The Idaho Rangeland Outdoors Adventure Mobile (IROAM) youth education project is a cooperative endeavor of the Idaho Rangeland Resources Commission, University of Idaho, Bureau of Land Management, Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation, U.S. Forest Service, and the Idaho Soil and Water Conservation Commission. The “Roaming the Range with Sage” workbook (above) is designed to take students on a seasonal adventure through Idaho’s rangelands in the IROAM trailer (below) or tent. Take this video tour of the IROAM trailer to learn more about what is included in this “adventure.” Coming soon is a four-part book series “Four Seasons with Sage” which takes the reader through the season from the perspective of Sage.
To reserve the trailer or tent, complete and return the I-ROAM reservation form.
The IROAM Rangeland Curriculum provides lessons and activities for K-12 students that can be used for outdoor schools and classroom lessons. The educational trailer compliments the curriculum and can be easily integrated when teaching the various sections of the curriculum. Each section below includes an IROAM guide book, activities, and PowerPoints. The curriculum can be modified and adjusted to meet each teacher’s specific needs.
Life on the Range is an educational project with more than 60 videos and written stories about rangeland management, ranching, and recreation on Idaho rangelands. A few examples are shared in the tabs below for your convenience. The categories include cattle, sheep, education, conservation, noxious weeds, land management, and fire and rehabilitation. This website is updated often with new materials and resources.
IROAM Badges provide rangeland lessons that can be used in the classroom, on field trips, and with the IROAM trailer. IROAM Badge lessons/activities can take as little as 5 minutes, or can be expanded to guide students on longer adventures through rangeland. IROAM Badges focus on rangeland careers and use Sage as the guide.
Any reproduction or distribution must be approved by the Idaho Rangeland Resource Commission.
Contact Gretchen Hyde at ghyde@idrange.org for more information.
- IROAM Rangeland Curriculum Introduction and Guidelines
Introduction and Guidelines
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- IROAM Rangeland Curriculum Teacher Guide: Introduction and Guidelines. This includes information regarding the curriculum format, IROAM Rangeland Certificate, and information on special rangeland topics. (Published 2019)
- Rangeland Skills Checklist (pdf) | Rangeland Skills Checklist (docx)
- Grading Rubric (pdf) | Grading Rubric (docx)
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- IROAM Section 1: Introduction to Rangeland
Key Learning Objectives:
- Use a map legend to evaluate rangeland around the world and rangeland characteristics
- Describe rangeland
- Understand that rangeland is managed for multiple uses to meet the desires and needs of society
Idaho General Education Performance Standards
- LS2-5-3, LS2-5-4, ESS3-5-1, LS2-MS-1, ESS3-MS-3
Teacher Guide, Section 1: Intro to Rangeland (individual sections are below)
Introduction: What is Rangeland?
In this lesson, you will use maps to describe rangeland throughout the world, US, and Idaho.
- What is Rangeland? (Lesson), 20-25 minutes
- What is Rangeland? quiz (pdf) | What is Rangeland? quiz (docx)
- What is Rangeland? (PowerPoint)
- Rangeland Stewardship Crossword Puzzle (pdf)
- Supporting Materials: Rangelands Overview(pdf)
Skills Challenge: Describe Rangeland
In this lesson, you will look at pictures and determine if they are rangeland or not.
- Describe Rangeland (Lesson), 15-20 minutes
- Describe Rangeland (Table)
- Describe Rangeland (PowerPoint)
Rangeland Stewardship: Uses and Values of Rangeland
In this lesson, you will learn about rangeland uses and how people value rangeland.
- Rangeland Stewardship (Lesson). 30-35 minutes
- Can You Have It All? (Survey)
- Uses and Values of Rangeland (PowerPoint)
- Supporting Materials: Recreation Impacts and Opportunities (PowerPoint) | Recreation Impacts and Opportunities (Noteguide)
- Supporting Materials: Fragmentation, Subdivision, and Open Space (PowerPoint) | Fragmentation, Subdivision, and Open Space (Noteguide)
- Supporting Materials: Rangeland Responsibilities… Rat, Retreat, or Respond? (Lesson)
- IROAM Section 2: Rangeland Soils-Under the Surface
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the relationship between soil, water, and plants
- Learn how to hand texture soils
Idaho General Education Performance Standards
- LS2-MS-6, LS2-5-4, LS2-5-3, ESS3-MS-3
Teacher Guide, Section 2: Rangeland Soils (individual sections are below)
Introduction to Rangeland Soils
In this lesson, you will learn about soil texture and how it influences water and nutrients availability to plants, and determine how human impacts (i.e., recreation, grazing) may influence what plants and animals are found on the range.
