Endangered Animals

Teacher: Marrita Osbourne
Grade Level: 4-5
Subject Area: Science
Content Focus: Endangered Animals
Enrollment: 20
Time: 45 minutes
Religion: N/A
Sex: 12 girls and 8 boys
1. Relevant State and National Content Standards:
3.2 Understand that organisms can survive and reproduce only in environments that meet
their basic needs.
4.2 Know that all organisms depend on the living and non-living features of the
environment for survival.
2. Learners’ Background
The students are all avid readers who are aware that animals that use to exist millions of
years ago have ceased to exist now. They know that extinction does not happen over
night it is a slow process. All of the students are interested in animals and in a previous
lesson they wrote about any animal they would like to have as a pet. This is a diverse
class and some of the endangered animals come from the countries that these students are
from.
3. Student Learning Objective
The student will be able to:
a. Define endangered animal.
b. Develop a list of possible reasons why animals become endangered.
c. Define the acronym HIPPO.
d. Sort various endangered scenarios into different categories.
e. Name 5 endangered animals.
4. Materials & Teacher-developed Resources
a. Paper
b. Pencil
c. Erasers
d. Scenario cards with sentences
5. Learning Activities (Teaching and Learning Strategies with an Approximate
Timeline)
Initiation
I.
Show students 4 pictures of endangered animals (cheetah, tapir, blue
whale, and panda) then ask them what common problem these animals
share?
II.
Ask students to define endanger.
Endangered – Animals or plants whose numbers are so few they are in
danger of becoming extinct.
III.
Ask two students if they know any other animals that are endangered.
IV.
Write student-friendly objective on the board “We will sort various
scenarios into categories to discover the main reasons animals become
endangered.”
1
Development
I.
Discuss as a class why animals become endangered. Reasons include:
1. Chopping down trees
2. Too many cars
3. Killing animals for fur
4. Bring animal into a new place
5. Humans need more space to create roads, buildings, etc.
6. Parasites and diseases
7. Natural causes
8. Fires
9. Loss of main prey
II.
Introduce students to the acronym HIPPO
H – Habitat loss
I – Introduction of new species
P – Pollution
P – Population growth
O – Overconsumption of animals
Reason
Example
Habitat loss
Chopping down rainforests
Introduction of new species
Bringing a non-native (new) species to a
habitat
Pollution
Oil spills, garbage in ocean, car emissions
Population growth
Human population is growing which means
more space is needed to cater for the growth
Overconsumption of animals
Killing animals for fur
III.
Put students in groups of 4 to sort scenarios into the HIPPO categories. There
will be at least 5 scenarios for each group to sort out.
Group 1 – Scenario 1, 2, 4, 5, 14
Group 2 – Scenario 3, 6, 7, 8, 13
Group 3 – Scenario 9, 10, 12, 13, 2
Group 4 – Scenario 11, 14, 1, 3, 5
IV.
Students will fill out worksheet, writing the name of the animal and
completing the sentence “This animal is endangered because…”
(Please see attached sheet—page 9—for Scenarios 1-14)
V.
After scenarios have been sorted, bring the whole class back together.
Closure
I.
Bring students back together
II.
Acronym to remember the most common reasons why animals are endangered
is: HIPPO.
III.
Example of endangered animals:
Amsterdam Albertross – endangered because new species were introduced in
their habitat.
Orangutans – endangered because of habitat loss.
2
Homework
Think of an animal that is endangered and write a scenario, using HIPPO about that
animal.
6. Evaluation of Student Learning
Informal assessment:
Walk around class and visit each group to observe if they are on task and they are doing
the assignment correctly.
Formal assessment:
What is endangered animal?
Reason why animals become endangered?
What is the acronym to remember the main reasons why animals become endangered?
Ask 3 or 4 to give a scenario for each of the five causes of extinction (HIPPO)
7. Modifications for Individuals Needing Differentiated Instruction
Student Name
Jenny Blake
Evidence that the student
needs differentiated
instruction
Jenny is an ESL student
who recently moved from
Bangladesh.
How will you differentiate instruction
in this lesson to support student
learning?
