Oxbow’s lit lab teacher, Mrs. Peraino, graciously agreed to lead students to appropriate websites such as National Geographic to learn about different endangered animals, and how and why they are heading toward extinction. Each animal faces a different set of problems such as being hunted for their beautiful fur (which are made into coats and hats) or loss of habitat due to slash and burn farming or other poor farming techniques, or poaching due to the ivory trade.
In kindy, first and second grade we watched an Eye Witness video on Insects and then made Shoe Bugs. We talked about what an insect is, metamorphosis, predator and prey and other insect facts…how some insects like the praying mantis are rare and how important it is to leave these creatures in their natural homes and not try to catch them for pets. This was a review of last year’s insect unit and a preview for our upcoming butterfly lesson on vulnerable monarchs! Third through fifth graders watched several short vignettes by Jeff Corwin on how and why the polar bear and sea turtle and few other key species are going extinct. This followed on the heels of our lesson on penguins which has two types that are endangered, the African penguin and the Jackass penguin. Of course, I had to explain to the students that this penguin was named because of the strange braying sound it makes similar to donkey (its name-sake). That certainly got them excited. (I decided to skip that small part for the next classes ;)
If you get a chance to do some additional research at home, there are many great websites for students out there. You can start with the World Wildlife Fund, click on species and click on endangered species. You’ll find a photo and extensive information about each endangered animal… http://worldwildlife.org/species/directory?sort=extinction_status&direction=desc
You can also visit: http://animalstime.com/endangered/
The posters have been judged and below are the winning students from our Huron Valley Schools along with runners up. Thanks to all who participated! Very impressive!