Nature Kids: Make a Mammoth Mask
A long time ago (70,000 years ago!) the Earth was much
colder than it is now. There was so much snow and ice
that we call that time an “ICE AGE”. Animals that lived then
were adapted to the cold. Mammoths had three adaptations that helped them stay warm in a cold climate: big
bodies - bigger than elephants’ bodies; long, thick fur; and
small ears compared to today’s elephants.
Mammoth Mask Materials:
Shoebox without the lid
Extra cardboard or poster-board
Tape, hole punch, string, scissors
Ruler and pencil
Optional – paints, fake fur, markers
So when you make your mammoth mask, make it look big
and shaggy, but keep the ears small!
1.
Directions:
} 3 1/2 inches
1. On the bottom of the shoebox, mark two 1 ½ inch wide
strips that are rounded at the top and 1 ½ inches apart (see
picture #1). The top of the strip should be about 3 inches
from the end of the box.
}
}
2. Cut out the 2 strips and attach them to the center panel to
make the trunk (picture #2)
1 1/2 inch wide strips
1 1/2 inch
wide space
between strips
3. Cut tusks from the extra cardboard or poster board. You
can make these very long if you want (see picture #3) .
4. Cut ears from cardboard or poster board with a ½” tab for
attaching to the mask. Don’t make the ears too big! Look at
the picture of the wolly mmmoth for an idea of the size.
2.
3.
5. Paint or color your mask or attach some fake fur.
6. Punch a hole on each side of the mask and tie a string to it.
Put on your mask and pretend you are living when it was
very, very cold!
4.
1/2 inch tab
5.
attach strings
to sides of mask
near the back
See the Teacher’s
Corner for more information about ice ages!
C
2008 Nature Discovery Center, Inc.
NATURE DISCOVERY CENTER • 7112 NEWCASTLE, BELLAIRE TX 77401-5225
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Teacher’s Corner:
Welcome
The Nature Discovery Center is looking
forward to opening its Ice Age exhibit in
2009. This exhibit will give children and
parents a chance to
look back in time
and see what
the Ice Age
looked like.
An ice age refers to a long period of
cooling or a shorter period of glaciations. Glaciations is a time when
glaciers extend, often covering a land
mass. The last major glaciations
occurred 16,000 years ago during the
Pleistocene period.
Ice ages are important time periods for
studying plant and animal adaptations,
human migration, and climate change.
We hope you enjoy learning more about
the Ice Age in this newsletter and that
you will visit our exhibit in February.
Ice Age Facts
* There have been multiple ice ages,
including four extended periods of
cooling and many shorter periods of
glacier advance and retreat.
* The last ice age was called “The Great
Ice Age” and it occurred 16,000 years
ago.
* During the Great Ice Age, over a third
of the earth was covered in ice.
* There are many explanations for why
an ice age occurred, ranging from
changes in the Earth’s tilt to plate
tectonics. See our Resources section for
more information.
Ice AgE
How did animals
adapt to the
climate change?
During the last ice age, many types of
animals inhabited the area that is now
the Midwestern United States. Most of
these animals are no longer found in
that area.
In order to adapt to the colder climate,
some animals developed thicker fur or
layers of fat to keep them warm.
Animals such as the snowshoe hare,
developed larger feet that acted as
snowshoes to keep them from sinking
into the snow.
As the climate became warmer, some of
these animals had to adapt again to the
changing weather. While we no longer
have wooly mammoths, their descendants the elephants are still around, but
with much less fur for the hotter
weather!
Humans in the
ice age
When the Homo sapiens migrated into
North America, the climate began to
warm, and the humans adapted their
tools for hunting in their new environment. These people were hunters and
gathers. They would follow their food,
like the wooly mammoth.
By Laura Stokes & Leslie Wilkins
Will an ice age
occur again?
It could happen again! The Earth’s
climate fluctuates between warm and
cool cycles. When the Great Ice Age
occurred, the earth was in a massive
cooling cycle. In the years 1350-1850,
another cooling period, known as the
Little Ice Age, caused stunted growth in
trees and plants, resulting in massive
devastation among livestock and
harvests. In this time period, cooler
temperatures were exacerbated by
volcanic eruptions, where volcanic ash
and smoke can keep the sun’s warming
rays from reaching the Earth’s surface.
Today our climate is in a warm interval.
Glaciers are retreating. Threats to the
ozone and our environment could keep
us in a permanent warm period with no
cooling stage in site.
Resources
Check out these great websites for
more information on the ice age:
- Return to the Ice Age:
www.tarpits.org/education/guide
- Ice Ages
www.museum.state.il.us/exhibits/ice ages
- The Big Chill:
www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ice/chill.html
- Utah Geological Survey:
geology.utah.gov/utahgeo/dinofossil/
iceage/iceage.htm
- Woolly Mammoths:
www.crystalinks.com/woollymammoth.html
Coming Soon to the Discovery Rooms:
The Ice Age - A New Exhibit February 2009!
See the "Nature Kids" page to make your own mammoth mask.
© 2008 Nature Discovery Center, Inc.
NATURE DISCOVERY CENTER • 7112 NEWCASTLE, BELLAIRE TX 77401-5225
7 1 3 . 6 6 7 . 6 5 5 0
•
7 1 3 . 6 6 7 . 7 6 5 4
( F A X )
•
w w w . n a t u r e d i s c o v e r y c e n t e r . o r g