Grade 3 Lesson: Predator and Prey Interactive Role Play
Living organisms exhibit great diversity, can be categorized, and interact within their ecosystems. Observe both living and non-living entities in your local environment, and recognize First Peoples’ perspectives and knowledge as valuable sources of information.
Please review full curriculum in the PDF at the bottom of the page to gain full understanding of the lesson and activity.
Grades: 3
Subjects: Science
From the Syilx perspective, the tmixʷ (all living things) and non-living things that co-exist within the natural world are deeply connected. There are webs of interconnected relationships that are shaped by people, plants, animals, the land, the air, and the water. This web of interconnections provides the context in which individuals, families, and communities strive to maintain balance and harmony with the natural world.
Part One: What are Predator and Prey Relationships?
Predator-prey relationship: an interaction between two organisms of unlike species, in which one acts as the predator that captures and feeds on the other organism that serves as the prey.
In the natural world, predation is a form of population control; therefore, when a number of predators is in decline, the number of prey should rise and vice versa.
Predator: organisms that survive by preying on other organisms for food.
Many predators stalk, capture, hunt, and eventually kill their prey. Examples include: a lion preying on a gazelle, a grizzly bear fishing for salmon, and whales consuming millions of microscopic planktons.
Prey: the organisms being hunted and eaten by predators.
Examples: the gazelle being hunted by the lion, the salmon caught by the grizzly bear, and the plankton being consumed by the whale.
Part Two: Factors Influencing Predator and Prey Relationships
Human development: Human communities, presence, and development alter the quality and availability of species’ food resources and habitats.
Climate change: global warming and climate change alter the quality and availability of species’ food resources and habitats.
Natural selection: the process through which organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring.
Adaptation: Physical or behavioral traits or changes that make an organism better suited to its environment.
Camouflage: a method of predator avoidance, defense mechanism, or tactic that organisms use to disguise their appearance, usually to blend in with their surroundings in the environment.
Part Three: The Interconnectedness of Lynx and Snowshoe Hare
Although lynx are highly adaptable and wide ranging carnivores, their lifecycles are highly dependent and connected to the snowshoe hare. In fact, about 80% or more of a Lynx’s diet consists of snowshoe hare. However, when hare densities are low, lynx will prey on other species such as red squirrels, grouse, voles, ungulates (sheep/caribou) and other carnivores (red fox, marten, mink, and even other lynx). Lynxes prefer to survive off of their own fresh kills, but will eat carrion if there is limited food resources available.
Approximately two years following a decline in snowshoe hare population, lynx populations will enter a period of distress. Consequently, without adequate nutrition provided by the snowshoe hare, lynx will experience poor physical conditions, increased home range distances, decreased productivity, smaller reproduction rates, decline in offspring survival, cannibalism, and starvation. The interconnected relationship that exists between lynx and snowshoe hare is demonstrative of the complex roles and networks that exist within our ecosystems, while simultaneously serving as a reminder of our responsibility to its biodiversity.
Part Four: Interactive Role Play Activity
Setting the stage for the role play activity: After providing context on predator-prey relationships and the interconnectedness between lynx and snowshoe hare, ask the students to consider the following: What type of relationship do you think lynx and snowshoe hare have? What other living things does lynx have relationships with? What other living things does hare have relationships with? Do these relationships intercept?
Introduce the roleplay activity by explaining to the students that we are going to take on the perspectives/roles of lynx and snowshoe hare. The activity will develop our understanding of their behavior, characteristics, and survival within the context of their habitat, as well as develop a deeper understanding of predator-prey relationships.
Discuss some ways or strategies that a snowshoe hare may use to avoid being eaten (i.e., camouflage, being fast, hiding in underbrush, eat their food in a safe location, etc.)
Establish game rules and safety expectations.
Setting Up the Space
- Set up the game area or the “habitat” in your school yard or gymnasium, or in an area that is free of obstructions with cones (approximately 30ft by 40ft).
- The habitat needs to be divided into two equal sections or habitat zones (i.e., the prey habitat and the predator habitat.)
- On the predator habitat side, place 4 to 5 hula-hoops as “safety zones” for the prey, which mimic the protection of camouflage.
- Throughout the predator habitat, place 30-40 “food resources” (dodgeballs, pinnies, or other small cones) to represent food that the prey will want to collect as they navigate outside of their own habitat.
- Randomly assign 75% of your students as prey, and 25% as predators (i.e., 15 students as prey and 5 students as predators). Distinguish their roles with different colored jerseys or name tags.
- Before starting the game, acknowledge the territory you are on (i.e. Syilx Okanagan territory) and discuss the significance of having the opportunity to gather, learn, and play together in this place.
Playing the Game
Round 1 (5 minutes)
- Have predators and prey start off in their own habitats (on their side).
- Start the round.
- Some prey will be caught by predators as soon as they cross over into their habitat, others will collect food resources (note: prey may only bring ONE food resource back to their habitat at a time), and some students may seek refuge in the “safety zone” hula-hoops.
- Both predator and prey need to collect at least 2 food resources (i.e., prey need to collect the physical food resources and bring them back to their habitat; predators need to tag 2 prey and stand with them outside the habitat zones until the round is complete).
- Before moving onto the next round, ask students what made some predator/prey successful? (i.e., using camouflage (safety zones), being fast (natural selection), being sneaky (strategy).
Round 2 (5 minutes)
- This round will be played exactly the same as the first, but only students who survived the first round will be able to play. Predator and prey that did not survive the first round will be asked to stand on the sidelines, and will now observe and record behaviors on their observation sheets (see attached).
- All food resources are returned to the predator habitat.
- At the end of the round, the observers on the sidelines will share their recordings out loud for all students to record on their own sheets.
- Ask the students:
- What made some predator/prey successful?
- How were the predators impacted now that there is less prey? (i.e., have to work harder and compete for food)
- How were the remaining prey impacted now that there is less prey in the habitat? (i.e., easier to find food since there is more available)
Round 3 (5 minutes) – Final Round
- Before starting the round, reduce the food resources available to the prey (perhaps a forest fire destroyed a significant amount of the vegetation in the habitat, or the area has been overgrazed or developed).
- For the final round, allow all students to return to the game.
- Feel free to select new predators or keep roles the same.
- After the round, ask the students:
- How did the limited food resources impact prey’s survival?
- How can human’s negatively impact habitats?
- What are the consequences of these actions?
Part Five: Observation Sheet and Reflection
- Once students are out of the game (starting in the first round), they will begin observing behaviors, characteristics, and factors of predator/prey relationships within the context of the roleplay activity.
- Since they were just a part of the process, students now have an opportunity to take the “outsider” perspective and to think critically about the complexity of these relationships.
- Since not all students will get out in the first rounds, the students that started observing and recording in round 1 can help others fill in their sheets as they join the sidelines (this demonstrates a collective experience of place, community, and shared learning).
- When concluding the final round, review students’ responses and observations as a class. This will provide an opportunity for students to fill in the blank sections on the sheet, as well as allow students to share and gain new insights as a community of learners.