Teacher Resources

For detailed and immersive classroom resources exploring the many wonders of the Roald Dahl novel “The Fantastic Mr. Fox”, including assignments and writing prompts, please check out: https://www.roalddahl.com/docs/FantasticMrfoxvector_1542971017.pdf 

Curriculum Connections(BC/Yukon Curriculum): 

• ELA Big Ideas: Language and story can be a source of creativity and joy.
• ELA 2 Big Ideas: Stories and other texts connect us to ourselves, our families, and our communities.
• ELA 4 Big Ideas: Using language in creative and playful ways helps us understand how language works
• ELA 5 Big Ideas: Exploring stories and other texts helps us understand ourselves and make connections to others and to the world.

*The following activity is an adaptation of a wonderful, complete lesson comparing Red and Grey Foxes designed for the Virginia curriculum, which is well worth a look for all teachers: https://emammal.si.edu/system/files/lesson2_adaptation_teacherguide.pdf

OBJECTIVE: The goal of wildlife ecologists is to study how wild animals interact with their environment. One of the most common questions wildlife ecologists ask is where certain species live, and conservation biologists add to this question, asking how humans impact where species choose to live.

Let us attempt to learn how fox species use the habitat available to them in the Yukon, how their adaptations help them live in different habitats, and how human behaviour affects these species.

KEY QUESTIONS:  

• What is a niche?
• What is a generalist vs. a specialist, and how are they affected by human activity?  
• What are adaptations, and what specific adaptations help species exploit certain niches?

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:

• Science K Content: Adaptations of local plants and animals
• Science 4 Big Ideas: All living things sense and respond to their environment
• Science 7 Big Ideas: Earth and its climate have changed over geological time.
• Science 7 Content: Survival Needs: all organisms need space, food, water, and access to resources in order to survive.
• Life Sciences 11 Content: Microevolution: Adaptation to Changing Environments

STEP 1: Introduce the Niche Concept:

•  If you haven’t already done so in this class, introduce the concept of a species’ ecological niche, or its role in an ecosystem, including its interactions with other species and its environment. Niches are defined by many factors, including what a species eats, where it lives, and what it needs to survive. For a great two minute video explaining ecological niches, consider sharing this link with your students: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIVixvcR4Jc
• It can help to use an example, so we would suggest one most Yukon students are familiar with: the Moose. What factors define a Moose’s niche? Have students brainstorm key features and ecological facts about the moose and have groups share them in a doc or write them up together. These may include: Where Moose live, what they eat, how their diet changes throughout the year, what they do to survive the seasonal changes, how they raise their young, who their predators are, who they are competing with for food, etc.  

STEP 2: Brainstorm and research foxes. Now that students have a sense for the traits of an animal that make up its niche, let’s focus on foxes. Individually, have students write down everything they know about foxes. Among the questions they should think about:  

• What is a fox?  
• What do foxes eat? 
• Where do they live?
• How many types (species) of foxes do we have in the Yukon? How about in Canada?
• What are some adaptations of foxes that help them to survive?

Have students discuss their answers in small groups and then share their ideas as a class. Accumulate students’ ideas about foxes on the board or in a doc. It is important to note at this point that the fox facts students list here are based on their observations and opinions, but aren’t necessarily based in science. Students will research more on foxes in a later portion of the lesson, comparing their opinions and observations from a reputable science source (links provided below).

There are two types of foxes in the Yukon, the Red Fox and the Arctic Fox. Prompt students with some questions about niches and these two foxes. Are the observations they listed likely for both foxes? Which fox have they seen or heard about more often? And, the most important question for today’s lesson: If both of these foxes live in the Yukon, are their niches the same? 

 As you discuss this question, it is important that students learn that no two coexisting species can have precisely identical niches. Ecological theory says that one species will always competitively exclude the other if their niches overlap, meaning that they won’t coexist in that space for a long time. So species with similar niches in an ecosystem often partition their resources, meaning that each species takes a different part of a resource. This consequently leads to slightly different niches and the ability to coexist. Resources that are partitioned can be food, habitat, den/nest sites, hunting times (e.g. nocturnal vs. diurnal activity), and many others. For example, two birds living and feeding on insects in the same tree species might appear to have identical niches, but, upon closer look, one bird might feed in the new needle bundles at the top of the tree, while another feeds on the old needles and bare lower branches, allowing them to coexist in those trees due to slightly different niches.

