WILD FRIENDS
Activity Ideas
    
All the following ideas have been done by various Wild Friends groups
A Wild Friends team can help your group or classroom get started on any of these activities. Contact Carolyn Byers at the Center for
Wildlife Law to request a guest speaker visit and/or to receive
resource materials coded with a
Letter Writing
Each one of us can have power to influence the course of
events by writing effective letters. Writing to your legislator
about a topic you care about is more effective and more important
than most people realize. This is an activity that can be done in
the classroom or out, and it also is one of the most valuable
tools concerned citizens can learn to use. Students also can
write letters newspapers (see below) and to schools or
organizations in other states and/or countries regarding the
wildlife in New Mexico, and request information about wildlife in
another area.
(1) Forms to help your students draft letters, and
(2) addresses of national and state legislators.
Interviewing Newspaper Editors
If your students write letters to their representatives, send
copies to your local newspaper editor. Or students can write
letters directly to the editor and submit them to the newspaper.
Follow up the letters with a request to interview the editor.
Students also can form a panel and request an interview with
their newspaper editor to discuss a wildlife topic of
interest/concern.
Addresses and phone numbers of newspaper editors.
Wildlife Presentations
There are wildlife advocacy speakers who would be happy to
visit your school to help your students learn more about animals
and endangered species in New Mexico. Many presenters will bring
educational materials with them, and a few organizations also
will bring live animals.
Contact list of possible speakers.
Visit from Your State Representative And/Or Senator
Invite your district's state representative to visit your
school. Select a group of students to form a panel. Have students
prepare specific questions in advance for panel members to read
aloud to the representative. (Sample question: What are you doing
to preserve the environment and wildlife for our children?)If your students are interested in participating in a Wild
Friends memorial, they can ask the representative questions about
how to draft legislation. With advance preparation, your class
can ask the representative to assist them with actually drafting
a memorial. Ask the representative to sponsor or co-sponsor their
effort. This draft legislation can become part of a Wild Friends
memorial to go to the New Mexico Legislature.
(1) Information about and forms for step-by-step
drafting of a memorial, and
(2) copies of previous Wild Friends memorials.
Imaginary Legislative Debate
Divide the students into three groups of senators, and have
each take a different position on how to solve a
wildlife/environmental problem (example: protecting endangered
species). Each group should select a spokesperson and a recorder,
and develop a bill that represents its position on how to solve
the problem. Select a person to serve as president of the senate
who will chair the proceedings. Have students debate and vote on
the bills before it.
(1) "Directions for a Senate Debate," and
(2) "How Would You Create a Law?" © 1988 New Mexico Law-Related Education.
Field Trip to UNM Law School and the Center for Wildlife
Law
We would be delighted to show your students around the
University of New Mexico Law School and our Center for Wildlife
Law. They can learn about the law school, what lawyers do, how
the legislature operates and how to begin the process of writing
laws to protect wildlife.
Wild Jobs
Objectives of this activity are to: introduce youth to the
many jobs and careers in the field of wildlife preservation,
education and advocacy; involve senior citizens in sharing their
life-long experiences with wildlife and/or their efforts on
behalf of conservation; generate mutual respect between the
generations around a common interest in wildlife and the
environment. (1) Wild Friends Job Survey Form, and
(2) Ideas about whom to interview.
Playwriting & Puppetry
Invite students to write a script on a wildlife/environmental
topic and act it out before their peers. The use of puppets helps
bring to life the messages and creativity of Wild Friends
participants. Create puppets out of simple materials (check your
library for books on "how to make puppets." Camy Condon
of the Wild Friends staff is a professional puppeteer who can
give you lots of tips.
Copies of plays created by student Wild Friends.
Other recommended resource materials: (1) Wild
Friends Handbook (free); (2) Ecosystem Matters (U.S. Forest
Service (free); (3) The Kids Guide to Social Action,
Barbara A. Lewis, Free Spirit Publishing (1991 -$14.95)
If you are interested in ordering any
of these materials or for further information, contact Carolyn Byers, Center For Wildlife Law, MSC11 6060, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131. (505)277-5089.
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