#25 Endangered Animals and Habitats

Endangered Animals and Habitats

Protecting and learning about endangered animals is so important. I remember being in either 3rd or 4th grade and we each got to pick an endangered animal and create a shadow box of that animal in their habitat. I remember it making a lasting impact on me as a student and it still does. I believe that what I learn and how I learned it with those activities I want to recreate for my students to do in the future. As a class you can learn about exotic endangered species and the threat to the habitats but to also learn about the local animals that are endangered and their habitat. Where I grew up on the midcoast, shrimping has become banned because they had become so overly fished that they were near being added to the endangered list. As a class we could investigate what is being done to bring back the shrimp population, how the data is being collected and they can interview shrimpers to get their perspective on the situation. 


Activities:

Writing Prompt: The Plains Zebra and the African Elephant are endangered animals and need help to keep from becoming extinct. If the animals in this photo could talk, what might they say to persuade you to help save them? Have students write a paragraph about what they might say.

Animal Memory Game: Have students see how many tries it takes for them to match pictures of endangered animals

Animal Play: Have children learn some facts about bear behavior and have some fun imitating bears. Children might also enjoy imitating other endangered animals, such as a tiger, panther, bald eagle, or desert tortoise.

Wild Postcards: Students can teach others about protected species by creating endangered animal postcards to send to family and friends. Students start by cutting 6-inch x 4-inch rectangles out of cardboard or poster board. They can decorate the front of their postcards with pictures of endangered animals cut from old magazines or downloaded from the Internet.

Animal Homes: Endangered animals need protected habitats. Have your students create dioramas of different habitats for endangered animals.

Mathematics: Have your students use basic mathematical operations to gain a deeper understanding of the effects of overfishing on a threatened species.

Poems: Students will investigate the characteristics, behavior, and habitat of a particular animal species. They will demonstrate their knowledge by writing poems that incorporate what they have learned.

Posters: Start your own “Endangered Animal Rescue Campaign.” Have students create posters that will help persuade people to protect endangered species. Posters should include information about what people can do to help, as well as facts about the endangered animal.

Books:

Websites/Videos:

Endangered Animals Memory Game
Endangered Animals interactive map