Library List
Lightfoot the Deer by Thornton Burgess
Deer by Emily Rose Townsend
Whitetail Deer (Our Wild World) by Laura Evert
Caribou (Our Wild World) by Julia Vogel
Deer, Moose, Elk and Caribou by Deborah Hodge
All About Deer by Jim Arnosky
Deer at the Brook by Jim Arnosky

                                 

Lapbook Templates

Set 1
Set 2
Set 3
Set 4

Classification
This is the basic classification of the deer family.

Complete "Classification"  triangle book.

All About Antlers
Deer grow antlers every year, to use during the rut. They shove and wrestle other bucks with their antlers to fight for the does. They are made out of bone, and they fall out every year in the winter. Not all deer have antlers, there are some species that never have them. Most does do not ever grow antlers, though female Caribou normally do. Male fawns typically begin growing antlers in the first spring after they are one.

Complete "All About Antlers"  flap book.

Location
Use colored pencils to fill in the map with each animal’s geographic range. Look in your books, or use the deer cards for a general idea of where they live. You can also use Wikipedia to see maps of the deer ranges.

Complete "Where in the World Can I Find Deer"  shutterfold book

Deer Growth
Fawns have spots and they are born well developed. They are dependent on their mothers to feed them. Yearling bucks grow antlers during the late spring, though they will not normally mate until the following year, or even in the fall of their third year. Deer reach sexual maturity between 1-2 years of age, and they mate that fall. Adult deer are 2-3 years old and older. Bucks grow antlers in the spring and mate in the fall during the rut, which is the competition between bucks for the right to have does in their harems. They stay together in the fall. During midwinter the bucks leave the does and sometimes form small bachelor herds until the following fall. The does stay together in loose herds. Frequently, the female fawns will stay with their mothers in the same herd.

Complete "Growth" matchbook

Camouflage
Deer are prey animals. Their main defenses are speed and hiding. Fawns have spots covering their backs, which help them hide in the dappled light under trees, where their mothers leave them hiding when they are very young. Adult camouflage is different. During the summer, adult deer have coats that are a reddish brown color, and they can be very hard to see in tall grass and against the forest floor. In the winter their coats lighten to a gray color helping them blend into the dry weeds and snowy areas. Write the ways camouflage helps deer and why it is different for fawns and adults.

Complete "How to Hide" minibook

Deer Diet
Deer are ruminants.  Like cows, they have four-chambered stomachs and they chew their cud. They are browsers and eat many different types of plants including grasses, bushes, low tree leaves, bark, mushrooms, fruit grain. Write or draw some things a deer would eat. Take a nature walk and look for plants and other things a deer might eat.

Complete "Deer Diet" matchbook

Deer Relatives
The deer family, Cervidae, is part of the large order Artiodactyla, which means even-toed. This order includes a wide variety of animals, but the ones most closely related to deer include: antelope, giraffes, cattle and goats, and musk deer.

Complete "Deer Relations" matchbook

Deer Footprints
Deer have hooves which with two sections. They are small and sharp and can be used as a defense when necessary. Draw a picture of a deer footprint in the matchbook. If you can, take a nature walk in a wooded area. Look near stream to find deer footprints. You can even use plaster of paris to cast a footprint to take home!

Complete "Deer Footprints" matchbook

Predators
Deer are prey animals and have many natural predators. Some of the common predators of the mule and whitetail deer include: wolf, mountain lion and jaguar. The wolf is a member of the dog family that hunts in packs. The red wolf is endangered and the gray wolf is considered threatened in United States, though it is not worldwide. The mountain lion is a member of the cat family that lives and hunts alone. It is not considered endangered. The jaguar is a South American cat that lives and hunts alone. It is considered somewhat threatened but is not endangered.

Complete "Predators" hotdog book 
If you've never assembled a hotdog book, please see these instructions. 

Food chain
Deer are in the middle of the food chain. They are herbivores. To complete the mini-book, add something that a deer would eat and something that would eat a deer to make the list complete. Some ideas for vegetation would be grass, leaves, fruit, and grain. Some ideas for predators would be wolves, mountain lions, and bears.

Complete "Food Chain" accordion

Over Population
Why are too many deer a problem? Deer are causing huge problems in some areas. They are running out of food, so they come into fields for an easy meal and destroy crops. They also eat flowers and vegetables from suburban gardens. Deer also need to be kept at a reasonable number because they are not healthy when they are overpopulated. Deer in these areas are starving, and they are smaller and disease prone. The worst problem deer cause is collisions. There are thousands of deer hit by cars every year, and some of those accidents are fatal. Deer collisions kill more people than sharks, bears, alligators, and mountain lions combined!

What is the best way to deal with too many deer? Deer sterilization and contraception have been tried, but they are very hard use and extremely expensive, between $500 $1000 a deer, according to the USDA. Hunting is the best way to manage deer overpopulation because hunters actually generate income, control the population responsibly, and are extremely well regulated. In states where the deer populations are managed well by the wildlife authorities, the herds are healthy and usually stay out of areas where humans live.

Complete "Too Many Deer" circle book

Vocabulary
Vocabulary ideas for younger students: buck, doe, fawn, forage, predator, prey, conservation, scent gland, camouflage, ruminant, cud.

Make your own minit book for this.  You can find templates here.

Many Different Sizes
Learn all about the different kinds of deer with the deer cards.