Animal Tracks Unit Study
Ranked #92 in Pets & Animals, #2,438 overall
Animals Leave their Tracks
Animal tracks are criss-crossing my yard, field and forest. Writing in code they tell the tale of unseen visitors.
When you study nature it is often hard to get close to the animals you are studying but often they leave their tracks. Learning to recognize the tracks of the animals that live near you will let you know which ones are visiting you.
Animal tracks are are also clues to the animal's habits. They may tell you whether the animal flies, crawls, runs or hops.
Young children are fascinated by animals and you can use that interest to teach all across the curriculum. Put on your hiking boots and lets learn about animal tracks...
When you study nature it is often hard to get close to the animals you are studying but often they leave their tracks. Learning to recognize the tracks of the animals that live near you will let you know which ones are visiting you.
Animal tracks are are also clues to the animal's habits. They may tell you whether the animal flies, crawls, runs or hops.
Young children are fascinated by animals and you can use that interest to teach all across the curriculum. Put on your hiking boots and lets learn about animal tracks...
Photo Credit: Animal Tracks
Available at Allposters
Animal Tracks Table of Contents
Photo Credit: Animal Tracks of the North Eastern United States Art Poster Print - 13x19
Available on Amazon
Tracking During Winter
Creating a story from animal tracks!
Photo Credit: Gray wolves in the snow.
WDNR Photo
Reproduced with permission from
The Department of Natural Resources
When we look at the pattern of animal tracks as they come together or move apart they tell a story. The photo above can be seen as an animal track map. Notice the number of wolves, the direction each was going, where they met and where each went as they left the central meeting place. What story could you write about this encounter?
To learn more about Gray Wolves be sure to visit Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?.
- Guidelines for Carnivore Tracking During Winter
- Information about the tools you will need, conducting your survey, data forms, when you encounter tracks, have been included. In addition, we have included answers to many frequently asked questions about the carnivore tracking program.
- Tracking a Porcupine in Winter
- Tracking a porcupine in the winter on snowshoes, we learn about this wonder forest animal
- Wildlife Tracking in Vermont
- May facts can be learned about wildlife through the study of their tracks and signs. Whole stories unfold on the clay at a common watering place stream-side, or in the moist sand on the lee side of a wild point on the lakeside, and almost anywhere on the winter's snow.
The Animal Track Adventure Begins!
Picture Books that Compare Animal Tracks
Big Tracks, Little Tracks is one of my favorite books to read on a day that snow is beginning to fall. Gather the little ones around and help create excitement in an outdoor exploration to discover the animal neighbors that live near your home or school
Once the snow has stopped the animals will begin to scamper about. This is the time to go out and look for tracks. Be sure to bring a camera, measuring tape, clipboard and pen to record your findings. Discuss possible places to find animal tracks as you venture outside. Where would you most likely find animal tracks in your yard, near the woods, in the woods or under a tree.
Footprints in the Sand
Animal Tracks at the Beach
Photo Credit: bird tracks on beach
on Flickr, Creative Commons.
You can see bird tracks when you walk along the sand. Notice how they have three toes pointing ahead and one behind.
If you see the tracks from songbirds near the bird feeder you may notice that two toes are ahead and two are behind. That is because songbirds are perching birds and need this configuration to better hold onto branches.
Animal Tracks Border frames your Children's Artwork
Stamping Animal Tracks
Photo Credit: Simon
on AE Blog
Children love to use Animal Tracks Stamps to help illustrate stories about the animals they are learning about and how they move through their habitat. Think of the way that Jan Brett frames her pictures. Animal Tracks Stamps can be used to help children make borders for the illustrations in their stories.
Photo Credit: making animal tracks in the snow (clay)
By curiosityscorner on Photobucket
When my children were younger we found small plastic animals that had footprint stamps on the bottom of their feet. We spent many happy hours creating picture stories showing where the animals lived and the trails they used through the forest and fields.
Animal Print Stamps
Stamping Animal Tracks
Photo Credit: Animal Track Set
Available from eNasco
These naturalistic looking stamps would be great for adding borders to stories about animals. One day my daughter wrote a poem about what the Three Bears saw on their walk.
She typed her poem on the computer and then we mounted it on poster board. To add interest to the frame we used bear print stamps around the boarder.
- Nasco Life/form® Animal Track Set
- Set of eight stamps includes: front and hind foot of beaver, front and hind hoof of deer, front and hind foot of raccoon, and front and hind foot of porcupine.
Whose Footprints?
Animal Tracks in the Snow
Photo Credit: Footprints in the Snow
on Flickr, Creative Commons.
A winter walk around the farm proves to be a joyful journey of discovery for a mother and daughter as they follow different sets of footprints to the animal responsible for them.
