Summer Prairies coloring and teaching poster

              WHAT IS A PRAIRIE?
A prairie is a type of grassland. Its name comes
from the French word for “meadow.” You may
have heard of the steppes in Asia, the pampas
in South America or the veldt of Africa. These
places are all grasslands, too. Grasslands cover
about one-fourth of the earth’s surface and are
the largest habitat in North America.
Prairies usually form on level or smoothly rolling
landscapes. These areas have a dry or cold sea-son
that kills the plants. Most of the prairies in
North America developed in places where the
amount of rainfall each year is low. The Illinois
prairies receive enough rainfall to support large
trees. Frequent fires stop trees from overcrowd-ing
prairie plants.
HOW DIDTHE ILLINOIS
PRAIRIES FORM?
Most of the land in the northern two-thirds of
Illinois is flat. The land was shaped by glaciers
that moved through. These giant walls of ice
formed and spread at a time when the climate
in North America was much colder than it is
now. The massive weight and grinding action of
the glaciers pushed the soil and flattened it.
Four major glaciers covered parts of Illinois dur-ing
this period that ended about 12,000 years
ago. One of the glaciers, the Illinoian, moved as
far south as Carbondale in southern Illinois. This
point was as far south as any glacier in the
United States reached in this period of glacia-tion.
The weather conditions in Illinois over thousands
of years helped determine that prairies would
exist in Illinois. The climate of the prairies is
characterized by hot, dry summers and cold win-ters.
When these conditions developed about
8,300 years ago, the tallgrass prairie became a
major part of Illinois.
As the climate warmed and the glaciers began to
melt, huge amounts of water flowed from them.
These moving waters helped to form today’s river
valleys, especially of the large rivers in Illinois,
like the Mississippi and Illinois. The waters also
carried much sand and gravel. This load of rocky
material was dropped to the river bottom when
the water current slowed. Eventually the glaciers
produced less water, and the rivers became
smaller. Some of the material carried by the
rivers was now out of the water. Along the Illi-nois,
Mississippi, Green and Kankakee Rivers, sand
prairies were formed by this process.
TYPES OF PRAIRIES
Prairies are a mixture of grasses and forbs.
Forbs are plants with broad leaves, like wild-flowers.
Grasses have narrow leaves. Grasses are
the dominant plant type in the prairie. To com-pete
with grasses, some forbs send their roots
further into the soil than the grasses so that
they may reach water and nutrients that the
grasses cannot. Short forbs bloom early in the
spring before the grasses start growing, while
taller forbs bloom later in the season.
Prairies are classified as wet, mesic or dry. Wet
prairies have much water present in the soil.
Plants like cord grass, common mountain mint
and New England aster grow here. Mesic prairies
have a medium amount of water during the year.
Big bluestem, black-eyed Susan, compass-plant,
rattlesnake master and yellow coneflower live in
mesic prairies. Dry prairies are inhabited by such
plants as little bluestem, leadplant, purple
prairie clover and rough blazing-star.
COUNT THEM!
HOW MANY TOADS CAN YOU FIND ON
THIS PAGE?
AFTER YOU FIND THEM, COLOR THEM!
DISTRIBUTION OF THE PRAIRIES
In 1820, Illinois had 22 million acres of prairie
and 14 million acres of forest. Prairies were
mainly in the northern two-thirds of the state
with forest in the southern one-third. All but
nine current Illinois counties had large areas of
prairie. In central Illinois, trees could only be
found in scattered sites called “prairie groves.”
Illinois was the first state that settlers from
the eastern part of the country travelled to that
had such large areas of grasslands. These set-tlers
are responsible for calling Illinois the
“prairie state.”
By 1900 most of the Illinois prairie was gone.
The development of the self-cleaning steel plow
and the richness of the soil led to the conver-sion
of most of this land to agricultural prac-tices.
By 1978 less than 2,300 acres of
high-quality prairie remained. Most of the undis-turbed
prairie sites in Illinois today may be
found along railroads, in pioneer cemeteries or
on land unsuitable for farming.
PRAIRIE PLACE NAMES
Living on the prairie was not easy. The many
biting insects found there made life miserable
for everyone. The grasses grew so high that
people could not see over them. People got lost
because there were few landmarks to guide
them. The weather, ranging from droughts to
blizzards, was often unpleasant. Yet, many set-tlers
remained.
Some prairie sites were given unusual names by
the people who settled there. “Froggy Prairie” in
Adams County came about from a spelling bee.
The frogs on the prairie were calling so loudly
during the spelling bee that the teacher had to
shout to be heard. A student said that the place
was “froggy,” and the name stuck.
“Macoupin Prairie” in Greene County comes from
the Native American word “macoupin.” It was
the name they gave to an aquatic plant whose
roots were used for food. Today, we call the
plant “water lotus.”
“Crow Prairie” in Putnam County was named for
the many crows in the region. “Horse Prairie” in
Randolph County was named for wild horses in
the area that had escaped from French settlers.
“Buckeye Prairie” of Christian County alerted
people that the settlers here were from Ohio,
the Buckeye State.
CROSSWORD PUZZLE
Use the information on this poster to help you
solve the puzzle.
