The Otter Project

©1997 University Primary School - All Rights Reserved

It all Started with... Animals & Homes Otter Representations Do Real Animals Have Names? Poetry Otters & Seals
More Otter Pictures Why Don't They Live Here Anymore? How to Bring Otters Back Fundraising Otter Release More Release Pictures
Writing Folder Examples Questions, Questions   Return to the Main Page
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Throughout the fall semester, the Pre-school classroom collected money for the Illinois Department of Conservation's Otter Recovery Project. This project provided excellent opportunities for students to study and learn about an endangered species. It also provided opportunities for students to count, sort, and organize funds. In all, the class raised $400, which was enough money to sponsor "a whole otter" in the recovery program. On March 22, the otters were released in three locations in Illinois. Below are pictures of the project-work.

 

It all started with...
Discussions about what a Home Is...

As we discussed homes and tried to define what a home is, some children were certain that "bad" people and animals had no homes (lived outside).

Animals and Homes

When we discussed animals and whether or not they had homes, the children came to the conclusion that..."Animals do live outside but have homes. They live in barns, tunnels, holes and in zoos."


He is going back in the water because he is scared. He is scared of a man chasing him. He is going to his home in the water. He is very, very nice. The sunshine is falling down.


This is the girlfriend otter. She is in her hole. The other otter is in the grass. You can’t see his feet because they are down in the grass.


This is the otter; she’s swimming in the river. This is her house, and this is the mud slide. This is where she drinks.


He is in the grass. He is in his home. The sun is shining.

Otter Representations
One of the children brought a real, stuffed otter to school to share with us. We discussed what we thought the animal was like in life. Since we did not know much about otters, we read several books about otters.


"LMIOM" Otter 12/10/96


An otter 12/2/96


This is an otter 12/12/96

After we read Flip, the Otter we made a second list of ideas about what an otter would like in his "home". Here is our list: Straw for nests; Fish and nest; Birdseed; Mud slides and water; Water, bank or beach, river; Leaves, trees; Forest; Sticks; Water; Sand.


This is sunshine. This is my otter. He is sleeping on the grass. There is water.

 

After reading Flip the Otter, this question came up. Do real animals have names? Do mom and dad animals name their babies? One student thought that animals did name their babies but in their own language. Many other students agreed with her. Another student added that he thought that pigs were the only animals that named their babies. Several students all thought that animals did not give their babies names.
Sarah, the otter, is looking for food. She is looking for crayfish fish. She is going to pick the fish up with her mouth. Then she will take it to the bank and eat it. The sun is making it a very warm day. The sun is very hot. The sun is smiling. The sun is yellow. The grass is pretty. She is looking for her house in the grass. The sky is purple. The otter has eyes so she can see where she is going. She has whiskers.

 

We rewrote "Gray Squirrel" to be "Brown Otter".

Otter, Otter, swish your swimming tail.
Otter, Otter, swish your swimming tail.
Flatten down your nose
Spread out your swimming toes.
Otter, Otter, swish your swimming tail.
Otter, Otter, swish your swimming tail.
Put a crayfish on the bank.
Or catch a fish to eat.
Otter, Otter, swish your swimming tail.

 

Differences Between Otters and Seals
One of the children did not understand why the animal we were discussing was called an otter and the picture she had at home was called a seal. We looked at pictures of a seal and compared it to our stuffed otter. These are some of the things the children noticed.

1. Otters and seals look a lot alike.
2. Both swim and eat fish.
3. The seal’s eyes are bigger.
4. The seal has longer whiskers.
5. The otter has short legs and webbed feet, and the seal has flippers. The webbed toes look a lot like flippers.
6. The otter has a long tail, and the seal has flippers at the end.
7. The otter has fur. We could not tell for certain from the picture whether the seal had fur or skin.

 

Writing Folder Examples


This is grass. This is mud. The otter is swimming. It is sunny.


