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Optional Books:
White Fang by Jack London Free E-book
Call of the Wild by Jack London Free E-Book
Baby Wolf by Mary Batten (Level 2 easy reader)
Look to the North, A Wolf Pup Diary by Jean Craighead George
Little Red Riding Hood or other version
Three Little Pigs or other version
The Aesop for Children with pictures by Milo Winter, or other book of Aesop Fables
Optional Movies:
(Note: these movies may not be
suitable for your family. Previewing is recommended)
White
Fang
The Journey of Natty Gann
Hoodwinked
Versions of Little Red Riding Hood and/or Three Little Pigs
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Making Wolf
Plural Fan |
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Bible Tab Book |
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Aesop Fables
Minit Book
Cut out on solid lines. Mountain fold on dotted line. Staple on left side
margin. If you don't want to do copywork, just cut off that page.You can treat
each Aesop Fable as an individual book, or stack and staple them all together.
Cover and Index
Wolf and Crane
Kid and Wolf
Wolf and Kid
Shepherd Boy
and Wolf
Wolf and Lamb
Wolf in Sheep
Clothing
Wolf and Lion
Wolf and Shadow
Add-ons for Preschoolers
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W is for Wolf (Primary) |
Wolf Puzzle |
Red Riding Hood Cards &
Pocket |
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W is for Wolf (HWOT) |
Wolf Stickers |
My Wolf Picture |
| How Many...? | Three Little Pigs |
Animals are grouped into different categories according to their characteristics. Because most literature features the Gray Wolf, that is what the focus of this unit will be. Gray Wolves are classified in this manner:
Kingdom: Animal
Phylum: Chordata (having backbones)
Class: Mammal (live birth, warm blooded, fur, milk for young)
Order:
Carnivore
(meat eaters)
Family: Canidae
Genus:
Canis (dogs,
coyote,
jackals, dingo, wolf)
Species: Canis lupus (Gray Wolf)
Wolf Classification Graduated Book
Subspecies of Gray Wolf
Some of the characteristics that differ between subspecies are fur color, skull dimensions, length of legs, and overall size. The five subspecies of Gray Wolf living in North America are:
Canis lupus baileyi, known as the Mexican wolf or lobo
Canis lupus nubilus, known as the Great Plains or buffalo wolf
Canis lupus occidentalis, known as the Rocky Mountain wolf or Mackenzie Valley wolf
Canis lupus lycaon, known as the eastern timber wolf
Canis lupus arctos, known as the arctic wolf
Which subspecies do you think White Fang is? How about the wolves in Julie of the Wolves?
Chose one of these chapter books to read throughout this unit. As you read, discuss the habitat of the wolves in the story.
Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George (Newberry Award winning chapter book)
White Fang by Jack London Free E-Book
Call of the Wild by Jack London Free E-Book
Record unfamiliar words and their definitions in Vocabulary Flap Book as you come across them. You can include listed words or choose ones you come across in your readings.
Habitat - the natural environment of a plant or animal that provides the food, water, and shelter that it needs to survive.
Latitudes – the horizontal lines on a globe, running parallel to the equator.
Territories – the area that is occupied by a pack of wolves.
There are seventeen subspecies of the Gray Wolf, all living in the northern latitudes around the world, five of which live in North America. Wolves are equally at home on prairies, in forestlands, and on mountains. They will make their den, or lair, in a cave, hollow tree trunk, thicket, or in a hole it digs itself. Alaska has the largest wolf population in the United States, over 6,000, and the only substantial population of gray wolves left at the present time in the 48 states inhabits northern Minnesota. Minnesota has a population of 2,500 wolves which are legally protected, and is the only state that will compensate farmers for livestock damage. Minnesota has complete control over its wolf population, and sometimes they do thin out the wolf population down to its minimum of 1600 wolves. Some other states do have minor, protected wolf populations:
Montana has 70 wolves.
Wyoming has 165 wolves.
Idaho has 185 wolves.
Michigan has 200 wolves.
Wisconsin has 200 wolves.