ACROSS
3. an extirpated prairie animal
4. a plant with broad leaves, like a wildflower
6. a type of grassland
9. someone who moved to Illinois to settle
10. the prairie soil, packed with plant roots
DOWN
1. a massive, moving wall of ice
2. a butterfly of the prairie
5. the dominant plants of the prairie (have
narrow leaves)
7. a prairie amphibian, the American
8. the type of prairie where leadplant grows
FIRE
Fires occurred often on the prairies. Because the
ground was flat and unbroken by roads or other
objects, fires moved quickly and covered huge
areas. Fire is good for the prairie ecosystem.
Fire removes the dead stems and leaves of
prairie plants above ground without killing the
roots. These plants can grow again after a fire
from either their roots or their seeds. Fire helps
to stop the growth of shrubs and trees in the
prairie by killing the living parts that are above
the soil. These plants do not grow back from
their roots as easily as grasses. It is believed
that frequent fire was the reason that Illinois
was covered with mostly prairie instead of forest
when the pioneers arrived.
PRAIRIE PLANTS
When the settlers first arrived in Illinois, many
thought that the prairie soil was poor since no
trees grew on it. They were wrong. The soil was
and is very rich in nutrients that plants need to
grow. Bacteria and fungi break down dead or-ganisms,
returning nutrients to the soil. Grasses
grow so densely on the prairie that the soil is
packed with their roots. This prairie “sod” helps
to conserve both soil and water. It acts like a
sponge when rain falls. Some settlers even used
sod to build their house.
Big bluestem is the state prairie grass. This
plant may grow to a height of 12 feet!
The compass-plant has leaves in a north-south
arrangement to allow the most sunlight to be
absorbed. The plant may grow 10 feet tall.
Black-eyed Susan plants are covered with hair-like
structures, making them feel rough when
touched.
Downy gentian’s flowers are blue-purple. When
downy gentian is found today in a natural
prairie, it means that the area is undisturbed.
Rattlesnake master, as its name implies, was
used to make a drink as an antidote to rat-tlesnake
venom. Pioneers believed that if this
plant was present then the eastern massasauga,
a prairie rattlesnake, must be near.
PRAIRIE ANIMALS
Prairie animals must withstand changing weather,
danger from predators, dry conditions and other
hazards, like fire. To meet these challenges,
many prairie animals are able to burrow into
the soil, run fast, fly or blend into their sur-roundings.
Prairie birds must often nest on the
ground since there are few trees available.
The northern harrier is an endangered Illinois
raptor. This hawk has slim, long wings and a
long tail. Its white rump patch makes it easy to
identify.
The Illinois state insect, the monarch butterfly,
lives on the prairie. The female lays her eggs on
milkweeds, which the larvae use for food when
they hatch. The monarch is a migratory butter-fly.
The sedge wren builds its nest in the prairie
grasses. This tiny bird eats insects and spiders
that it finds in the grasses or on the ground.
The thirteen-lined ground squirrel eats stems,
leaves, seeds and roots of prairie plants and in-sects.
This small rodent lives in burrows it digs
in the rich soil. The burrows may be as deep as
1 1/2 feet.
The American toad is a prairie amphibian. It is
active at dusk or at night, seeking insects and
worms to eat. Females tend to be larger than
males.
ENDANGERED AND THREATENED
SPECIES OF THE PRAIRIE
Because much of the prairie has been destroyed,
many of the organisms that depend upon it for
their habitat (food, water, shelter, space) have
been forced to move to new habitats or have
become very scarce themselves. Did you know
that bison and elk once lived in Illinois? They
were the largest mammals of the Illinois
prairie. Many were killed by pioneers and used
for food and hides. Others lost their habitat to
agriculture and settlement. With the loss of
habitat, these animals vanished from Illinois,
although they still lived in other states. They
were extirpated.
Today the list of threatened or endangered
prairie species in Illinois includes plants, butter-flies,
frogs, snakes, birds and mammals. Without
the large continuous grasslands, these organisms
will always find survival to be difficult. Prairie
restoration efforts help to keep these organisms
alive.
CELEBRATE THE PRAIRIES!
The third full week in September is celebrated
as “Prairie Week.” This annual event occurs
thanks to a law passed by the state legisla-ture.
The purpose of the observance is to de-velop
in people an appreciation of prairies.
Many activities are conducted during this time
in places like parks and nature centers. Demon-strations
on how to develop prairies and nature
walks through prairies are some of the events
in which you might want to participate.
CAN YOU FIND THEM?
COUNT THE NUMBER OF EACH TYPE OF PRAIRIE
SPECIES DRAWN ON THIS PAGE.
MAMMAL BIRD
REPTILE AMPHIBIAN
INSECT PLANT
MIXED UP WORDS
UNSCRAMBLE THESE PRAIRIE TERMS. USE THE
INFORMATION ON THE POSTER TO HELP YOU.
saesrgs
orsbf
iols
gib etsmelub
reiiarp
esmic
reif
sionb
yellow coneflower
sand reed
lark sparrow
compass-plant
prairie dock
New England aster
yellow
coneflower
northern harrier
killdeer
sedge wren
white wild
indigo
rattlesnake master American toad
ox-eye
sunflower
eastern meadowlark
purple prairie clover
black-eyed Susan
meadow
anemone
wild bergamot
monarch butterfly
thirteen-lined ground squirrel
elk
spiderwort
sand
milkweed
American bison
MAZE
HELP THE THIRTEEN-LINED GROUND
SQUIRREL FIND ITS WAY INTO ITS
BURROW.