Pupil Activity
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Activity 7 - Conserving the water vole leaflet
Design a leaflet promoting the conservation of the water vole. Include:
- what the water vole looks like, its food, habits and habitat;
- its main threats;
- why its protection is urgently needed; and
- what can be done to help conserve the water vole.
You will need to:
- research information for the leaflet from the websites below;
- think about the design of the leaflet and the illustrations you wish to use; and
- think up a catchy title to interest people to read the leaflet.
Distribution maps of water vole and American mink can be downloaded from the National Biodiversity Network gateway website and used to illustrate your leaflet. By investigating maps for different dates, for example 1980, 1990, 1998 and the current year, you should be able to see the change in water vole and American mink populations.
Websites
- National Biodiversity Network gateway
www.searchnbn.net - Water vole
www.biodiversitystories.co.uk/
www.snh.org.uk/publications/on-line/wildlife/voles/default.asp
www.snh.org.uk/pdfs/species/watervole.pdf
www.arkive.org/species/ARK/mammals/Arvicola_terrestris/ - www.snh.org.uk/pdfs/education/watervoles.pdf
- www.snh.org.uk/pdfs/education/poster/p-watervoles.pdf
- American mink
www.snh.org.uk/pdfs/trends/posters/NHT10.pdf
www.arkive.org/species/ARK/mammals/Mustela_vison/
Other resources
- Conserving the water vole free leaflet available from Scottish Natural Heritage www.snh.org.uk/pubs/results.asp?q=water+vole&searchdest=2