Choose Learning Type ▼

Tracking the Food Chain

Activity

Can You Spot the Clues of Predators and Prey?

Go on a nature walk around campus. Stay super quiet and look everywhere—up high, at eye level, and low to the ground. Can you spot prey, like a fly in a spider’s web or small bones in scat? What about signs of predators? Maybe a feather, claw marks, or a hidden web? Keep your eyes sharp and see who’s hunting whom!

Science Seed

An ecosystem is a community where living things (like animals and plants) and non-living things (like water and rocks) work together. Predators are animals that hunt other animals, and prey are the animals that get hunted. This relationship keeps things balanced. A long time ago, Texas had many predators like mountain lions, bobcats, and wolves. But when non-Indigenous humans settled here, many predators were hunted, and their numbers dropped. Without enough predators, animals like rodents and insects can become too numerous, upsetting the balance in the ecosystem.

move to the next activity

earn Badges

Badges can be earned through hands-on experiences within each of the 16 branches of science, or “Science Slices.” You can earn a badge in each branch of science by doing four activities in these categories. We also encourage participants to keep a Nature Journal to record their memories, and to express themselves creatively through writing or drawing after each activity. We recommend that each child (and parent if they’d like) write or draw in a journal after each activity, with expectations of your children that match their age (the goal is self-expression, not perfection).

Explore Geraldine Palmer Elementary

join Families in Nature

It is our vision to inspire all families to fall in love with nature and foster the next generation of conservationists. Becoming a member of Families in Nature will give your family the opportunity to have adventures in nature, experience field science, develop as youth conservation leaders, and make memories that will last a lifetime. Memberships are free for everyone.

Who are we?

Families in Nature works to create opportunities for nature connection with the purpose of sparking a deep love and desire to protect, conserve and restore the environment. Our mission is to connect children and their families to nature and to each other through time spent learning, playing, and volunteering outdoors. It is our vision to inspire ALL families to fall in love with nature and foster the next generation of conservationists.

This project was made possible by HEB.