Yellowstone Bear Adventure 
GAME RULES 

You will now be playing a “Yellowstone Bear Adventure Game,” which will simulate some of scenarios, obstacles, and perils facing grizzly bears in the Yellowstone ecosystem. Your goal is to play the game, and then make changes and adjustments to it based on your knowledge of grizzlies. 

GAME MATERIALS
You should be in a group of four students. Your group should have the following materials:
___ one 11x17 map of Yellowstone National Park
___ one 11x17 sheet of graph paper
___ these game rules
___ one box, basket, or envelope of Bear Scenarios
___ a second box, basket, or envelope of “Outside the Park” Bear Scenarios
___ one compass print out  
___ a minimum of five Teddy Grahams or bear-shaped animal crackers
___ two brightly colored markers of different colors

SET-UP AND PREPARATION
Before playing the game, use one marker to trace a small part of the border of Yellowstone National Park from near Pyramid Peak (northwest of the East Entrance), to Parker Peak, located under the label “Shoshone National Forest.” Then, use the other colored marker to outline the rest of the border of Yellowstone National Park.  

Lay the sheet of graph paper over the Yellowstone National Park map. If the graph paper is on transparency, you will be able to clearly see the park. If the graph paper is not on transparency, you should be able to see the park border outlines made with the markers through the graph paper. 

Have everyone in your group take a Teddy Graham or animal cracker. Place the leftover Teddy Graham or animal cracker on a single square of the graph paper outside the park, between Pyramid Peak and Parker Peak.  Then, everyone in your group should “customize” their bears by nibbling off a distinguishing feature or by marking it with a pen or pencil. Don’t eat the bears; they are your playing pieces.  

Write the word “START” on the square of graph paper over the Bechler Ranger Station, in the southwest corner of the park. Have everyone in your group put their bears on this square.         

Put the compass print out next to the Yellowstone Map, and position the compass so its “north” direction aligns with the compass on the lower right hand corner of the map. You will consult the compass when moving your playing pieces. 

GAME PLAY
Everyone in your group is a “problem bear” that has shown up at Yellowstone campgrounds on multiple occasions. You have been removed to a far corner of the park in an effort to keep you away from visitors. 

Imagine that you were inadvertently separated from your cub during the relocation, and it is now your goal to be the first bear to exit the park and enter the Shoshone National Forest. You must exit the park along the park border from Pyramid Peak to Parker Peak, which is outlined on the map in order to reach the cub which is represented by the fifth cookie or cracker.

Select one person in your group to go first. On your turn, pull a single “Bear Scenario” out of the box, basket, or envelope, read it aloud, and move according to the directions and instructions it provides. 

IF YOUR BEAR MOVES BEYOND THE BORDERS OF THE PARK, on your next turn, pull an “Outside the Park” Bear Scenario from the second box. 

As you play the game, track and sort whether the obstacles and perils your bears face are related to 1) human interaction and/or interference, 2) environmental factors, 3) food supply, or 4) a combination of multiple factors. 

The class will discuss what happened to the bears after everyone has completed one round of the game, so be sure to keep track of what happens to the bears in your group.   

Continue taking turns until a bear exits the park between Pyramid Peak and Parker Peak and wins the game by reaching the cub, or until all bears are captured or killed. 

If your group runs out of “Bear Scenarios” while playing, return the used scenarios to the box, basket, or envelope, and continue pulling from it.