MINIPAGE ACTIVITIES MEET MANY STATE AND NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS. THIS WEEK'S STANDARDS: STUDENTS DESCRIBE DIFFERENT CLIMATES IN TERMS OF PRECIPITATION, TEMPERATURE, AND THE TYPES OF PLANTS AND

MiniPage activities meet many state and national educational standards. This week's standards: Students describe different climates in terms of precipitation, temperature, and the types of plants and animals associated with each. (Geography: Physical Systems) Students understand the characteristics of organisms: their needs, structures and behaviors. (Science: Life Science)
Activities:
1. Cut out words and pictures from the newspaper to make an American Prairie collage.
2. Draw a picture that shows three ways that prairie plants conserve water.
3. Find at least five items in the newspaper that would have helped you if you had settled on the prairie.
4. How is the prairie important as a source of (a) food for small animals, (b) habitat for small animals, (c) food for humans, and (d) shelter for humans?
5. Use resource books and the Internet to learn more about life in the prairie during the mid- to late 1800s. Use these questions to guide your research: Why did people go west and settle on the prairie? What tools and equipment did they use? What foods did they eat? What hardships and dangers did they face?