Arizona and New Mexico both have some wolves.
Northern Latitude Quarter Fold
Where in the United States do Wolves Live? Shutterfold
The area that is occupied by a pack of wolves is called a territory. The pack’s territory will have enough prey to support it, and the pack will defend this territory from other packs of wolves and other carnivores it would have to compete with for food. Wolves will protect their territories by scent-markings, vocal communication, and fighting. In Minnesota, the gray wolf’s territories range from about 25 to 150 square miles, while territories in Canada and Alaska can range from about 300 to 1,000 square miles
Behavior
Continue to read your chapter book and now discuss the behavior of wolves.
Record unfamiliar words and their definitions in Vocabulary Flap Book as you come across them. You can include listed words or choose ones you come across in your readings.
Pack – a group of
wolves that live and work together
Hierarchy – the
chain of command in any group of living things
Communication – the act of sharing information
Scat – animal feces
Wolf Packs -
Wolves live in a pack, which is a group of wolves that live and work
together to hunt for food and take care of the pups. There is an order of
hierarchy in every wolf pack, separated into three groups.
Alphas are the top rank in the social order of the wolf pack. A separate social hierarchy exists for males and females, so a pack has both an alpha male and an alpha female. They are usually the parents of most of the other members of the pack.
Beta is the second rank in the social order of a wolf pack. A separate social hierarchy exists for males and females, so a pack may have both a beta male and a beta female. A wolf at this rank will usually dominate all of the other wolves in its gender except the alpha wolf. The beta wolf is also called an assistant.
The lowest ranking member in the social order of a wolf pack is called the omega.
The offspring of the adult parents join the pack, as well as an occasional unrelated wolf. All the wolves know their place in the pack, and when the leaders are present, all other wolves will hold their tails low or lie on the ground. The size of a wolf pack can be anywhere from two wolves to over thirty wolves, depending on number of pups and mortality rates.
Social Order
Graduated Book
Wolf Communication –
Wolves are territorial and will use three different languages including sounds, special scents, and body language, to express themselves and defend what is theirs.
Sounds – Wolves will howl, bark, whimper, and growl. They howl to greet each other, to indicate their location, to define their territories, and to call their pack together. They call any time of the day, but they are most easily heard in the evening when the wind dies down and wolves are most active. Wolves bark as a warning. If a mother senses danger, she may bark to her pups. A bark or bark-howl may also be used to show aggression in defense of the pack or territory. A mother will whimper to her pups to tell them she is ready to nurse. A submissive wolf will also whimper to a dominant wolf to say, “I give up!” Growling is used as a warning. A wolf will growl at intruding wolves or predators, or to indicate dominance. Howl with wolves here.
Special Scents – Wolves mark their territories with body odor, scent from a gland, urine or scat. This behavior is called scent marking. When wolves from outside of the pack smell these scents, they know that the territory is already occupied. Pack members can recognize the identity of each other by its urine, which is useful when entering a new territory or when pack members become separated. Dominant animals may scent mark by urinating every two minutes. Wolves also have special glands that transmit chemical messages called “pheromones”. Males can tell when females are reading to breed by these chemical messages.
Body Language – Wolves also communicate through body positions, movements, and facial expressions. If they are angry, they may stick their ears straight up and bare their teeth. A wolf that is suspicious pulls its ears back and squints. Flattening the ears against the head often shows fear. A wolf dances and bows playfully when it wants to play. When an alpha wolf wants to communicate dominance, it will carry its tail high and stand tall. The beta and omega wolves will hold their tails down crouch, and muzzle lick to show submission to the superior wolves. The subordinate wolf will also lay on its side or back to show submission to the dominant wolf. If two wolves have a disagreement, they may show their teeth and growl at each other, trying to look as fierce as possible. The less dominant wolf usually gives up, rolling on its back, before a fight begins.
On The Run -
Wolves will travel for long distances by trotting at about five miles per hour. When chasing prey, the wolf can achieve estimated speeds of between 28 and 40 miles per hour for up to 20 minutes. Wolves may travel 10 to 30 miles each day in search of food. Wolves that are leaving their packs in search of a mate have been known to travel distances of 550 miles away form their home territory.