Each encounter leads to another set of footprints, until finally the pair follow their own footprints home. There they find a new set leading up to the porch, with the creator--Daddy--waiting to welcome them back. The final pages show the family curled up by the fireplace as fresh snow falls outside.
The cozy ending is a perfect conclusion to the simple, repetitive text. Engaging illustrations reveal a warm mother/daughter relationship, with cheery watercolors celebrating the bliss of a winter's day.
Animal Track Math
Measuring Animal Tracks
Photo Credit: Follow the Tracks
on the Virtical Class.Multiply
Big Tracks Little Tracks
Each child:
1. Traces an animal track.
2. Write under each track the name of the animal that makes that track.
3. Measures the length and width of the tracks and records the measurements.
Note: In order to create tracks that are of the actual size of an animal, use an Overhead Projector to enlarge a picture of the animal track onto a wall. Then move the projector back and forth until it measures the correct size. Trace around the track on a paper taped to the wall. Finally cut out the track.
The following video will help you to accurately measure animal tracks found in the wild.
powered by Youtube
Jim Arnosky's Wild Tracks!: A Guide to Nature's Footprints
Jim Arnosky's illustrations help us to learn how to recognize the animal tracks found around the yard and forest.
Animal Tracks Activities
Looking for animal tracks
Following the tracks of wild animals helps you discover where they have been and possibly what they have been eating. Can you track them back to their homes? What is it in their habitat that makes certain animals want to live there? Look for tracks near water sources. Can you find where animals have encountered their prey?When you are teaching about nature, going on a field trip or starting a new unit study you can't beat these books. Each one has activities that are easy to implement, fun for the children and guaranteed lead you to new understanding of the world around you. Expand your learning from animal tracks to habitat and an understanding of why certain animals and their tracks can be found in certain areas.
Photo Credit: Mountain Hare Tracks by Anne Burgess
on Geograph, Creative Commons.
Solve the Animal Tracks Mystery
What happened here?
Look at the pictures of animal tracks and see if you can discover what happened.
- Sacramento Audubon Society
- The Homeschool Den: Forest Animal Tracks
- Quick sorting activity. The animal tracks in the top row go with the story, The Mitten from http://kidssoup.com/ (a membership website). The lower cards are from Montessori for Everyone's free downloads area.
Animal Tracks Coloring Pages and Worksheets
Coloring Animal Tracks
Photo Credit: Deer mouse tracks in snow
on WikiCommons.
Match the animal tracks to the animals that made them. Color the pictures and think about where these animals were going and why. Try turning these coloring pages and activity worksheets into card games. Matching cards can be turned into a Go Fish or Concentration Game.
- Northeast Woodlands Animal Tracks Game 1
- Draw a Line from the Animal to the Correct
- Northeast Woodlands Animal Tracks Game 2
- Draw a Line from the Animal to the Correct
- Northeast Woodlands Animal Tracks Game 3
- Draw a Line from the Animal to the Correct Footprint
- Animal Tracks Match Up Color Sheet
- Color the animals and match them to their tracks.
- Match the Animal Paw Prints
- Draw a line from the name of the animal to it's track.
- Where did raccoon get the carrot?
- Raccoon Coloring Book Pages - raccoons and fun - from the Gable's Raccoon World
- Animal Tracks Clues
- Can you discovered who went where from the tracks?
Animal Track Lesson Plans
Belt, Annie
Buy at AllPosters.com
More and more people are seeing animal tracks as big as bears and cougars on their back porches. Why are these animals coming to your home? Are you feeding the birds throughout the year? Bears and cougars may be coming too close to the house because they are looking for the food. What animal tracks do you see near your home? What animals are coming to visit you?
- Animal Track Lessons
- An animal track is a mark left by a moving animal. You can find the path, route, or course of the animal by examining its track.
- Online Animal Tracks Concentration Game
- This page created and maintained by the Columbia River Fisheries Program Office
- Finding Animal Tracks
- An animal track is a mark left by a moving animal. You can find the path, route, or course of the animal by examining its track. Tracking is a technique that scientists and hunters use to find and follow animals.
- Animal Tracks - Classroom Activities from Teaching K-8
- Snowy Footprints Science/Poetry/Art Use the fun poem below to introduce animal tracks to your students. Then go outside and make animal and kid tracks in the snow. Or, create them in the classroom in clay using chenille sticks to make...
- Montshire Museum Science Workshops
- Animal Tracks and Signs Workshop aligned to the Vermont and New Hampshire State Standards.
- Preschool and kindergarten science activities about tracking
- These preschool and kindergarten science activities about animal tracks can help kids learn about wildlife, hone spatial skills, and practice scientific reasoning.
Squirrel Tracks
by Marie Cecchini
Chitter, chatter,
Scold, scold
Gray squirrels scoot,
Through winter's cold.
Over ice,
Over snow,
Leaving footprints
As they go.