- Intro to Rangeland Soils (Lesson), 25-30 minutes
- Soil Particle Size (Worksheet)
- Introduction to Rangeland Soils (PowerPoint)
Skills Challenge: Soil Texturing
In this lesson, you will learn how to hand texture soils. This is a skill that is often used by rangeland managers to better understand the environment and what land management practices would be most effective on the landscape.
- Soil Texturing (Lesson), 30-35 minutes (this can get messy, great outside activity!)
- Hand Texturing of Soil (Flowchart, you may want to print and laminate a few copies for students to share)
- IROAM Section 3: Rangeland Plants
Learning Objectives
- Students will learn how to tell the difference between forbs, shrubs, grasses, and grass-like plants.
- Students will collect and identify characteristics of rangelands plants.
Idaho General Education Performance Standards
- LS4-MS-2, LS4-MS-3, LS2-5-2, LS2-5-2, LS4-MS-4, LS2-5-3, LS2-MS-4, LS2-MS-6, PS1-5-2, PS1-5-3, LS1-5-1, LS2-5-4
Teacher Guide, Section 3: Rangeland Plants (individual sections are below)
Introduction to Rangeland Plants and Plant Classification
Most management decisions on rangelands are made by first knowing the various plants inhabiting them. Knowing the types of plants in an area can help people monitor whether changes on the rangeland are positive or negative. Correctly identifying rangeland plants requires knowledge of plant characteristics and plant types.
- Intro to Rangeland Plants (Lesson); 40-45 minutes
- Background Information: Rangeland Plants
- Growth Form (Worksheet)
- Supporting Materials: Range Plant Types (handout)
- Life Span (Worksheet)
- Plant Morphology (Worksheet)
- Idaho Rangeland Plant Classification Guide (requests for booklets can be made by contacting Gretchen Hyde at ghyde@idrange.org
- Introducation to Rangeland Plants (PowerPoint)
- Plant Characteristics (PowerPoint)
- Supporting Materials: What is an Invasive Plant? (pdf)
- Supporting Materials: Ingestion of Toxic Plants by Herbivores (pdf)
Plant Scavenger Hunt
In this activity, students will find plants with certain plant characteristics listed on the scavenger hunt guide.
- Plant Scavenger Hunt (Instructions), 30 minutes-1 hour
- Plant Scavenger Hunt cards (handout)
Skills Challenge: Plant Identification
Identifying plants can be a challenge but with practices it can also be fun! Identification starts with observing the plant characteristics—as described above—and then distinguishing between different plants.
In this section, you will find a plant list that is a great place to start (all of these plants are included in the Idaho Rangeland Assessment CDE and Western National Rangeland Assessment CDE). Both of the CDE websites have links to herbarium mounts for each of the plants on the list.
- Plant Identification (instructions)
- Plant List
- App: Idaho Wildflower Search
- App: Idaho Grasses
- App: PictureThis
- Resource: Pacific Northwest Herbari
- Resource: Plants Database
- Supporting Materials: Constructing a Dichotomous Key | Constructing a Dichotomous Key (handout) | Dichotomous Key for Grasses |Glossary: Dichotomous Key for Grasses | Dichotomous Key for Grasses (handout)
- Supporting Materials: Collecting and Mounting Rangeland Plants
- Optional Activity: Range Plant Pictionary
- IROAM Section 4: Water on Rangeland
Learning Objectives:
- Learn how to read a topographic map and create a watershed
- Describe characteristics of uplands vs. riparian areas
- Evaluate the effect of precipitation on rangelands
- Learn about watering management tools and how they can be used to increase livestock grazing distribution
Idaho General Education Performance Standards
- ESS2-5-1, ESS2-MS-2, ESS2-MS-3, ESS2-MS-4, ESS2-MS-6, ESS3-MS-3, LS1-5-1, LS2-MS-all, ESS3-MS-1, PS1-5-2, PS1-5-3, ESS2-5-2, LS4-MS-6, LS2-5-4, ESS2-5-2, ESS3-MS-5, ESS3-5-1
Teacher Guide, Section 4: Water on Rangeland (individual sections are below)
What is a Watershed?
Land managers care for rangeland, forests, and croplands by managing the health of the watershed. A watershed is an area of land that drains water to the same endpoint.
In this lesson, you will learn about watersheds and practice reading topographic maps.
- What is a watershed? (Lesson), 20-25 minutes
- What is a watershed? (PowerPoint)
- How to Read a Topographic Map (Handout)
Skills Challenge- Build Your Own Watershed
- Build Your Own Watershed (Instructions)
- Supporting Materials: Big Meadow Creek Land Use (PowerPoint) | Big Meadow Creek Land Use (Handout) | Big Meadow Creek (Map)
Uplands vs. Riparian Lands
Rangelands are generally classified into three types of areas that have distinct hydrologic (i.e., water) regimes and plant communities, these are upland, riparian, and wetlands.
