1. Coexisting with Carnivores
How can we as humans meet our needs while allowing carnivores to meet theirs?

2. Interview and Mapping activity
In small groups or as a class, discuss the experiences you or your family members have had with carnivores in your community. Make sure to share the stories you heard during your interview! Mark the location of the interaction on the map in the classroom.

3. Select A Landscape Feature:
Let’s brainstorm a list of landscape features, both natural and human-made:
-Forests
-Wetland/Marsh
-Backyards/Fences
-Houses/Neighborhoods/Garbage cans – You can observe carnivores undetected, most of our sightings were in neighborhoods
-Roads
-Lakes
-Parks/Trails

4. I wonder Questions: (comparative) What are you curious about when it comes to carnivores in the landscape feature you chose as a class. -I wonder if carnivores come to our houses for trash or are just migrating through? -I wonder if carnivores would rather eat trash or other animals like pets, or chickens? -I wonder if carnivores prefer garbage over compost? -I wonder if carnivores compete/fight for trash or keep their distance from each other? -I wonder if carnivores eat trash on site, or take it into their habitat?

5. Step 5 – The variables Look at the evidence that you want to collect and choose the ONE factor that you want to measure and examine. This is your Responding Variable: -number of carnivores sighted Your project will be examining how your responding variable changes under different conditions (ex. with or without something, different sizes or types of things). What are some different conditions that can provide evidence to your solution? Pick ONE of these conditions that you want to examine. This will be your Manipulated Variable: -the types of carnivore food around our houses (garbage vs. pets/chickens/food left out/fruit that falls off of trees, etc)

6. Step 6 – Investigative question:
Now you can write your investigative question. Your question should ask how changing your manipulated variable will impact your responding variable.
-How does the presence of attractants in yards (garbage, pets, chickens, pet food, bird food, windfall fruit, etc.) affect the number of sightings/signs of carnivores?

7. Step 7 – prediction
Now we are going to make our official prediction. What do you think the results will be?
-More carnivores will eat garbage because
-it is easy to get/don’t have to catch it
-it is often available all night long (one day a week)

8. Step 8 – Investigative Methods
How are you going to do your investigation? What are the steps you will take to get the observations and data you need to back up your predictions?
Online Survey, lots of data, quick/convenient for us, misinformation, less engaging,
Mapping, easy to interpret patterns in data, things can change rapidly, physical mapping is slow, misinformation/misleading, privacy concern
Camera Traps can collect a lot of pictures, accurate, hard evidence, safe, convenient, limited supply, user error, lot of picture to sort through, possibility of damage
Paper Survey easy, can notice user error on the spot, have to travel far to reach far, hard to engage if mailed
In-Person Survey ask a lot of people and get a lot of data, specific details/stories, lot of time/effort, might not get info from survey takers, people might ignore
Walking Survey reliable info/hard evidence, time sensitive evidence, lot of effort and time, intrusive to carnivore

9. Next steps
Define attractants (garbage, pets, chickens, windfall fruit, pet food)
Sightings or signs of carnivores interacting with at least one attractant.
Do you have any attractants in your yard such as (garbage, pets, chickens, windfall fruit, pet food, etc.)?
Yes No
How many interactions between carnivores (raccoons, coyotes, bobcats, cougars, black bears, foxes) and backyard attractants (garbage, pets, chickens, windfall fruit, pet food) have you witnessed within the last year?
1-3
3-6
>6

10. -People getting confused and giving bad data/making up data
Confounding Factors
What factors might mess up our data collection?
-People getting confused and giving bad data/making up data
-Too many photos on camera trap/problems with camera trap
Minimizing Compounding Factors
-Making our survey questions as clear as possible.
-Optimize settings on camera trap/inform/teach how to use the camera trap.
-Aim camera intentionally to get good data