State of Illinois Illinois Department of Natural Resources Prairie Primer Prairie Primer The exercises and activities included in this guide are designed to help teachers familiarize their students with the prairie and open habitat resources of Illinois. Although the materials are best suited for students in grades four through eight, most of the activities can be easily adapted to other grade levels. Note to Teachers Students will need to record their answers to the questions and activities on a separate sheet of paper or in another format. Some of the pages are suitable for copying. Teachers in Illinois have permission to copy the pages for use with students in the classroom. They may not be used in any other manner or converted in any way without the written permission of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Equal opportunity to participate in programs of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) and those funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other agencies is available to all individuals regardless of race, sex, national origin, disability, age, religion or other non-merit factors. If you believe you have been discriminated against, contact the funding source’s civil rights office and/or the Equal Employment Opportunity Officer, IDNR, One Natural Resources Way, Springfield, IL 62702-1271; 217/785-0067; TTY 217/782-9175. Prairie Primer © 2020, Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Printed by the Authority of the State of Illinois • 08/20 • DNR-ED-210010 • web Scientific Names A scientific name is the official name for each italicized. Often, it tells you something about the organism. It is assigned after careful research and organism or someone who studied it. Listed below is made up of two parts: the genus name (written are the common names of all the organisms first) and the species name.The name is always in mentioned in the Prairie Primer. It is your task to Latin because when the naming process began, find the most current scientific name for each one. nearly all scientists understood the Latin language. You can use field guides, the Internet or other The scientific name should be underlined or resources to help you. American bison ______________________________ New England aster ____________________________ American carrion beetle________________________ nodding wild rye ______________________________ American toad ________________________________ northern harrier ______________________________ aphid ________________________________________ ornate box turtle ______________________________ badger________________________________________ painted lady butterfly __________________________ big bluestem __________________________________ partridge pea__________________________________ black-eyed Susan ______________________________ pasque-flower ________________________________ blue-eyed grass ______________________________ plains pocket gopher __________________________ bumble bee __________________________________ prairie avens __________________________________ bur oak ______________________________________ prairie dropseed ______________________________ Canada goose ________________________________ prairie violet __________________________________ coyote ________________________________________ prairie vole____________________________________ crawfish frog __________________________________ prairie willow ________________________________ deer mouse __________________________________ praying mantis ________________________________ dickcissel ____________________________________ puffball ______________________________________ digger wasp __________________________________ purple prairie clover __________________________ downy gentian ________________________________ racer ________________________________________ earth star ____________________________________ rattlesnake master ____________________________ eastern cottontail ______________________________ red fox________________________________________ eastern meadowlark __________________________ red-legged grasshopper________________________ elk____________________________________________ robber fly ____________________________________ false indigo __________________________________ rosinweed ____________________________________ flesh fly ______________________________________ shooting-star__________________________________ foxsnake ______________________________________ short-eared owl ______________________________ Franklin’s ground squirrel ______________________ side-oats grama ______________________________ gophersnake __________________________________ six-lined racerunner __________________________ greater prairie-chicken ________________________ smallmouth salamander ______________________ Indian grass __________________________________ spotted cucumber beetle ______________________ killdeer ______________________________________ stiff goldenrod ________________________________ least shrew __________________________________ striped skunk__________________________________ least skipper butterfly __________________________ switch grass __________________________________ little bluestem ________________________________ thirteen-lined ground squirrel __________________ little brown bat ________________________________ tumblebug ____________________________________ loggerhead shrike ____________________________ turkey vulture ________________________________ mound ant ____________________________________ upland sandpiper______________________________ mourning dove________________________________ white fringed orchid __________________________ needle grass __________________________________ white-tailed deer ______________________________ 3 Julia’s Journal Dear Journal, During December, the snow covered the prairie like The snow melted in February. Without its pretty, a giant white blanket. Just the tops of the tallest white blanket, the prairie looked dark and bare. I grasses, like big bluestem and Indian grass, poked waited for the big bird to come. The month of up through the snow to brave the winter wind. One March came, and the prairie began to awaken. By bright, sunny day, the white prairie floor was the 15th day of the month, the little pasque-flower’s glistening, and I found the tracks of a red fox and blue-purple flowers brought the first splash of an eastern cottontail. Another day, I discovered a color to the prairie. One month later, the first petals small opening in the snow.The opening was the of shooting-star burst loose to form beautiful pink beginning of a tiny tunnel that made a little bulge blossoms. I knew that many species of wildflowers in the snow’s surface. I followed the bulge to the and grasses would come into bloom every week foot of a bur oak tree at the edge of the prairie.The on the prairie until November. Soon the prairie teeth marks on the tree trunk told me that a prairie would be a warm world of lavender, green, indigo, vole had traveled through the tunnel and gnawed pink, gold, crimson, orange and yellow.Yet even on the bark. As I walked home from the prairie with all the excitement, I was still waiting to see the that afternoon, I was happy to be heading for a big brown bird. good dinner and a fire in the fireplace, but I was disappointed that another year had passed without Finally, Journal, I saw one. I was out in the prairie seeing a northern harrier. early this morning. The sun was just beginning to 4 rise, and the prairie grasses were covered with a of the time it cruised through the air. Prairie birds silvery coating of frost. I had my usual equipment have vision eight times greater than people, and I – a pair of binoculars, a field guide, a pencil, a could tell that this bird had its eyes glued to the sketchbook and my laptop computer. I was walking ground looking for a bird or mouse for breakfast. through some needle grass, when all of a sudden Suddenly, the bird stopped in mid-air and hovered about 20 feet ahead, a big bird lifted from the about 10 feet over a shrub. I heard a rustle coming ground and took off through the air. I could see that from the shrub, and I figured it was probably a deer it had a brown back and a streaked brown belly, but mouse hiding in the leaves.The patient bird kept I couldn’t see if it had a white rump – the one clue hovering. Then in a flash of a second, I saw a I was really looking for. I was afraid I would scare meadowlark shoot out of the shrub like a rocket. the bird away so I crouched down, waited and The meadowlark was barely airborne when the big watched. bird snagged it with its razor-sharp talons. The captor then rose in the air and flew across the The bird flew slow and low over the prairie. My prairie with its prey. I jumped up and tried to catch heart sank as it continued to fly away from me, but sight of the bird with my binoculars. It had turned then it dipped one of its slender wings a bit and its wings down and was gliding to the ground. made a graceful turn back toward me.The flight of Before it disappeared into the grasses, I saw it – the this bird was perfect. Once in a while it took a few big clue – the white rump. I had finally seen a soft strokes with its long, slender wings, but most northern harrier. I sat down in the grass. It was a wonderful morning. Nestled there in the needle grass, I felt like I was a part of the prairie and its beauty. Just two feet to the left of me, a prairie willow was in bloom, while to my right, I could touch the tiny blue blossoms of blue-eyed grass. With the tips of my toes I could barely nudge the