|
|
WILD FRIENDS
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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)
|