- Uplands and Riparian (Lesson), 15-20 minutes
- Uplands and Riparian (PowerPoints)
- VennDiagram (Handout)
Impacts of Precipitation on Rangelands-Photo Series
Weather and climate are highly influential factors determining how rangelands change over time. Water is the primary limiting resource on rangelands, and vegetation production depends heavily on both water availability and suitable growing temperatures. Idaho’s rangelands, while for the most part are very dry and cool, can experience great variation in moisture and temperature depending on region, slope, and aspect. Idaho Precipitation that is received on a landscape can vary substantially from year to year.
- Impacts of Precipitation on Rangeland (Lesson), 20-25 minutes
- Photo Series (PowerPoint)
- Precipitation Graphs (Handout)
Management Options-Water Developments and Grazing Distribution
Because rangeland is located mostly in arid climates with relatively low precipitation, water is precious. Ranchers and land management agencies such as the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), develop water sources for both wildlife and livestock on private and public lands
- Management Options-Water Developments (Lesson), 1o minutes
- Management Options (PowerPoints)
- IROAM Section 5: Home on the Range-Wildlife and Livestock
Learning Objectives:
- Identify and describe the four essential components of habitats: food, water, cover, and
- Describe factors that limit habitat
- Recognize that rangeland plants are a renewable resource
- Summarize the effect of different types of forage on different grazing
Idaho General Education Performance Standards
- LS2-5-3, LS2-4-4, LS2-MS-2, LS2-MS-5, LS2-MS-3, LS2-MS-1
Teacher Guide, Section 5: Home on the Range-Wildlife and Livestock (individual sections are below)
What is Habitat?
Rangelands (both private and public) provide essential habitat for livestock and wildlife. Their rich ecological diversity provides food, cover, and rearing-ground necessary for countless mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, fishes, and insects. In this lesson you will about the essential components of habitat.
- What is Habitat? (Lesson), 20-25 minutes
- What is Habitat? (PowerPoint)
- What is Habitat? (Worksheet)
What’s for Dinner?
In natural ecosystems, each animal species occupies its own niche, which enables the animals to share the same habitat. Some niches overlap, leading to competition between animals. Most animals, however, have food or other habitat preferences slightly different than those naturally occurring in the same area. In this lesson you will learn about forage preferences for wildlife and livestock.
- What’s for Dinner? (Lesson), 20-25 minutes
Ice Cream Plants and Animal Skull Discovery
Who likes ice cream? What kinds of ice cream do you like? Are there flavors that you don’t like? Animals are the same way. Cows will eat plants that deer won’t and that’s why they can coexist on the range. They eat different plants, so they don’t always compete.
- Ice Cream Plants and Animal Skull Discovery (Lesson), 20-25 minutes
- Animal Skull Pictures (PowerPoint)
- Animal Skulls (Worksheet)
How Much Food Do Animals Eat?
Different types of animals require different amounts of food each day. In this lesson you will learn about ruminants, hind-gut fermenters, and concentrate selectors.
- How Much Food do Animals Eat? (Lesson), 10-15 minutes
- How Much Food do Animals Eat? (PowerPoint)
- How Much Food do Animals Eat? (Worksheet)
Skills Challenge: Animal Identification
Identifying animals is an important job in rangeland management. It can be challenging but with practice it can also be fun!
- Skill Challenge: Animal Identification (Instructions)
- Animal List
- Supporting Resources: Idaho Species (IDFG)
- Supporting Resources: iNaturalist app
- Supporting Resources: The National Wildlife Federation apps
- Supporting Materials: Oh Deer!
- Supporting Materials: Identify the Grazer (Lesson) | Identify the Grazer (Handout)
- Supporting Materials: Rangeland Herbivores (Lesson) | Rangeland Herbivores (Handout)
- Supporting Materials: Foraging Strategies (PowerPoint)
- Supporting Materials: Grazing Animal Behavior (PowerPoint)
- IROAM Section 6: Fire on the Range
Learning Objectives:
- Describe each component of the fire triangle
- Describe the components of the fire behavior triangle
- Explain fuel management techniques, including the “Green and Brown” guide
- Determine which types of fuels burn best
- Identify and compare the effects of slope, woody species arrangement, and understory growth on fire behavior.
Idaho General Education Performance Standards
- ESS2-5-1, PSI-5-3, PSI-MS-2, ESS3-5-1, ESS3-MS-2, ESS3-MS-3, PS3-MS-2, PS3-MS-3, LS2-MS-6
Teacher Guide, Section 6: Fire on the Range (individual sections are below)
Fire Triangle, Fire Behavior Triangle, and Fuel Management
Fire is an important and natural part of rangelands. Many plant and animal species have adapted to fire and can benefit from it. Fires can clean out diseased or dead forage and trees. However, just like floods and other natural disasters, fire can produce dramatic change in a short period of time.
In this lesson, you will describe what is fire, major factors that contribute to fire behavior, and fuel management techniques.
