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Youth Curriculum


Curriculum is constantly being developed to help both formal and informal educators teach concepts about wild sheep, conservation and the importance of natural places.


Educational check out kits and downloadable items are available through the Wild Sheep Foundation at no cost. Class sets of education resources and many more wild sheep lesson plans to use in educating youth about bighorn sheep may be available.

Contact rbrock@wildsheepfoundation.org for more information.
 

Youth Education Video Resources

Check out our  collection of 3-6 minute video clips covering various topics about wild sheep. These were created specifically to be shown by teachers in their classrooms and go along well with the free teacher check-out kit that Wild Sheep Foundation can send out to schools.  They also provide quick wild sheep information to anyone.

EDUCATIONAL VIDEOS  

LESSON PLANS

CLONING WILD SHEEP

Students learn about a recent man who pleaded guilty for illegally importing Asian sheep parts into the U.S. to clone a hybrid sheep. Students research cloning and come to form a claim whether cloning should be used in relation to wild sheep, especially on the topic of hybrid sheep species.
   


ECO-FRIENDLY ISN’T ALWAYS ECO-FRIENDLY (SUGGESTED GRADE LEVEL K-12)

The primary focus of this lesson is to introduce the idea of how difficult it can be to create eco-friendly solutions for current problems without often times developing more problems in areas not originally thought of. Uses engagement of 2023 Colorado Department of Transportation eco-friendly road tar that attracted ungulates to eat it.
   
 

FLIP INFORMATIONAL PAGES (SUGGESTED GRADE LEVELS 3-12)

Could be used by teacher to read facts about sheep or used on a document camera to show class the question and then solicit answers by class before revealing answers on next page. A 3-1/2 minute video titled “conservation success story” gives a synopsis of the decline of wild sheep and how efforts have brought them back from near extinction.    
 

HISTORICAL MAP OF SHEEP POPULATIONS IN U.S. (SUGGESTED GRADE LEVELS 1-12)


Shows how populations of wild sheep have declined after gold discovered in California in 1848 and masses of humans moving into area.  Shows lowest numbers of wild sheep in the 1960s (and forming of Foundation of North American Wild Sheep, currently called Wild Sheep Foundation) and how the populations are increasing because of efforts in conservation and translocation. Could fit well with lesson How Many Bighorns Can Live in this Forest?
   


HOW MANY BIGHORNS CAN LIVE IN THIS FOREST? (SUGGESTED GRADE LEVELS 3-12)


Students will be able to describe the food needs of bighorn sheep and identify a limiting factor and define carrying capacity by becoming a “bighorn” and looking for food in this active simulation.
   


DALL'S SHEEP IN LAS VEGAS? (SUGGESTED GRADE LEVELS 1-8)

Students will design and draw a zoo structure that is appropriate for the survival of Dall'S sheep in a hot climate that is unlike their natural environment and identify problems for Dall's sheep that must be addressed in the zoo structure to mimic its natural environment.
   


DISEASE TRANSMISSION TAG GAME (SUGGESTED FOR GRADE LEVELS 1-8)

Students will be able to generalize that wild sheep can get respiratory infections from domestic sheep through playing a tag style game.
 

 


MURDER EWE WROTE (SUGGESTED FOR GRADE LEVELS 4-8)

Students analyze information about a complicated bighorn sheep population die off, and apply the analysis to understanding all the factors that can lead to a bighorn sheep herd’s population decline.
   


SHEEP EATERS (SUGGESTED GRADE LEVELS 3-12)


Students write a historical fiction account, using historical facts to make it realistic, of a week spent as a Sheep Eater Shoshone (social studies focus). There are also two movies—One film is 1:30 minutes long and the other is 28 minutes long.
   


OVISOPOLOY (SUGGESTED GRADE LEVELS 3-6)


Students play a board game and describe events that both help and inhibit a bighorn sheep during the year.
   


DO WE WANT BIGHORNS HERE?


Through a town hall meeting, students express the pleasures and problems of living in bighorn sheep territory from different points of view.  Focus is on listening and speaking skills, as well as understanding how complex wildlife management is.
   


ADAPTATIONS OF WILD SHEEP (SUGGESTED GRADE LEVELS K-8)

This lesson discusses a few of the adaptations of wild sheep that help them survive.
   


HIGHWAYS BLOCK BIGHORN SHEEP (SUGGESTED GRADE LEVELS 7-12)

This lesson, created by Dr. Clinton Epps and hosted on American Museum of Natural History, focuses on bighorn between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, along Interstate 15, and how barriers such as roads can lead to isolated herds and cause genetic issues. Key Topics: Habitat, Populations, Inbreeding, DNA, Measuring and Map Analysis, and Genetic Diversity.
   


