On Nature Study and Antelope

On Monday of last week, for our Nature Study we learned about antelope. I thought this would be fitting since my son, WE, would be going antelope hunting that Friday.

I read some information to the children that I got off the Internet and then we played a game that I had about on tiredmom’s blog. I may have tweaked it some from the original idea but here is how we did it.

We stood around in a circle outside. We had a baseball that we would throw to the person next to us and as the person received the baseball they had to state a fact  they had just learned about antelope. If they couldn’t, then they had to drop out of the game until there was just one person left. This was pretty fun but I wondered how successful it was since one son was a little bent out of shape at another brother and didn’t seem to be too into the game.

Well, they went hunting and every time my husband would call to update me on the hunt he would mention something he had noticed about the antelope. I would tell him what we had read and he’d say, “That’s what the boys said.”

So they had listened well and retained. Then because they were actually able to go scouting and hunting for them it will really help them to never forget what they learned.

By the way, WE was successful and got a beautiful buck (male) antelope. It is our first time to have this meat, which we did last night, and it was delicious! It did not smell or taste like wild game. Very mild. I’m looking forward to the rest of it.

Here are some facts we learned about antelope.

Exceptional eyesight – they have been compared to high powered binoculars

Average life span – 6-8 years

Speed – faster than 60mph

Gestation period – longer than any other big-game animal in the U.S.