The 21st Century Save Our Animals Project Name:

Lesson Plan Grade 7

Lesson Title: Endangered Species 1: Why Are Species Endangered? Page 1 of 2

42 Minute Period (4-5 days to complete)

October 21-25

Mr. Ressler

GLOs: Students will: 1. Investigate and describe relationships between humans and their environments, and identify related issues and scientific questions. 2. Describe the relationships among knowledge, decisions and actions in maintaining life-supporting environments. 3. Monitor a local environment, and assess the impacts of environmental factors on the growth, health and reproduction of organisms in that environment. 4. Work collaboratively on problems; and use appropriate language and formats to communicate ideas, procedures and results. SLOs: Students will: 1. Identify examples of human impacts on ecosystems, and investigate and analyze the link between these impacts and the human wants and needs that give rise to them (e.g., identify impacts of the use of plants and animals as sources of food, fiber and other materials; identify potential impacts of waste products on environments). 2. Investigate and interpret evidence of interaction and change (e.g., population fluctuations, changes in weather, availability of food or introduction of new species into an ecosystem) 3. Identify intended and unintended consequences of human activities within local and global environments (e.g., changes resulting from habitat loss, pest control or from introduction of new species; changes leading to species extinction). 4. Communicate questions, ideas, intentions, plans and results, using lists, notes in point form, sentences, data tables, graphs, drawings, oral language and other means (e.g., present findings from an analysis of a local issue, such as the control of the beaver population in a nearby wetland). LOs: Students will: 1. Research and discover the endangered species of their choosing, either local or global. 2. Prepare a presentation through the visual aid of a poster or power point to present their findings to the class. 3. Students will research a variety of information regarding the endangered species such as; habitat, reasons the animal is endangered, how we can save the endangered species, how many of the endangered species are left, why it is important to save the species, and how the environment is affecting the endangered species. 4. Students will cooperate and collaborate in groups in order to present to the class, they will then we be required to answer questions the class may have to the best of their ability. Materials/equipment: 1. Computer lab 2. Poster paper 3. Textbooks and iPads Introduction: In this lesson students will be creating a presentation, either digital or on a poster to display to a class about their endangered species of choice. The research sheet is attached to this lesson plan, the first day is dedicated to student groups researching their animal and filling out the endangered species profile. Make sure to read the assignment to students and c heck for understanding before beginning. Provide students the option of presenting using technology or using a visual (poster). Body: Once the assignment has begun, teacher role becomes supervising and facilitating. Make sure students are on track with their assignment keeping in mind that they will need to present their information to the class. While supervising students, make sure to ask questions probing deeper thought while they create their presentation and put their research together. The students th have approximately 3 days to create a presentation. On Friday October 25 they will present. Conclusion: During the presentation students are required to sit and listen attentively. After the presentation for each group, students are encouraged to ask questions about the presentation and species discussed. Reflection: Overall, this lesson went great and students were really engaged. They loved having the option of using technology or posters, although I was very surprised to find almost all students chose to create posters. This lesson took one day longer than I expected and students seemed to work very well in groups. When it came time to grade this assignment I made sure to include a peer review as I did have a couple issues with students not pulling their weight. This of course became a great teachable moment for students and it did reflect in their grade making each assignment grade more personalized. The students enjoyed doing the research and seemed to be very involved. If I were to do this again I would really try and sell the technological possibility of doing a
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The 21st Century Save Our Animals Project Name:

Lesson Title: Endangered Species 1: Why Are Species Endangered? Page 2 of 2

presentation on the computer. Overall the presentations were well done, and the students found thought provoking questions to ask each group after each presentation. Each student played a role in the presentations, something I needed to mention half way through the assignment as some groups were choosing roles. Students seem to really grasp the concept of endangered species and how humans can impact the environment those species inhabit. The students were challenged to think when asked how does this species actually going extinct affect the environment? Great project, I would do it again! The assignment sheets are on the next page.

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The 21st Century Save Our Animals Project Name:

Lesson Title: Endangered Species 1: Why Are Species Endangered? Page 3 of 2

Introduction

Your class has been chosen by a confederation of wildlife organizations to help in their global 21 century campaign promoting greater awareness about the growing threat to endangered species, the environment, and to human beings around the world.

st

Task
In teams of three, you are to find an endangered animal that you would like to work towards saving and create a colorful, interesting, and informative poster that could be placed in parks, schools, and communities to draw attention to environmental issues and your anim als threat of extinction. Before you can create the posters, you will need to develop a better understanding of the threat to endangered species, particularly the problems, causes, potential solutions, and potentially disastrous effects to the world and humanity if this species were to die off and leave the world forever. To do this, you will first need to do general research on the topic of endangered species and then select an animal species that you would like to help. As part of this process, you will have to fill out an Endangered Species Profile student sheet on the animal and present it with your completed poster to the class. When all posters are finished, the class can decide whether to post them in the community or to send them as a group to a wildlife organization for possible use in its worldwide publicity campaigns. These profiles should include basic information about the animal, important facts and statistics about its status, and recommendations on effective ways to get the worlds attention about this dying species.

