why do people need them? 22. What is a sweat lodge? Why do you think Nickel was named ‘Big Medicine’ (page 22)? Resource: Bison Bits #48 @ www.nickelbuffalo.com. The Buffalo Hunters by The Editors of Time-Life Books. Time-Life, VA. 1993. 23. What insects do you recognize on page 25? Name 10 insects where you live. 24. The acreage for Nickel’s herd supports 30 bison on 750 acres. Why is it important to limit the number of wildlife on land? 25. What price do animals pay when they interact with humans (page 28)? Look for other examples in the newspaper or wildlife magazines. 26. What do you think Marty meant when he said, "Wildlife belong in the wild" on page 18? 27. Name five things on page 20 that tell you the season of the year. 28. Cut out a silhouette of Nickel. Tape bison facts, or Bison Bits, on the back and ask each other questions (click here for pattern). Copyright Savage Parks Press 2000. All rights reserved. NEXT (GEOGRAPHY)..........