Identifying Animal Tracks in the Mud
powered by Youtube
Animal Tracks Cards
Animal Tracks Card Game
Close observation of our surroundings is one of the biggest joys of being outdoors. And we humans--the naming animal--enjoy ourselves more when we know, or can find out, what we're observing.
A picture of a bird's or animal's footprints appears on one side of each card; the other side names the creature and presents its characteristics, footprint size, and diet, and notes on its natural history.
Animal Track Alphabet Cards
Make your own Animal Tracks Playing Cards
Photo Credit: Animal Track Alphabet Cards
Available on Etsy
Whenever you discover animal tracks around your home, take a picture of them. Make two copies of each track and begin to create a deck of Animal Track playing cards. You can play Go Fish or Concentration with them. If you are learning a second language you might even play the games in the foreign language.
- Animal Tracks ABC Flash cards
- Recently we went hiking after it rained. There were plenty of animal tracks to see, and my son was really curious and fascinated about which animals made the different footprin...
- Learning As We Walk
- Using Animal Tracks Alphabet Cards to Homeschool. Owl pellet dissection too!
Animal Tracks Stamps and Games
Help young children make the connection between animals and their tracks with these toy animals which have footprint tracks attached to their feet. Use them with stamp pads to create animal track trails.
Older children can create animal track puzzle stories and ask their friends to try to discover the story written in the tracks.
These animals and their tracks can also be used to create patterns for math activities.
What other animal track stamps are available?
Dear Deer Tracks Valentine's Day cards
A Literacy Rotation Activity for Valentine's Day
7 ANIMAL TRACKS STENCIL Snazaroo Face Painting Stencil
Did you ever notice how deer tracks resemble hearts? For Valentine's Day we decide to write letters to the deer that cross our field and live in our woods. We use the deer track stencils to create borders that resemble hearts crossing our fields. Then we use our best handwriting to write a letter to the deer wishing them a very Happy Valentine's Day.
Animal Tracks Literacy Bag
Bear Tracks Rubber Stamp - Wood Mounted
Available on Amazon
Literacy Bags contain a couple of books, a stuffed animal, several activities and a journal to record your observations and activities.
My Animal Tracks Literacy Bag contains rubber stamps of animals, some white paper to represent snow and an ink pad.
The children take the bag home, read the stories with their families and make a scene showing where some animals encountered each other.
They tell the story of the encounter in the journal and leave it for the next student. Then each of the following children can guess the story left for them and then check it against the story left in the journal.
Raccoon Tracks Tote Bag
Price: 
Animal Tracks Worksheets
Identify the Animal Tracks
- Have You Seen These Animal Tracks? (short a)
- Have You Seen These Animal Tracks? Level 2.6-Short Vowels
Key Words:
cats
bobcats
rabbits
Write a prediction, read a story and answer the questions. Long list of short a words related to the animal tracks theme. - Mystery Tracks
- See if you can tell what animal left these tracks. Draw a line from the animal to the tracks in the pictures.
Presents many facts, activities, puzzles, and projects for children who want to learn more about wildlife and their habitats. Includes wildlife identification playing cards and instructions for card games. For children ages 9 to 13.
Animal Tracks on the Winter Table
Waldorf Inspired Winter Table Animal Tracks
We are setting up our Winter Table. It is covered in a white linen cloth to represent the snow covering the earth. We will use a hole punch to make animal tracks and place stick animals whose tracks we have seen around our house on the cloth. We made the animals from small sticks found under the maple tree in the fall.
Magazines about Animals and Their Tracks
Photo Credit: Children Reading
on Karen's Whimsy, Public Domain
These magazines will have your children reading about animals and their tracks. I like to keep these magazines in a basket in the bathroom as an enticement to the children to pick up a book and read.
Online Animal Tracks Quiz Game
- EEK! - Cool Stuff - Track Quiz for Beginners
- If an animal were walking in the snow, would you know which animal left the tracks? Take the EEK! Tracks Quiz for beginners to begin learning about the different types of tracks.
Animal Tracking Fashion
Dressing to find Animal Tracks
These items of clothing will certainly catch your children's attention when doing a unit on animal tracks. In the spirit of Ms. Frizzle, how could you dress to show that you are studying animal tracks?
Find More Information on the Animals in Your Woods
Articles about the Animals Whose Tracks you may Encounter
Animal Tracks is in the Stone Soup Online Unit Study Directory
Thank you to the Four Wheelers for having included the Animal Tracks in their directory. This directory has now been passed on to Stone Soup Homeschooling.
- Internet Directory of Unit Studies
- The Four Wheelers Internet Directory of Unit Studies contains a list, roughly arranged by subject, of links to unit studies that are published on the Internet.
- Unit Studies: Stone Soup Homeschool Network - Stone Soup Homeschool Network
- A free Unit Study Database, featuring unit studies on nearly every subject including this Animal Tracks Unit Study.
