Interview the Residents of America’s Serengeti

Welcome to your gateway for exploring the vital, yet often overlooked, shortgrass prairie of Southern Colorado. Once a landscape defined by millions of roaming bison and sprawling prairie dog colonies, this "American Serengeti" is now one of the most threatened biomes in North America. This resource page, developed by the Southern Plains Land Trust, invites your students to go beyond the textbook through the lens of Rewilding. By integrating historical ecological data with interactive AI spaces, students can engage in direct "conversations" with keystone species to understand their roles in habitat restoration. 

A Choose Your Own Adventure Learning Activity

1) Have Students select and research a species of the Colorado Plains 

2) Then have students use SchoolAI to interview that species to learn more

Key Concepts for Your Students

To help frame their exploration, you might want to highlight these three pillars of the Southern Plains Land Trust mission:

• Biodiversity Restoration: Moving from degraded land back to a vibrant, multi-species ecosystem.

• Keystone Species: Understanding how specific animals (like bison or prairie dogs) act as "ecosystem engineers." A keystone species is a plant or animal that plays a critical role in its ecosystem. If removed, the ecosystem would change drastically, leading to habitat degradation and even ecosystem collapse.

• The Rewilding Philosophy: Shifting from "managing" nature to "enabling" natural processes to heal the land and waterways.

The mission is to protect and restore the Southern Plains: America’s Serengeti.

Virtual Field Trips

If you are interested in having a member of the Southern Land Trust Science Team virtually join your classroom, contact Dr Judith Westveer at judith@southernplains.org. Presentations can be adjusted for grade level and specific science content. 

Rewilding 

The Southern Plains Land Trust is working hard to restore the prairie to its original state. Native grasses get a chance to flourish and wildlife gets space to roam. They believe in the concept of ‘Rewilding’ - a progressive approach to conservation where it's all about letting nature take care of itself. Enabling natural processes to shape the plains and the streams and repair degraded landscapes. Through rewilding, wildlife's natural rhythms create wilder, more biodiverse habitats.

Southern Plains - Meet the Residents Resource Page

School AI Connections

Below are SchoolAI Spaces built using our science standards, created to bring science to life. Use them as is, or "Remix" the space and make it your own, and tailor content to fit your students' specific needs and learning styles.

What are SchoolAI Spaces - School AI spaces are interactive, personalized learning environments where students can engage with artificial intelligence for various academic tasks. These spaces can act as personalized tutors, generate customizable activities, and provide tools like "choose your own adventure" tasks. Teachers can use these spaces to offer support, gather formative assessments, or provide dynamic lessons, while monitoring student progress through a dashboard. Learn More about SchoolAI Spaces

Examples of Remix Ideas

• Put a time limit on the space to fit with your day's schedule

• Include an exit ticket of 3 questions based on misconceptions by students

• Virtual Lab Assistant: Combine an image-generating Space with science concepts (e.g., "show me a volcano erupting with lava types") to visualize experiments.

To make the AI interactions effective for middle and high schoolers, the prompts should move beyond simple "What do you eat?" questions. These suggestions focus on systems thinking—encouraging students to see how one species affects the entire landscape.

Discussion Prompts: Critical Thinking

These are designed for students to type into the AI chat to spark a deeper dialogue about the ecosystem.

• The "Engineer" Question: "As a keystone species, how does your daily life (eating, moving, or building) create a home or a food source for an animal that is completely different from you?"

• The "Rewilding" Debate: "Humans are trying to 'rewild' this land. From your perspective as a [Species Name], what is the single biggest change you’ve noticed since the Southern Plains Land Trust started protecting your habitat?"

• The Climate Connection: "The shortgrass prairie is known for being a tough environment. How do you help the prairie stay resilient during a long drought or an intense Colorado summer?"

• The Historical Comparison: "Your ancestors lived here 150 years ago in much larger numbers. What is the biggest challenge your species faces today that your ancestors didn't have to worry about?"

Talk to the Prairie Residents

Launch this session and to speak to Prairie Dogs on the Colorado Plains

(Teachers use the Preview & Launch Link above to create your own session or to "remix" the space)

Launch this session and to speak to Western Meadowlark on the Colorado Plains

(Teachers use the Preview & Launch Link above to create your own session or to "remix" the space)

Launch this session and to speak to Beaver on the Colorado Plains

(Teachers use the Preview & Launch Link above to create your own session or to "remix" the space)