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Fire Building

Few campers know how to build a successful campfire, even if they're allowed to use matches and paper, or even a lighter. This activity aims to teach them techniques for building a lasting fire, as well as the reasons these techniques work.

It helps to lay out the proper sequence of materials beforehand as examples and then to show them how to build a fire as you explain everything.

It is also helpful to make them collect all their materials and build the fire before giving them anything to light it with, so you have time to critique their efforts.

Principles of Fire

Heat Required: Wood must have a certain amount of heat applied to it before it burns. Bigger, thicker pieces need to have more heat applied before they burn.

Heat Produced: Wood can only produce a limited amount of heat before it burns out. Smaller, thinner pieces produce less heat

(Note: If you place pieces of wood on a fire that are much bigger than what is already in there, the fire will not be able to produce enough heat to ignite the large pieces before it burns out.)

Dampness: Wet wood requires much, much, much more heat to ignite it, as the heat needs to dry out the wood before it will burn.

Greatest Heat: It's at the base of the fire, where the coals are, as the actual burning is occurring here. Heat and flames radiate up, lessening in temperature the farther away they get.

(Note: Add wood right over the coals, but leave room for air to circulate, because...)

Air Flow: ...Fire needs oxygen to burn, so don't smother it.

(Note: Gently blowing on the base of the fire, where the burning takes place, helps. The smaller the fire, the gentler you must blow to avoid extinguishing the fire.)

Time: Small fires burn out quickly, so have everything you need ready before you light it.

Putting Out the Fire: Water extinguishes the fire immediately. Stir up the ashes to be sure no part stayed dry. Dirt will smother a fire, but this takes time, so be sure it is thickly covered and won't be exposed again for a long time.

Surviving the Elements

Sheltering

Sheltering means staying warm and protected. It does not always involve building an actual shelter. Here is a list of ways in which your warmth is stolen and how to guard against them:

Moisture: Stay out of the rain. Find shelter under a thick cover of trees (evergreens are best). Better yet, take cover under a rock ledge or just inside a cave. Build a shelter for extra cover.

(Note: Try not to sweat. Don't overexert yourself, and stay calm, as anxiety makes you sweat.)

Wind: Avoid exposed areas and high places. Cold air settles in valleys, though, especially at night, so mid-slope is often warmer than the bottom. Use natural shelters or build one to shield yourself from the wind, just as you would for rain.

Poor insulation: Use whatever you can to cover yourself. It is most important to keep your core warm; your head, hands, and feet lose heat most rapidly. Pile dry leaves, branches, anything dry to keep you off the cold, wet ground.

Exhaustion: Being exhausted means you have little energy left to keep your body warm.

Lightning

If you can hear thunder, you are close enough to the storm to be struck by lightning. The only truly safe places are inside a vehicle or a substantial building, preferably one with lightning rods. If you can't get inside one of these, find a dense stand of small trees in a low-lying area. Avoid high places like hilltops or ridges, exposed areas like fields or above treeline, and areas with tall trees that can fall or drop limbs on you if they're struck by lightning or blown down by high winds.

Activities

• Take the campers out in the forest with a few items they might have on a day hike and have them select an emergency campsite, build a shelter, and gather materials for a fire.
• Have them select areas where they would take shelter from a thunderstorm.

Casting Animal Tracks

To find clear prints, look in muddy or wet, sandy areas. It helps to place food the day before in those areas to attract animals.

Materials

Several cardboard strips, at least 12-18" long
Paper clip
Mixing bowl and stirrer
Plaster of Paris
Water

Instructions

1. When you find a good track, wrap the cardboard strip around it and secure it with the paperclip.
2. Mix 2 parts Plaster of Paris and 1 part water in the mixing bowl. Tap the mixing bowl on the ground to get rid of any bubbles.
3. Pour the mix inside the cardboard circle. Don't pour the mix on the track itself. Pour it next to the track, and let it run over the track. Make the cast thick so it won't break.
4. Let the mixture set for at least half an hour before picking it up.

Search for Animal Signs

Anything counts: tracks, half-eaten leaves, feathers, exo-skeletons, burrows, sighting the animal itself, etc.

Variations

• Have the campers find as many traces of animals as possible.
• Have them find specific types of evidence, such as a feather, a moth, a track, etc.
• Have them find any kind of evidence for certain types of animals, such as evidence for insects, for mammals, for birds, for worms, etc.

Ants/Aphids

While hard to find, ant/aphid colonies are fascinating to observe.

Ants herd the aphids from leaf to leaf and plant to plant. After the aphids feed, the ants milk the aphids, rubbing the aphid's abdomens until a sweet liquid is produced that the ants drink.

Look for plants with lots of ants on them, especially sweet-smelling flowers, and then look closely for the aphids, as they are smaller than the ants. The herding or milking behavior may take some time to observe.

Hawks and Falcons (also: Owls and Crows)

Instructions

1. Divide the group into two teams.
2. Have the two teams stand facing each other, with 10-15 feet in between.
3. Make a safe zone for each team, located about 50 feet behind them.
4. Ask the group a true/false question about nature.
5. If the answer is true, the hawks chase and the falcons flee towards their safe zone.
6. If the answer is false, the falcons chase and the hawks flee.
7. If you tag a player on the other team before they reach their safe zone, the player you tag joins your team.
8. The game ends when there are no players left on one team.

Population Game

This game shows the relationship between animal populations and available food.

Instructions

1. Count out ten poker chips (or other small, recognizable item) per player. Also give each player a bag to put the items in.
2. Spread these items over an area.
3. Have the players fan out and collect them.
4. Anyone who has put at least 5 in their bag has survived the year.
5. Give each survivor another bag to represent the baby they now have, and which they must now support.
6. Spread out the items again, and have the players collect them.
7. Any bag which was not filled with at least 5 items is considered to have died, and is removed from the game.
8. Repeat from step 5.
9. As a variation, include a famine year, where you don't put out all the items.