I will differentiate this lesson by adding
pictures to the scenario cards. For
example, a scenario card that reads: I
am hunted for my skin and meat.
Above that written scenario I would
add 3 different pictures, the first picture
would be of a specific endangered
animal (there would be 4 drawings of
that animal), the second picture would
be of a hunter and the last picture
would be of those 4 animals again but
with an X through about 2 of 4 of them.
In addition, when giving instructions I
would speak slower and clearer to this
student using simple language. Finally,
I find that grouping this student with a
patient and socially conscious student is
very helpful.
3
Jon Richards
Jerry Brandford
Jon is blind.
Jerry has been diagnosed
with ADHD and takes
medications 2 times day.
I will differentiate this lesson by
recording the scenarios on a tape. For
example, “Scenario 8, Tapir, I am
hunted for my skin and meat.” I would
then play the tape in a tape recorder for
the student. The student would also be
able to record their answers on a
separate recorder, by simply stating the
Scenario number, the animal and by
finishing the sentence “This animal is
endangered because…” For example,
“Scenario 8, Tapir, This animal is
endangered because of
overconsumption.”
I will differentiate this lesson by using
the student’s interest to keep him
focused. Jerry enjoys art so I would
have him color the pictures of the
animals along with drawing one of the
animals on a scenario sheet. When
giving verbal instructions I will
maintain eye contact with the student,
making directions clear and concise.
Also, I will simplify complex
directions and avoid multiple
commands.
8. Teacher Reflection
I would like to have a better “hook” for the opening of this lesson in order to get the
students more captivated. There is definitely room for improvement with this lesson plan.
For example, I could separate the groups to focus on endangered birds, endangered plants
and endangered animals. The next time I do this lesson I will make sure that I display
numerous books about endangered animals. For example, book such as, Turtles and
Scholastic Q & A: Where Have All the Pandas Gone? Another improvement to this plan
is to have bigger cards for the scenarios so that I can add a small fact on them about the
animals and the countries where they can be found. I believe the lesson was successful
because of the high level of participation during the informal assessment.
4
Name
Date
Please complete the chart below with the name of the animal and the scenario number in
the left column and the reason why the animal is endangered in the right column.
H – Habitat loss
I – Introduced of new species
P – Pollution
P – Population growth
O – Overconsumption of animals
Endangered animal
(Scenario)
This animal is endangered because…
5
Scenario 1
Scenario 2
Introduced cattle and cats have
damaged my nesting site on the
small island where I live.
Amsterdam Albatross
I live in rainforests, which are
now being rapidly cut down for
wood and farming.
Orangutans
Scenario 3
In 1963, the shortfin mollie,
a non-native fish caused a
rapid decline in my
population.
Moapa Dace
Scenario 5
Scenario 4
During oil spills the oil enter my
lungs and sometimes my
blowhole.
Blue whale
Poachers kill me or leave me
without protection and use my
horns for many different things.
White rhinoceros
Scenario 6
Scenario 7
Scenario 8
The eucalyptus leaves are my
main food and they are
becoming inedible because of
global warming.
Koalas
I am hunted for my skin and
meat.
Malayan Tapir
As the human population
grew they began to use my
forest for agriculture.
Purple Marsh Crab
6
Scenario 9
Scenario 10
My habitat is being destroyed as
plantations are converted into
tourist destinations.
Rameshwaram parachute spider
Predation of my eggs and young
ones by the introduced bush pig
is one of my main threats.
Ploughshare Tortoise
Scenario 11
Scenario 12
I don’t have any bamboo to eat
because the bamboo forests are
cleared being away.
Giant Pandas
My species is decline rapidly
due to collecting and shooting.
Whooping crane
Scenario 13
Scenario 14
The growth of cities is one of
the causes of my endangerment.
Ocelots
The shortgrass prairie that I live
in continues to be plowed up for
crops.
Black-footed Ferret
7
7. Modifications for Individuals Needing Differentiated Instruction
Possible example of ESL student scenario card:
Scenario 7
I am hunted for my skin and meat.
Malayan Tapir