At this point, show your students the clip of an Arctic Fox in Deadhorse Alaska (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqgIIhIM3OE), whose habitat now includes Red Foxes who have followed oil and gas workers into the region. Discuss whether or not these foxes would normally share a habitat. This is a great opportunity for students to do a bit of research. 

To support class discussion of the potential northern movement of Red Foxes, and how this may affect Arctic Foxes, share with your students the following article:  https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/climate-change/changing-land/moving-north

Final questions for class discussion: As the Arctic warms, will Red Foxes enter the habitat or niche of Arctic Foxes? What do you think might happen? What will human behaviour have to do with this? Allow your students time to weigh and consider these questions, and encourage them to write a response.

Here are some helpful links from around the web for excellent sources of information about Red Foxes:

For Yukon-specific Fox content and a great pdf on how to live safely with foxes in the Yukon, we recommend checking out the following:

• Wildwise Yukon’s Fox Page: http://wildwise.ca/foxes
• A helpful PDF for Yukoners on living with Foxes: https://yukon.ca/sites/yukon.ca/files/env/env-living-with-foxes.pdf
• An article on some potential consequences of feeding wildlife: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/whitehorse-feeding-foxes-illegal-1.5580670
• Do you know your Canadian Foxes? Visit this site to compare the differences between each: https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/fabulous-photos-help-you-identify-canadian-foxes
• To show your students a range of photos taken of Red Foxes in the Yukon, including when and where they were taken, iNaturalist is an excellent resource: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=13337&taxon_id=42069

For fast facts, details, and general Fox information, we recommend checking out:

• The National Geographic’s Red Fox Information Page: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/r/red-fox/
• PBS Nature’s Red Fox Information Page: https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/animal-guide-red-fox/2212/
• Canadian Geographic’s Red Fox Information Page: https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/animal-facts-red-fox

We recommend checking out the comprehensive and exciting activities from Scholastic’s Life in the Arctic Tundra Teacher’s page. From their website: “Take your students on an imaginary expedition to the Arctic with these nine activities!” https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/life-arctic-tundra/

Curriculum Connections (BC/Yukon Curriculum):

Science K

• Big Ideas: Plants and animals have observable features.
• Content: adaptations of local plants and animals
  • Adaptations: may include structural features or behaviours that allow organisms to survive
  • Plants: features may include roots, stems, leaves, flowers, seeds
  • Animals: features may include shape, size, feet, teeth, body covering, eyes, ears

Science 4

• Content: sensing and responding:
  • Humans
  • Other animals
  • Plants

Science 7

• Big Ideas: Evolution by natural selection provides an explanation for the diversity and survival of living things.
• Content: Survival needs. All organisms need space, food, water, and access to resources in order to survive.

Check out this discussion and critical thinking activity from https://www.exploringnature.org/db/view/Adaptations-of-the-Arctic-Fox: 

Curriculum Connections (BC/Yukon Curriculum):

• Science 1- Content: behavioural adaptations of animals in the local environment
  • Behavioural adaptations: dormancy, hibernation, nesting, migration, catching food, camouflage (stick bugs), mimicry (fly that looks like bee), territorialism (squirrels fighting), etc.

To broaden the discussion on life in the Arctic, consider this impactful activity from http://resources4rethinking.ca/en/resource/a-warmer-world-for-artic-animals. A description from their website: “The effects of climate change on ecosystems and the distribution of organisms within them are already evident in the Arctic. In this lesson, students will learn about the challenges that climate change presents for four specific Arctic predators. They will explore how such changes ripple throughout ecosystems, habitats, and food webs.”

Curriculum Connections (BC/Yukon Curriculum):

• Science 4: All living things sense and respond to their environment

• Science 7: Earth and its climate have changed over geological time

Here are some helpful links from around the web for excellent sources of information about Arctic Foxes:

• The YWP’s Arctic Fox page: https://yukonwildlife.ca/learn/yukon-wildlife/arctic-fox/
• Canadian Geographic – Canada’s 4 foxes infographic; https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/infographic-canadas-four-foxes
• Canadian Geographic’s Animal Facts Page for Arctic Foxes: https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/animal-facts-arctic-fox
• The Yukon Government’s Arctic Fox Information Page: https://yukon.ca/en/arctic-fox
• The National Geographic’s Information Page on Arctic Foxes: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/a/arctic-fox/
• BBC Earth’s footage of a young fox hunting in the snow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EiV-ERKRRs
• Arctic Fox Fact Sheet: https://onekindplanet.org/animal/arctic-fox/
• Ten Fun Facts About the Arctic Fox: https://arctickingdom.com/10-fun-facts-about-arctic-fox/