Nature Quest

NATURE QUEST ACTIVITY

Count your kilometres

Challenge yourself to travel under your own steam on all or part of your journey to school.

Wildlife has no choice but to use the power of its wings, fins and feet to move and some species make amazing migrations. Can you match a small proportion of their efforts in just a week or over the whole term?

Why not match a White Stork by walking/cycling 13 km? They travel over 13 000km from Europe to Africa when migrating.

Match the African Paradise Fly-catcher by travelling 10km, these birds travel between 500- 1800km.

Or match Barn Swallows by travelling 11km (they travel 11 000km from Europe to Southern Africa).

Why should I do this, you might ask? On the one hand you’ll be cutting down your carbon footprint and taking an important step forward to help counter global warming. But, beyond this, you’ll also be taking the opportunity to walk or cycle instead of driving which will be good for your health, too!

Counting kilometres is an easy activity and all you really need are a pair of legs, a sturdy pair of shoes and a good pair of eyes. If you prefer you could use a bicycle.

1. Print out our count your kilometres sheet or make a tally chart with names on the left and space to tally up your total on the right.

2. For each kilometre travelled, colour in a bird on your sheet or mark a tally next to each person’s name.

3. At the end of the week or term, add up the tally for the whole class/group and see which animal you are!

Migration Game


You will need 2 sets of numbers e.g. if there are 25 children you will need 2 sets of numbered cards 1-25. Give a number to each child and put a full set of numbers in a bag.


Tell the story of a bird migrating (see www.birdlifezimbabwe.org or www.birdlife.org for inspiration) – on the way they face the following hazards – eggs destroyed by snakes, birds or people, food shortages, sea crossing, hunters, predators, desert crossing, drought, bad weather, nasty chemicals in the food chain, habitat destruction.

For each hazard draw a number or 2 out of the bag to indicate that bird has died and the children are out of the game. How many survive the arduous journey?


Carry out a research project into migrating birds. Lookup www.birdlifezimbabwe.org for facts and figures on the amazing journeys our feathered friends undertake each year.

Don’t forget to email or send us photos/drawings/writing to chirimutaronald@gmail.com or birds@zol.co.zw to demonstrate you’ve completed this activity.