Tribes create animal field guide mobile app
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News from the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes
POLSON — The Division of Fish, Wildlife, Recreation and Conservation developed an Animal Field Guide mobile app for elementary, middle, and high school students. The mobile app, entitled “Animal Field Guide – Flathead Reservation: Riparian Species,” focuses on animals commonly encountered along the lower Flathead River and other streams of the Flathead Reservation. It includes fish, reptiles, amphibians, mammals and birds that biologists classify as “riparian species.” Most if not all of the animals on the app are also found along rivers and streams throughout the Pacific Northwest. For each, the app includes photos, a description, and a range map. For mammals, there is a track guide, and where appropriate, the audio recordings of the sounds made by the animal (for example, an elk bugle). For birds, we also included songs and calls along with their natural history.
The app allows students to create their own observation lists and record their sightings and send them to the Tribes’ Natural Resource Department where they will be posted on a special student page on the Tribes website.
The app is compatible with iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Kindle Fire, Nook Tablet, and other Android devices and is available as a free download on app stores. Go to www.csktfwapps.org for the free download.
Finally, the app includes nature activities that teachers can use with their students, including: counting species, identifying tracks, adopting a mitigation area, learning Salish and Kootenai animal names, writing a journal, and having fun.
This app intends to further complement and enhance the River Honoring experience for fourth and fifth graders and provide a place-based, experiential educational tool for middle and high school students.
While the Lower Flathead River DVD was prepared for classroom use both before and after the annual river honoring, this app will be designed for use during the River Honoring and anytime the students are visiting riparian areas along any of the Reservation’s streams and rivers.
The project goals are to:
• Provide additional educational materials to support the River Honoring
• Meet the needs of teachers (who have requested just such an app), • Provide further incentives for teachers to utilize the river and adjacent Tribal mitigation lands for educational field trips
• Provide students with a compelling educational tool they can use on their own outside of the classroom.
