The questions presented below range from easy to difficult. Select questions most
appropriate for your students and, if necessary, modify the questions so they will be more
useful in your situation. Answers are in italics.
What helps sand hold its shape after an animal has dug a burrow?
Water, or the surface tension of water.
Sand grains spread the force of shock away from the point of contact.
List two things besides animals and humans that move and shape sand.
Wind and water
Imagine you had to build a pit to catch food the way ant lions do. How big
would you need to build your pit? What kind of problems would you have when building your
pit? (A thought question. A quantitative answer is not necessary.)
The pit would need to be huge. Sand is very slippery when it dries. Because the sand
is so slippery, the pit would have to very wide to hold a good angle. The sides would
collapse very easily. Finding an open, sandy area large enough would be difficult.
Why is sand good for digging tunnels and pits?
Sand is easy to dig in. If a burrow or pit is destroyed, another one can be easily
made.
List two qualities of sand that make it a good water storage and recharge area.
Water will drain more quickly through sand because sand grains are large compared to
other soil types. Sand acts as a filter by providing a place for the growth of bacteria
colonies that help remove impurities from the water. Water that sinks deep into the sand
does not evaporate. In deep sand, water even moves beyond the reach of roots.
List three reasons why so many scrub animals burrow.
To stay cool and moist. To keep warm (in winter.) To hide from predators. To keep
their young safe. To survive a fire (the heat only penetrates a few inches). To hunt for
insects.
What animal evidence can you find in the sand of Florida scrub? Put a check
beside any answers below that are true:
footprints or animal tracks
burrows
scat
dens scooped out of the sand under branches
Put a check beside any of the following things you can discover about animals
by looking at their tracks:
what animals think about if an animal was walking or running
how animals "talk" to each other how animals move their legs and feet when they walk
if an animal was big or small
Sand can hold water because of:
suction
surface tension
magnetism
muscles
none of the above
True or False (T or F)
All animals have the same stride. F
Direct register means that none of the animal’s
tracks are touching each other. F Gait means how an animal moves it legs seen in the
pattern of the tracks. T
Birds only hop, they cannot walk. F