IS AUAOTTER AN I WAS HAPE I WAS UER I HATEBAT THE OTTER 12/9/96


This is an otter waterslide 11/7/97


This is the grass. There are 3 otters.


The otter is trying to get away from the wild tiger cat.


This is a baby otter and a grown up otter. There is a pumpkin.

 

We watched a movie about otters, and some of the children drew more otter pictures.
Many of the children had questions about the otters. Some things were answered in the movie. How can otters get in the water if it has turned into ice in the winter? The moving water does not always become ice.

Return to Otter Menu


I drew a storm, and my otter was in it. He was cold. This is the world around him. The green is the grass by the river. The storm is blowing the river. The white is the winter coming. I think otters are very pretty. He felt soft.

The otter is trying to get out of the rain. He is going to get into the water. He jumps up out of the water. Then he jumps back into the water. Then he swims.

 

Why Don’t Otters Live Here Anymore? (We have not read any information on this topic, but the children had some ideas about why otters might have gone away) When the children were told that otters used to live in this area but no longer do, we had a very interesting discussion about why that might be the case.

Otters got hunted.
Otters got chased.
People chased them out and some people catched otters. Maybe they had construction site and they had to move away.
Some people can run faster than otters.
Some people are too scary-like they have nets.
People scared them away - ‘cuz somebody chases them.
Sometimes there is no food and water and they get extinct.
Sometimes otters catch fish and they don’t want to come because there is not enough water.
They’ve move to the ocean and there would be tons of water and fish for them.
Otters eat the water.
‘Cuz people throw trash in the river.
They got chased out.

 

The children were quite certain that it was unquestionably just and fair to bring an animal back to the place it had once lived. They had a lively discussion about how to help.

I would like to get an otter and bring it home to Illinois.

How Could We Get Money to Help an Otter Move Back to this Area? (students’ suggestions)

We could save up money and go to where there are otters and swim out and get and otter and bring it back.
(We talked about how there were people who were trained to do the catching part, which could be pretty tricky).
We could find money outside.
We could look in the forest for money if people left it behind.
We could go to where our parents work and ask the people for money.
A net with no hole or very small holes could collect money.
We could dig for money.
Find some money in the sand where Alice threw the money.
I have a money holder to collect money.
I could find money at home.
You could ask people in your family...
You can look in trees or on the ground or if mom and dad get money for you.
A money collection.
Maybe they could walk here (the otters, so it wouldn’t take so much money)
We could help them move.

All in all, it was decided that adults were the best source of money.

 

Some of the children chose to collect money for the otter release.

We had collected so many coins that we needed help counting. We went to the University of Illinois Employees Credit Union. They used their machine to count our money. When we came back from the Credit Union, we talked about the machine. Amy drew the parts as we remembered them. We did not see inside all of the machine so we had to make some guesses.

We counted the money collected and made a graph. We had to count too high.

Giving the Collected Money to Conservation Representatives

 

 

Otter Release Pictures
Otters soon after their release - taken by a preschool student

 

More Otter Release Pictures


An otter close-up


Testing out the water...

Waiting in the truck
...and away they go!

 

Questions, Questions

What kind of crayfish do otters like?
Even after you bring them back, how can you make them stay since they went away before?
How do you get them to go into the cage or the truck?
Otters can’t come to the classroom because they would die. Right?
Where will they let the otters go?
Do they breathe under water or hold their breath?
What do they make their house(nest) out of?
How to they breathe under water? How do they breathe the bubbles? (We saw an otter in a movie that breathed bubbles under ice.)
Do they climb trees? They have claws and short legs like squirrels?
How old do otters get?
Can otters eat fish in the water or just on the bank?
We don’t have a long river here. Can river otters swim down rivers and live in the oceans?
Do otters really go down mudslides?
Do they use their tails to swim?
Why do they go in the water to eat fish? Do they ear anything from land?
Do otters like to play with toys?
How do you get them to go to the river if they don’t like the water at that place?

 

©1997 University Primary School - All Rights Reserved