Predator and Prey

Instructions

1. Choose one person to be the prey. He is blindfolded. He may walk slowly, but not run.
2. Choose one person to be the predator. Her job is to sneak up on the prey without getting caught.
3. If the prey points directly at the predator, it means the predator has been detected and the prey has escaped.
4. If the predator touches the prey without being detected, the predator has won.

Variations

• Choose more than one predator.
• Try the game on different surfaces; ones that are easier or harder to move quietly on.
• Cover or stuff the prey's ears to simulate injury or old age.
• Hobble the predator, simulating an injured or old predator.

Human Tracking

Materials

Lots of bright, non-toxic, washable paint
At least one basin
One piece of poster paper per child

Instructions

1. Pour a thin layer of paint in the basin.
2. Have each child dip their feet in the paint and then make a print of each foot on the paper. Write their name on the paper.
3. Have them redip their feet if necessary.
4. Have them walk around on blacktop or concrete.
5. Try to trace the path of each child using their footprints on paper as a guide.

(Note: To make this task easier, start by having only two children walk and then track them, then three, four, etc.)

Using Natural Pigments as Paint

Instructions

1. Gather items from nature of various colors, like flowers, berries, leaves, dirt, inner tree bark, etc.
2. Grind each item on a rock or in a bowl.
3. Add a little bit of water.

Counting Tree Rings

Instructions

1. Find tree stumps of trees where you know the last year they were growing. Better yet, cut a cross-section of the stump so you can take it with you.
2. Lightly sand the stump so you can better see the rings.
3. Each ring equals one year. Label the outermost ring as the last year the tree was growing. Count inwards, labeling the rings at various intervals.

Things to Look For

• Try to determine how old the tree is.
• Look for narrow rings that signify years in which the tree did not grow much, and thick rings in which the tree grew well.
• Compare different stumps and see if multiple trees have narrow rings or thick rings in the same years, signifying poor or good years for growing.

Blindfold Memory

Instructions

1. Choose several items from nature, such as three trees, four rocks, five leaves, etc.
2. Don't let the participant see the items in question.
3. Blindfold the participant and present one item or bring them to that item if it is immovable, like a tree or a large rock. Tell them to examine the object using their other four senses.
4. Remove the blindfold and show them all the items.
5. See if they can choose the correct one.

Unnature Trail

Most people look straight ahead and don't pay close attention when they walk through the forest, so they miss out on a lot of interesting things. This activity makes one pay close attention to one's surroundings and makes one look down, to the sides, up, and even backwards.

Instructions

1. Place a number of items along a trail that are not normally found in nature. Make some easy to spot and others harder.
2. Hide most items so that they cannot be seen just by looking ahead. Force the participants to look up, down, to the sides, or behind them.
3. See how many items the participants can find.

Variations

• Have participants walk the course one by one.
• Don't tell them how many items there are to find.
• Choose items that blend in with their surroundings.
• Make the course longer.
• Make items harder to find.

Treasure Hunt

Follow clues through the forest to find a hidden treasure.

Instructions

1. Set clues along the path you want them to follow. Each clue should direct you onto the next one until the final destination is reached.
2. Use clues that make them locate things in nature, like a noticeable tree, rock, or other natural feature.
3. It works best if the natural feature is not too difficult to find, but the clue is hidden well enough so that they can't find the clue without correctly finding the adjacent natural feature.
4. For an extra challenge, write the clues as riddles.
5. Include a reward at the end as the 'treasure.'

Water Erosion

Moving water picks up sediment (soil, sand, clay, any type of earth that is carried by water) - even rocks if the current is strong enough - and carries it downstream. This is the main source of erosion here. Every time it rains, the run-off carries sediment into the lake, and eventually, erosion will fill in the lake with sediment completely. The lake will grow smaller and shallower, and then it will become a marsh - wet ground with no open water - and then, a flat piece of land with forest growing on it. Erosion is a problem for humans as it dirties our water, carries away our best soil, and alters the land we seek to build on.

Examples

• Look at various paths around camp that are on a slope to see how moving water has scoured out a channel and made the path lower than the surrounding dorest. Talk about how trees and other plants hold soil with their roots, resisting erosion. When the plants are removed, erosion is much stronger. If you have erosion diverters on any paths in your camp, explain how they channel water off the path before it can really gain momentum and carry away more soil. Talk about how erosion is a problem for farmers as it carries away their best soil, how the plants they plant have small roots systems, and how they are cut down each year.
• Look at the lake shore (if you've got one) to see how the waves from the lake are eating away at the shoreline, exposing tree roots. If there are other houses on the lake, show how those with few trees on the shoreline often have seawalls to block the waves and hold any soil brought down from higher up by erosion. It may be possible, especially after a heavy rain, to see the sediment on the lake bottom that has recently washed in.

Activities

• Build a ramp to simulate the effect of water running downhill. Either a very wide ramp or one with sides to contain the materials is needed. Simulate different landscapes by placing different soils, amounts, and sizes of stones, sticks, and vegetation to hold the soil, etc., on the ramp. You can also add diverters, retaining walls, and miniature buildings. Pour water down the ramp and watch the effect of erosion on the landscapes. Vary the amount of water and slope of the ramp as well to create more or less powerful erosion.
• Find an eroded path and dig channels across the path, but angled slightly downhill. Line the downhill side of the channel with flat rocks. The flat side of the rocks should be places against the side of the channel, with the skinny side of the rock wedged into the bottom of the channel.