Anatomy
Continue or finish reading your chapter book.
Read a version of Little Red Riding Hood and discuss the wolf’s anatomy.
Vocabulary –
Record unfamiliar words and their definitions in Vocabulary Flap Book as you come across them. You can include listed words or choose ones you come across in your readings.
Irises – the colored part of the eyeball.
Pelage - The entire coat of fur on a mammal.
Size –
The largest gray wolves are found in northwestern United States, Canada, and Alaska, where the adult males weigh 85 to 130 pounds. In Minnesota they are smaller, with the adult female weighing in between 50 and 85 pounds, and adult males between 70 and 110 pounds. The average length (from the tip of nose to the tip of tail) of an adult female gray wolf is 4.5 to 6 feet. The adult males average 5 to 6.5 feet. The average height (at the shoulder) of a gray wolf is 26 to 32 inches.
Sizing Up the Wolf Accordion Fold
At birth, wolf pups tend to have blue irises that will change to a yellow-gold or orange color when the pups are between 8 and 16 weeks old. Though extremely unusual, sometimes an adult wolf will retain its blue-colored irises. Wolves are also characterized by their round pupils.
Anatomy Matchbooks (includes 6 books)
The wolf has rounded ears. Wolves use their ears to communicate, by sticking them straight up if they are angry, or by pulling them back if they are suspicious. Flattening the ears against the head often shows fear.
What a Big Nose You Have!
Unlike coyotes and jackals that have narrow, pointed muzzles, wolves have
long, broad, powerful muzzles. The wolf's sense of
smell is more than 100 times greater than a human’s sense of smell.
What Big Teeth You Have!
If you have read the stories of Little Red Riding Hood, you have came across the tale of how she was rescued whole from the wolf’s belly. Due to the nature of a wolf’s teeth, this is pretty unlikely. Adult gray wolves have 42 teeth, while adult humans have 32. The canine teeth interlock so the wolf can grip and hang on to struggling prey. The wolf's front teeth are sharp and pointed and adapted to puncturing, slashing, and clinging. The wolf's pointed premolars are useful for tearing and shearing once the prey has been killed. The massive molars and powerful jaws of a wolf are used to crush the bones of its prey. Wolves actually do very little chewing. The biting capacity of a wolf is 1,500 pounds of pressure per square inch. The strength of a wolf's jaws makes it possible to bite through a moose femur in six to eight bites. In comparison, a German shepherd has a biting pressure of 750 pounds per square inch. A human has a much lower biting pressure of 300 pounds per square inch.
Wolves are known for their big bushy tails. A wolf's tail hangs while the tail of the dog tends to be held high and is often curly. Wolves use their tails to keep their faces warm in the winter.
What Big Hands You Have!
Wolves don’t have hands, but they do have large paws. The size of a wolf’s track will vary depending on the age and size of the wolf, but a good estimate of a track size is 4.5 inches long by 3.5 inches wide. There are very few breeds of dogs that will come close to this size, two of them being Great Danes and Saint Bernards. There are five toes on the front paws and four toes on the hind paws, with a slight amount of webbing between each toe. There are scent glands between a wolf’s toes that leave little markers behind him. This helps him to find his way back, and also helps members of his pack to locate him if they get seperated.
Wolves have thick, bulky pelage that consists of two layers.
Guard Hairs - The first layer is made up of tough guard hairs that repel water and dirt.
Undercoat - The second layer is a dense, water resistant layer called the undercoat.
In late spring or early summer the undercoat sheds in sheets. The wolf will often rub against objects such as rocks to help loosen the fur. The colors of a wolf’s coat can vary greatly, anywhere from white to black. The colors often serve as a camouflage, white wolves being found in snowy areas, gray colored wolves in rocky areas, and brownish wolves in wooded areas. Wolves use their hair to communicate anger, dominance and aggression.
Read one or both of these books and discuss each stage of a wolf pup’s growth.
