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Backyard Explorer 3 to 5 / Week 06 / Friday
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Week 06 · Signs and Safety

Friday

Match the sign to the animal
// Reading the clues that mammals, reptiles and amphibians leave behind
⏱ about 15 min

Friday: Match the Sign to the Animal

Rocket spreads the week's notebook pages across the workshop bench.

"Tracks, fur, a shed skin, a frog chorus," he reads. "That is a lot of clues."

Raven draws three columns and labels them mammal, reptile, amphibian.

Nova projects each clue in cyan, one at a time. "Sort them," she says. "Say why."

Rocket slides the shed skin into the reptile column. "Scales grow, skin does not!"

Three groups, three sets of clues

Each animal group has its own structures. Those structures leave their own signs.

Fur caught on a fence can only come from a mammal.

A dry, scaly shed skin can only come from a reptile.

Soft eggs in a pond or a chorus of croaks points to amphibians.

Tracks are trickier. Mammals, reptiles and amphibians all leave them.

Look for details. Claw marks, a tail drag line or webbed toes each tell a different story.

GroupSkinEggs or babiesSigns you might find
mammalsfur or hairmost are born livetracks with toes, fur tufts, scat, chewed shells
reptilesdry scalesmost lay tough eggsshed skin, wavy trails, basking spots
amphibianssmooth and moistsoft eggs in watercalls, egg clumps, tadpoles
WHICH GROUP LEFT IT?
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
A tuft of gray fur on a fence nail.
A long dry skin, in one piece, shaped like a tube.
A clump of soft, clear eggs in a still pond.
A loud chorus of croaks at dusk.

Structures and survival

Every structure helps an animal survive, grow or raise young.

Fur keeps a mammal warm. Scales keep a reptile from drying out. Moist skin lets a frog breathe.

Claws dig a burrow. A shell is a shield. Long back legs make an escape leap.

When you find a sign, ask two questions. Which structure made it? How does that structure help?

StatementTrue or false?
Fur on a fence is a mammal sign.?
Amphibians leave dry shed skins.?
Only mammals leave tracks.?
A frog call is a sign you hear.?
WHY THIS EXERCISEFur means mammal, dry shed skin means reptile, and all three groups leave tracks.
An animal with smooth moist skin that starts life in water is an ____.
An animal with dry scales is a ____.
An animal with fur or hair is a ____.

Plan your sign survey

Tomorrow you will walk a short route and record every sign you find.

A survey is a careful search of one area. You write down everything, even if it is a mystery.

Tonight, plan the route with your grown-up. Bare dirt, mud, fences, logs and water edges are good spots.

Copy this log into your notebook. Leave room for at least six signs.

SignWhere I found itObservation (what I saw)Inference (my guess)
Try it
Walk your planned route once with your grown-up. Do not stop to record yet.
Point out three spots where a sign might show up tomorrow.
Safety first
Signs are for looking, never touching. Not scat, not shed skin, not eggs, not fur.
Never touch a wild animal. Never lift logs or rocks yourself.
Stay with your grown-up, stay back from water and wash your hands after.
Which column of your log holds your guess about which animal made the sign?
WHY THIS EXERCISEThe inference column is for your guess. Keep it separate from what you observed.
Draw a map of your survey route. Mark the three spots where you expect signs.

Your survey plan is ready! Tomorrow is Explorer Day: the sign survey.

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