Alaska Wood Bison Teacher Guide
This education material was created for 1–12 grade students from communities in western Alaska where wood bison were reintroduced in 2015. Included with each lesson is background information and hands on activities for students to investigate wood bison movements, learn about their ecology, and explore ecotourism opportunities. This curriculum includes a year of location data (available by request through the Alaska Department of Fish & Game) from actual wood bison. Educators can conduct these lessons as stand-alone activities or as part of a larger unit.
To request access to the wood bison location data, download the data sharing agreement (PDF 16 kB). Return the completed form to dfg.dwc.woodbison@alaska.gov.
- Alaska Wood Bison Curriculum (PDF 8,311 kB): 11 lessons and associated materials
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- Lesson 1: Stepping into the hooves of a wood bison
- Lesson 2: What questions can I investigate
- Lesson 3: Tracking wood bison
- Lesson 4: Wood bison ecosystem benefits
- Lesson 5: Wood bison habitat diorama
- Lesson 6: Walking in wood bison habitat
- Lesson 7: Wood bison habitat relay
- Lesson 8: Wood bison and friends
- Lesson 9: Wood bison jeopardy
- Lesson 10: Your living community
- Lesson 11: A wood bison economy
- Lesson 12: Wood bison business game
Additional materials:
- Lesson 8: Wood bison age-gender ID PowerPoint (PowerPoint file 1,726 kB) and Wood bison age-gender jeopardy PowerPoint (ZIP file 1,766 kB)
- Lesson 10: Alaska Wood Bison Business Game: playing board (PDF 1,604 kB) (actual size 24 x 24 inch), playing cards (PDF 420 kB), customer cards (PDF 33 kB) (print 2 per playing board), wood bison money (PDF 60 kB) (print 10 per playing board). A limited number of board games are available for schools in western Alaska. Please contact dfg.dwc.woodbison@alaska.gov if you are interested in these materials.
- Giant habitat diagram (PDF 233 kB)