Baby Wolf by Mary Batten (Level 2 easy reader)
Look to the North, A Wolf Pup Diary by Jean Craighead George
Record unfamiliar words and their definitions in Vocabulary Flap Book as you come across them. You can include listed words or choose ones you come across in your readings.
Gestation – The period between fertilization and birth. For a wolf, the gestation period is 63 days.
Litter - All of the pups born during a single birth to an adult female wolf.
Longevity - Length of time an animal lives.
Mortality Rate - The relative frequency of deaths in a population.
Depending on where they live, wolves breed at different times. Gray Wolves breed between February and April. The gestation period is about 63 days. It is normal for a pack to have just one litter of 3 to 9 pups each spring. Gray wolf pups weigh about one pound at birth. Depending on how much food is available, 40% to 60% of the pups may die before they mature.
Early Growth -
Wolf pups are born blind, deaf, and completely dependent on their mother. Until the pups are about two weeks old, the mother will stay in the den with them, feeding them milk. The father wolf has brought the mother wolf food so she didn’t need to leave the den. Pups emerge from the den at about one month of age, when they are just about weaned. The pups will at this point start to eat the regurgitated undigested meat that is spit up by the hunters in the pack. By seven weeks, the pups are totally weaned of their mother’s milk. All members of a wolf pack take part in the caring and training of the young. They learn how to communicate, hunt, fight, and bond.
Growing Up Wolf Cards and Pocket
Longevity -
The natural causes of wolf mortality are primarily starvation, which kills mostly pups, and death from territory fights with other wolves. Head injuries caused by kicking prey results in some deaths. Wolves hunted by humans cause mortality rates to be high in some populations. Wolves living in the wild have shorter life spans then those living in protected environments. A gray wolf in the wild has an average life span of six to eight years, but as long as sixteen years when in captivity.
Food Chain
Read a version of The Three Little Pigs and discuss a wolf’s prey.
Vocabulary –
Predator - An
animal that captures and eats other animals.
Prey - An animal
that is captured and eaten by another animal.
Carnivore - An animal that eats meat.
Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?
Many animals are! Gray wolves are predators very high in the food chain. They are carnivores mainly eating large, hoofed mammals such as white-tailed deer, mule deer, moose, elk, caribou, bison, sheep, musk oxen, and mountain goats. When those aren’t available, medium sized mammals, such as beaver and snowshoe hare are part of the wolves’ diet, and once in a while they will also prey on birds or small mammals. Gray wolves have a feast or famine diet. This is when they eat a great amount of food at one sitting, sometimes up to 22 pounds of food each, and then go for an extended period without eating anything. This extended period can last anywhere from several days to several weeks. Gray wolves can survive on about 2 1/2 pounds of food per wolf per day.
Who’s Afraid? Compressed Triangle
Who’s the Big Bad Wolf Afraid Of?
There are very few animals that will scare the wolf. The fiercest enemy of the wolf is man. Man has long hunted wolves for their pelts and also as damage control to protect their livestock. At one time there were bounties put out for the killing of wolves. Gray wolves once ranged from central Mexico north to the Arctic, but between 1850 and 1900 more than a million were killed. By the 1930s, hunting had just about wiped them out across the American West. It wasn’t until 1973 that the gray wolf was listed as endangered in the lower 48 States and Mexico. Endangered means that a species is considered in danger of extinction throughout most of its range. This made laws limiting the hunting of the gray wolf, and also brought with it public education about the wolf. The gray wolf populations have been increasing, and some states are even considering the removal of the gray wolf from the Endangered Species list. Alaska, however, does not consider the wolf endangered. In fact, they openly hunt the gray wolf by airplane to thin out the wolf populations. There is a lot of controversy around this. Your older child may be interested in researching the pros and cons of this open hunting in Alaska, and also the current events surrounding the removal of the gray wolf from Endangered Species lists across the country.