Follow the Animal Tracks on Twitter
Who's finding Animal Tracks?
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- icey_fresh
- There's animal tracks in my driveway! http://t.co/1K7ftWaE
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- thewoofpack
- Animal Tracks Survey Shows More Fat Cats, Pudgy Pooches: We love our pets. But sometimes, when it comes to r... http://t.co/vIGAnraU #fb
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- Maxvandoesburg1
- 2 nieuwe tracks: Funky Tunes (The House Anthem) en Way of Love+ Ke$ha- Animal (Dj Magmaro Dub Mix)
-
- SchneiderReps
- New from CC! Animal Tracks Chair! http://t.co/6lIB7VZv http://t.co/G8dc2SVh
-
- PrincessNik10
- RT @CGull31: some hunters were arguing over which kind of animal tracks they had found when they were hit by a train.
automatically generated by Twitter
Let's Talk about Animal Tracks
Animal Tracks Talk!
Animal Tracks
Chalkley, John
Buy at AllPosters.com
Do you look for animal tracks? What animal's tracks do you see near your home?
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Edutopia
Jan 15, 2012 @ 4:23 pm | delete
- Great lens, really helpful and informative. I'm going to use this as the basis for a wildlife lesson at a camp I work with.
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Jeimuzu-san
Dec 30, 2011 @ 7:51 pm | delete
- You see tracks almost everywhere, but never bother to take notice of them. Well done for proving our ignorance to the world!
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skiesgreen
Dec 25, 2011 @ 12:29 am | delete
- Another gorgeous animal discovery lens from you Evelyn. Learn more with each visit to one of them. Hugs
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GGGMarketing
Dec 22, 2011 @ 2:35 pm | delete
- I like your lens. You have some great photos of various animals leaving their tracks.. from the snow to the sand. There really cool looking. Thanks for making a great lens and sharing it with the squidoo community.
Cheers!
Gary @ Marketing Naples
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vlchelper7763
Nov 19, 2011 @ 7:19 am | delete
- Great lens. thanks :-)
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detectivepi
Oct 31, 2011 @ 12:07 am | delete
- This is good stuff, we forget all this in our society now. I know I don't know too many different animal tracks. I'm trying to get better when I go on hikes though, I think it's good stuff to know.
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TIRMassageStone
Aug 16, 2011 @ 6:50 pm | delete
- I've always found it entertaining when a character in a movie is an expert tracker. It's interesting to see somebody in real life that knows a thing or two about animal tracks.
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AnthonyAltorenna
Jul 29, 2011 @ 7:34 am | delete
- There is lots of wildlife where we live, and we enjoy following the tracks through the woods after a light snow. This information will help us identify the different types of animals who left their marks in the snow.
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phoenix-arizona-friends
Jul 15, 2011 @ 6:42 pm | delete
- Cool lens.
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WeddingZazzle
Jul 12, 2011 @ 3:06 am | delete
- Blessed by a SquidAngel :)
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Donnette
Jul 6, 2011 @ 4:43 am | delete
- You are such an inspiration ~ !!
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lasertek
May 16, 2011 @ 12:45 pm | delete
- dogs! nice little dog paw prints.
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IlanaMoore
Feb 14, 2011 @ 4:52 am | delete
- Forget teaching kids, your lessons would even inspire out-of-practice adults to learn! Thanks again!
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guardianstar77
Feb 1, 2011 @ 12:00 pm | delete
- Wow, you have put together a really great selection of items and articles for those who love animal tracks. My husband is extremely talented at doing this; unfortunately, I don't spend enough time outside to be considered much of an expert. Great topic; great presentation.
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Cheryl57
Jan 28, 2011 @ 3:56 pm | delete
- Great Lens! Brings back fond childhood memories.
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raosrinivas
Jan 27, 2011 @ 6:29 am | delete
- Very interesting topic in tracking. Thanks for sharing.
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Irenemaria
Jan 17, 2011 @ 8:26 am | delete
- I always used to when we lived in the forrest. We tought the children to see who had been walking there. Tracks like the ones you have on this lens.
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Richard_Ark
Jan 15, 2011 @ 6:04 am | delete
- Great lens & Congrats in making the overall top 100..!
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haikuwedding
Jan 14, 2011 @ 6:23 pm | delete
- Inspirational and educational as always. Thumbs up for showing us all the animal tracks - we had a great time here!
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HarmonyArtMom
Jan 13, 2011 @ 7:47 pm | delete
- Love your page, came by to give it an Angel Blessing.
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Meet the Author of this Animal Tracks Article
Beyond the Animal Tracks
[ 
by Evelyn_Saenz
Evelyn_Saenz
My passion is teaching and finding ways to teach children in fun, hands-on, creative ways. The unit studies I make on Squidoo reflect my view that learning... more »
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