Herbaceous- Green colored plants with a soft stem, not woody plants. The bark can be peeled to reveal a woody center. Often considered weeds or wild flowers.īrowse- This group includes any plants with a woody stem. Grass- These plants are usually tufted or sod-forming herbaceous plants with narrow, elongated leaves.įorbs- Any herbaceous plant growing in its native habitat except grasses and grass-like forms. Use rice, beans, and noodles as a manipulative to demonstrate the different percentages of plants consumed. Then ask the students to classify each of the plants. The teacher could bring in examples of forbs, browse, and grass.
Have the students use field guides to determine the name of each plant. Present a forb, grass, and browse plant, and ask the students to classify each one.Īsk students the three main categories from which bison eat. Once the plants are dry, have the students place their collections in notebooks with clear pocket pages, in a photo album, or have them create their own "plant book.".Place heavy books or other heavy objects on the top of the stack to squeeze the water from the plants.Repeat the process of layering the plants in the newspaper and placing cardboard every fourth layer.Place a layer of cardboard on both the top and bottom of the plant/newspaper stack.Stack about 4 plants "newspaper sandwiches" together.Put the plant between the sheets of newspaper, using several sheets of paper between plants.Note: Press only the leaves of browse material. Create your own plant press using the following method.Tag each of the plants with the name of the person who found the plant, the location where the plant was found, and the date.(If not possible for the students to collect the plants, the teacher should bring in examples of these plants.) The plants collected by the students may be different than those eaten by the bison, but they still fall into the same categories. Have the students collect examples of these plants.Explain to them that although bison may eat from these all three categories, bison eat mostly grass. Discuss with the students which plants are considered grasses, forbs, and browse.In the Panhandle Area, bison eat browse that includes mesquite and elm. Usually, you can peel a thin "bark" off browse plants. In the Panhandle Area, the bison may eat plants such as sunflower and coshia weeds.īrowse includes plants a with woody stem. Many refer to forbs as weeds or wildflowers depending on their outlook. In the Panhandle area (where the State Bison Herd is located), bison eat grasses such as: Blue Stem, Buffalo Grass, and Gama Grass.įorbs have broad leaves and considered a herbaceous plant. Grass can be defined as the plants that are usually tufted or sod-forming herbaceous plants with narrow, elongated leaves. These animals eat approximately 93% grass, 5% forbs, and 2% browse as averaged over the course of one year. But what do the bison eat?īison eat grass as the greatest percentage of their daily diet. It has been estimated that bison eat about 1.6 % of their body mass per day of dry vegetation. Their day cycles with periods of grazing and rest. After dawn, in groups of three to four, the herd rises and eventually start grazing. Stack of books or other heavy objects Backgroundīison are grazers.
Students will be able to identify three plants as a grass, forb, or browse.
Students will be able to identify at least 3 major categories of food eaten by bison. Students collect and press grass, forbs, and browse. What Does A Bison Eat? Bison Food Summary