GUZZLERS: WATER CATCHMENT SYSTEMS FOR WILDLIFE

Learn about human-made water catchment systems and how they help bighorns and other wildlife in arid parts of the United States.
 

 


BIGHORN: COMPONENTS OF HABITAT (SUGGESTED GRADE LEVEL 3 -12)

Students learn about essential components of a habitat (space, shelter, food, water) and how these create limiting factors that create yearly fluctuations within a population of bighorn, through a highly involving physical activity. Students can then see actual data of these fluctuations of a herd in Nevada and includes a short PowerPoint of population data and fluctuations of the Last Chance Herd in Nevada.
   


WHAT’S SO DIFFERENT ABOUT THOSE SHEEP? (SUGGESTED GRADE LEVELS 2-6)

Students identify the four subspecies of wild sheep in North America, as well as the habitat of each. Posters, or informational books/tri fold pamphlets are created, identifying each sheep and its habitat, including adaptations for each habitat (primary and intermediate grade texts).
   


POETRY OF THE BIGHORN (SUGGESTED GRADE LEVEL 2-12)

Students use the format of a poem to express what they have learned about wild sheep.  From free verse, to rhyming, Diamante, Cinquain, and Haiku; a variety of formats could be taught to allow students opportunities of different expressions.
   


ORGANISMS IN A STUFFED ANIMAL (SUGGESTED GRADE LEVELS K-8)

Students will learn about different micro-organisms that can impact bighorn sheep, including pneumonia by using a stuffed animal and a PowerPoint.
   


NEVADA BIGHORN SHEEP: ON THE EDGE (SUGGESTED GRADE LEVELS 4-8)

Students work individually, in small research teams, and as a class to answer real-world questions using scientific data collected on wild bighorn sheep in Nevada. After watching the introductory video, students are grouped into six research teams and each team is assigned data from, and a case study about one Nevada bighorn sheep herd. Individually, students use real-world data to calculate missing information from a table with annual population estimates, and then they graph the data. Working collaboratively as a team, students interpret the graphs and analyze the results, answer questions from their Student Pages, create a presentation about their case study, and present findings to their peers. Includes an introductory video lesson and a Post Results PowerPoint.
   


MONTANA WILD BIGHORN SHEEP: ON THE EDGE? (S.T.E.M.) (SUGGESTED GRADE LEVEL 5-8)

Designed for middle school, but effectively used in grades above and below, this multi-day lesson allows students to become specialists with one particular sheep herd in Montana.  Using real data, student scientists graph data and then make analysis of what is impacting herd.  Presentations are then given to class on each herd. Then, students see what actual scientists concluded.  Includes introductory and post results PowerPoints.
 

 


SOLVING THE CHALLENGE: HORSES OF THE WEST & BIGHORN SHEEP (SUGGESTED GRADE LEVELS 3-12)


Students analyze the very complex issue of unmanaged feral (wild) horses on public lands and how this impacts the land and other wild animals like bighorn sheep who live there. Students create solutions and back them up with evidence.
   


FINGER PUPPETS (GRADES 1-3)

Students will write a basic narrative in the form of a play about a bighorn sheep. Next, each student makes a finger puppet using the template and then acts out the play within small groups.
   


POPULATION ESTIMATES (SUGGESTED GRADE LEVEL 4-12)

Students use pinto beans and the Mark and Recapture Method for estimating the size of a population to estimate how many Bighorns (pinto beans) are on a mountain range (in a paper bag).
   


SIERRA NEVADA BIGHORN VS. MOUNTAIN LIONS (SUGGEST GRADE LEVEL 5-12)

Students analyze an endangered species conflict: a legally protected but common predator, the mountain lion, is preying on and driving towards extinction an endangered herbivore, the Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep. Students examine the two perspectives, debate, and finally vote as a mock California State Senate on whether to allow culling of lions that kill bighorns.
   


CREATE A BIGHORN (SUGGESTED GRADE LEVEL K-4)

This art project involves using templates to create a bighorn sheep out of construction paper, ideal for bulletin boards or other projects while learning about bighorn sheep

Create a Bighorn PDF Download
 
 

SOLVING THE CHALLENGE: HORSES OF THE WEST & BIGHORN SHEEP (SUGGESTED GRADE LEVELS 3-12)

Students analyze the very complex issue of unmanaged feral (wild) horses on public lands and how this impacts the land and other wild animals like bighorn sheep who live there. Students create solutions and back them up with evidence.

Horse Rich Lesson Plan PDF Download
 


OTHER LESSON PLANS AND LEARNING TOOLS


STUDENT SCIENTIST SERIES by BEAR TRUST INTERNATIONAL
Uses real-world data to understand wildlife conservation with a variety of different animal species.

TRAIL CAMERA LESSON PLANS By BOONE AND CROCKETT
Three different lessons where students learn about life science using real photos from trail cameras.
 
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