In this Activity, students will learn the FACTS from scientists about how BLM is actually mismanaging OUR public lands by allowing special interest groups, such as the commercial livestock industry, to disproportionately over use resources (food and water); and overgraze the rangeland, thus causing deterioration and wildlife habitat degradation.  
 
Contents in order of use: 
1. Activity 4 Pre-assessment
2. Activity 4 Call ALL Scientists 
3. Activity 4 Calling ALL Scientists Template Book 
4. Activity 4 Post-assessment
5. Activity 4 Rating 
 
Subject domains: 
Reading (Informational Text): Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; and integrate information presented in different media of formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue.  
Writing (Production and Distribution of Writing): Use technology, including the internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others; and conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.  
Speaking and Listening (Comprehension): Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 6-8 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.  
Math (Ratios and Proportional Relationships): Use ratio and rate reasoning to solve real-world and mathematical problems, e.g., by reasoning tables of equivalent ratios, tape diagrams double number line diagrams, or equations.  
Science (Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics): Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.  
 
Skills: 
Students learn that Appropriate Management Levels (AMLs) are NOT based on scientific evidence, according to the National Research Council (2013).  
Students learn that AMLs are created and assigned by BLM to give livestock (cattle and sheep) a disproportionaley larger percentage (80%) of forage in Herd Management Areas to livestock.  
Students learn that wild horses and burros must share their HMA with livestock.  
Students learn the ratio of cattle: wild horses and burros (30:1) on OUR public lands (PEER, 2022).  
Students learn the ratio of livestock (which includes cattle and sheep): wild horses and burros (50:1) on OUR public lands.  
Students learn that according to PEER (2022) cattle grazing is a significant cause of habitat deterioration.  
Students learn that the root cause of resource depletion and landscape deterioration is caused by livestock.  
Students learn that wild horses and burros are inadvertent farmers, i.e., planting seeds in their own fertilizer. 
Students learn that cows produce a lot of methane (potent green-house gas) by burping which contributes to climate change!   
Students learn that wild horses are native to North America and thus have developed adaptations to living in North America's ecosystems, i.e., including desert regions.  
Students learn about Beth Shapiro and her research about how she discovered that both wild and domestic horses originated from North America.  
Students learn that cattle and sheep are non-native to North America.