- Fire Triangles and Fuel Management (Lesson), 15-20 minutes
- Fire Triangles and Fuel Management (PowerPoint)
- Fire Triangles (worksheet)
- Grazing Invasive Annual Grasses: The Green and Brown Guide
What Burns Best?
Plants can be made up of a lot of water (immature plants can be made up of 75%). As the summer progresses, plants lose water through transpiration. As they lose water, they turn from green to brown.
In this lesson, you will explore how plants burn with different amounts of fuel moisture.
- What Burns Best? (Lesson), 20-25 minutes
- What Burns Best? (worksheet)
- Fire Safety Procedures (pdf) | Fire Safety Procedures (PowerPoint)
Skills Challenge: Matchstick Rangeland
No rangeland wildfire is the same! In this challenge, you will create different rangelands and see how wildfire behavior changes based on fuel loads (e.g., matches), ignition locations, and topography.
- Matchstick Rangeland (Lesson), 30-45 minutes
- Matchstick Rangeland (worksheet)
- Fire Safety Procedures (pdf) | Fire Safety Procedures (PowerPoint)
- IROAM Section 7: Plant and Animal Interactions
Learning Objectives:
- Demonstrate an understanding of food webs, discover the many ways that plants and animals on rangeland are connected.
- Describe livestock grazing systems
- Calculate stocking rates
Idaho General Education Performance Standards
- PS3-5-1, LS2-5-3, LS2-5-4, LS2, MS-1, LS2-MS-2, LS2-MS-4, LS2-MS-5, LS2-MS-6
Teacher Guide, Section7: Plant and Animal Interactions (individual sections are below)
Web of Life
Rangelands are complex, living systems that are composed of many different animals and plants that interact with and depend on each other. A food chain is a simplified way of showing these relationships between plants and animals on rangeland. A food web represents the interactions of many food chains in an ecosystem.
In this lesson, you will create a food web (i.e., Web of Life) on rangeland.
- Web of Life (Lesson), 20-25 minutes
- Web of Life cards pdf | docx
Additional Resources:
- Ecosytem Production (PowerPoint, supports Web of Life)
Skills Challenge: Calculating Stocking Rates
Grasses, forbs, and shrubs that grow on rangeland are important sources of forage for grazing animals. Ranchers, land managers, and scientist work together to develop grazing practices that sustain healthy ecosystems while supporting livestock production.
In this lesson, you will learn how to calculate stocking rates (including forage supply and forage demand) for the Sage Ranch.
- Calculating Stocking Rates (Lesson), 40-45 minutes
- Sage Ranch (Worksheet)
- Sage Ranch (Worksheet and Answers)
Additional Resources:
- Grazing Management Principles (PowerPoint)
Livestock Grazing Systems
Rangelands produce various types and amounts of vegetation every year. The amount of vegetation growth varies depending on plant type, topography, precipitation, climate, and soils.
In this lesson, you will learn about grazing systems that rangeland managers use to improve rangeland conditions and maintain the health of livestock.
- Livestock Grazing Systems (Lesson), 40-45 minutes
Additional resources:
- Grazing Systems (PowerPoint)
- Grazing Systems in Action (PowerPoint) | Grazing Systems in Action (Handout)
IROAM Badges
Each badge focuses on a rangeland career. Badges (i.e., stickers) can be requested from the IRRC to distribute to students when they complete the badge. Most lessons/activities can be used for field trips, with the IROAM trailer, and in the classroom with few modifications.
Rangeland Explorer
Explore rangeland and learn about the importance of biodiversity.
Rangeland Explorer Handout
Rangeland Rancher
Ranchers manage livestock and the land with many different tools. On this adventure you will identify the tools you find.
Rangeland Rancher Handout
Rangeland Manager
Rangeland managers have “hands-on” jobs that involve rangeland plants, livestock, wildlife and their environment. On this adventure, you will learn about the major land cover types in Idaho and wildlife habitat.
Rangeland Manager Handout
Rangeland Scientist
Rangeland scientist focus on many different topics including plants, livestock, wildlife, the environment (including wildfires and climate) and all the interactions between them. Some rangeland scientist focus on economics and others are social scientist that focus on how humans interact with the environment and each other! In these activities, you will learn about plant roots and the influence of precipitation on how plants grow each year.
Rangeland Scientist (Plant Roots) Handout
Rangeland Scientist (Precipitation Wheel) Handout (IROAM Trailer activity)
Rangeland Steward
We can all be stewards of rangeland! A steward is responsible to care for the land. On this adventure, you will be asked to notice how people use rangeland and think of ways we can all work together to keep rangeland healthy.
Rangeland Steward Handout
Rangeland Firefighter
Firefighters risk their lives to protect us when fires start. On these adventures you will learn about the fire triangle, common causes of fire on rangeland, and what you can do to prevent wildfires.