Endangered or a Danger? Shutterfold
The Stereotypical Wolf
Read fables about wolves in The Aesop for Children with pictures by Milo Winter, or other book of Aesop Fables. If you would like to include Wolf Fables and/or copywork of the morals in your lapbook, you can print out and use the fables printables that include:
Cover and Index
Wolf and Crane
Kid and Wolf
Wolf and Kid
Shepherd Boy
and Wolf
Wolf and Lamb
Wolf in Sheep
Clothing
Wolf and Lion
Wolf and Shadow
After reading a few of the fables to your child, discuss what each one says about the character of the wolf. Do most of the stories portray the wolf as good or as bad? Do you think these characterizations fit? Wolves do in fact eat livestock, when there is no other food available. But they prefer not to come that close to humans. Wolves are known for being very clever, and find all kinds of ways of evading traps that are set for them. There is a lot of truth to the fables. But, if you read Julie of the Wolves or White Fang, or watched The Journey of Natty Gann, you may find that wolves can also have a loyal, protective, trainable side to them. Does your child understand what a stereotype is? Oftentimes, we look at a person (or creature), believing that he possesses certain characteristics that typify a particular group. This is sometimes based on personal experience, and sometimes based on things we’ve been told by others. How would your child feel if he was disliked just for being a child, based on some bad acts other children have done? I’m sure he would find it unfair. While often times stereotypes do fit, and there is nothing wrong with being cautious, the right and fair thing to do is to give everyone (or everything) the benefit of the doubt, and to like or dislike the person (or wolf) on their own merits.
Because most people are aware of the stereotypical nature of the wolf, wolves are used in many familiar sayings. Ask your child if he can think of any wolf sayings. Some he may recognize from the Aesop Fables he read. When someone says, “He’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing” what does he mean? It means that someone of low character or morals is trying to imitate someone with character or morals in an effort to deceive. When a person is said to be a “Lone Wolf”, what does it mean? A lone wolf is a person that goes his own way and doesn’t follow a pack, group, club, trend, etc. If you are said to be “Crying Wolf”, what are you doing? You are saying something that may be true, but because you lied about it in the past, nobody believes you now. “Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is” means what? Our fears build things up to be bigger or worse than they really are.
Wolves in the Bible
Wolves are
mentioned numerous times throughout the Bible. They are used as examples of
wicked people, false teachers, and enemies. Wolves are used as illustrations of
destructiveness and evil. They are also mentioned to demonstrate what God’s
kingdom will be like. Read and discuss some of these verses. (You may have an
older child use a concordance to find his own verses about wolves)
Wolves Compared to Wicked People:
Matthew 10:16 - Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
Luke 10:3 - Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as
lambs among wolves.
Wolves Compared to Wicked Rulers:
Ezekiel 22:27 - Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.
Zephaniah 3:3 - Her princes within her are
roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones
till the morrow.
Wolves Compared to False Teachers:
Matthew 7:15 - Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Acts 20:29 - For I know this, that after my departing
shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
Wolves Symbolic of Destruction:
John 10:12 - But he that is an hireling,
and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and
leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the
sheep.
Wolves in the Bible Tab Book (goes with four sections above)
The Wolf in God’s Kingdom:
Isaiah 11:6 - The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.
Isaiah 65:25 - The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.
Language Arts Extensions
Write a book report about one of the fictional books you read about wolves.
Have your child write an acrostic poem about wolves. An acrostic poem is when the first letter in each line of the poem starts with a letter in the word the poem is about. The lines can rhyme, but they don’t need to.
Wolves Acrostic Poem Flap Book
Haiku Poetry –
Haiku is a form of poetry that originated in Japan about three hundred years
ago. It is a seventeen syllable poetic form and is usually about something in
nature. The seventeen syllables of the haiku are divided into three lines of
five, seven, five. Haiku poems usually do not rhyme. Because they are very short
poems, every word should be well chosen to bring an image to the reader’s mind.
Here is an example:
Hair standing on end
Ears straight up and baring teeth
Too close to her den.
Have your child try his hand at writing a haiku poem about wolves.
Miscellaneous
Peter and the Wolf -
Narration of Peter and the Wolf to go with midi
Free Midi of Peter and the Wolf