Process & Resources

1. Read over your Endangered Species Profile student sheet to determine what kind of information your team will be required to find about the animal you choose. Consider the Art of Advertising: Since posters are a form of advertising, it is important to approach your project thinking about what will be the most interesting, persuasive, enlightening, and effective way to reveal your endangered animal to the public. Since the endangered species problem is essentially about life and death and the ongoing deterioration of the world, you may want your posters and profiles to include eye-opening statistics and other related scientific data. You may also decide to simply appeal to your audiences emotions by presenting some sad or affecting aspects about your special animal. Though presenting basic facts and statistics is effective, it seems that gaining the publics oftendistracted attention about this very serious and dangerous matter calls for more creative approaches. 2. Go to the E-Sheet, Save Our Animals (http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/Esheet.cfm?DocID=58) and research the two primary websites for this project. The first, Endangered Species: Why Are Species At Risk? (http://www.cbc4kids.cbc.ca/general/the-lab/endangered/whyatrisk.html), is a Canadian-based resource that will provide you with a broader and more detailed look at endangered species problem in general. Read this to become better informed about the causes and consider ideas on how to best tell the story of your animal in your posters and profiles. The second resource, Animal Info - Worlds Rarest Mammals (http://www.animalinfo.org/rarest.htm), is a list of over 30 endangered mammals. Come up with a list of 3 or 4 mammals you would like to help. Your teacher will help you choose one mammal for your poster and profile. This website should be your primary source of information for your profiles, posters, and presentations. Optional Research: Depending on class time and Internet availability, you may wish to inquire with your teacher about doing broader research on your species. All rights reserved. Science NetLinks Student Sheets may be reproduced for educational purposes.

Endangered Species Profile Name:

Lesson Title: Endangered Species 1: Why Are Species Endangered? Page 1 of 2

3. To create the poster, your team will need a large sheet of paper, pencils, markers, tape, and other related materials. The posters must present the following information: Both common and scientific names of animal Brief description of its habitat Description of the main reason why the animal is endangered Drawing or pictures of the animal

Depending on team preferences, you may adorn your posters with: printout copies of downloaded photos from the Animal Info website, a drawing or drawings of the species based on the photos, or both photos and drawings. The Importance of Teamwork: Your team will need to decide which members work on which aspects of the project. It is recommended that all members participate in the general reading and animal selection process. Then one member primarily should handle one of the following tasks: (a) research and animal profile, (b) advertising approach, or (c) poster creation. Since all the areas are dependent on the other, it is important that team members work well together in exchanging ideas and developing the most informative and effective posters and animal profiles. 4. Upon completion, your team will present its poster before the class, using its animals Endangered Species Profile as a basis for its presentation. Be prepared to answer questions about your selected mammal.

Evaluations
Teams will be graded by their teacher on the following areas (10 points each): In the area of Teamwork: Effort Cooperation Preparation In the area of Poster Development: Layout and Design Message and Clarity Overall Audience Impact In the area of Animal Species Profile and Presentation: Quality of Research Quality of Ideas and Solutions to Save the Species Questions and Answers Overall Focus and Ability to Complete the Project

Conclusion
One of the purposes of your research and posters is to help you understand why species are endangered. Many hard, realistic issues are involved in trying to save defenseless animal and plants species worldwide. You should now have a greater understanding of the real, mostly human, causes of the globes ongoing endangerment. Through this project, you have researched the topic of endangered species and used it to help a special mammal that is currently dying off and will likely be forever lost to the world. Like the posters you created and the campaign itself, use this experience to gain a broader outlook on the world.
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Endangered Species Profile Name:

Lesson Title: Endangered Species 1: Why Are Species Endangered? Page 2 of 2

Directions: Fill in the blanks with the appropriate information, ideas, and suggestions about your chosen Save Our Animals species.

Species Name:

Scientific Name:

Description of habitat:

Interesting facts about the species:

Population estimates or survival trends of species:

Reasons that this species is endangered:

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Endangered Species Profile Name:

Lesson Title: Endangered Species 1: Why Are Species Endangered? Page 3 of 2

Reasons that it is important to save the species:

Possible solutions to help this species survive:

Potential damage to the environment if this species were to become extinct:

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