Tracking Methods & Activities

Ask a group of students if they would like to go outside and track wild animals and hands will go up! This level of excitement can be generated in any learning environment—the principles are basically the same whether you are in a schoolyard, backyard, nearby park, or wilderness area. Animal tracking teaches students to observe, form hypotheses, analyze data, predict, refine hypotheses, and develop conclusions—basically teaching the essence of the scientific method, which is what the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) and STEAM (A for art) programs encourage.