Teacher Notes
Endangered Animals Research (1 hour) > Print/View All Notes
In this activity, students will explore several online resources designed to build their understanding of endangered animals. Before students begin, ask them to turn to page 1 of their Engineering Portfolios. This page contains the Endangered Animal Graphic Organizer. Ask students to work independently to explore the suggested resources and take notes. Afterwards, ask students to share their findings with the class. Make sure they have a basic understanding of each of the key points on the graphic organizer. Students should have listed at least one bird under the "What kind of animals are endangered?" heading. If they have not, make sure they are aware that birds are among our country's endangered species.
> Endangered Animals Graphic Organizer Answer Key (PDF)
After students have shared information from their graphic organizers, discuss the causes of animal endangerment and extinction. Ask them how many causes they found involve humans. The last resource they explored—the slideshow—should make it clear that human-caused habitat loss and habitat degradation are responsible for a significant percentage of the animal extinctions in recent history.
