Break the students into groups of three or four and tell them they will be exploring and researching habitats in more detail. They are going to create a large class book about habitats that will present information both visually and in text. Each group report will become a chapter of the book by researching their particular habitat. They will be asked to prepare an oral/visual presentation for the class as well as a written/visual one. Visuals can come from downloading from the Internet, drawings or photographic images. The format of the book and chapters should be determined beforehand to give the groups an idea of how they will format their written presentation.
To begin the research each group chooses two to three animals from the list of endangered species that represent various habitats from around the world. They are not told which habitat the species comes from. The groups are told that through their investigation they must find the species habitat and include the following information:
A description of the habitat (physical description) and its geographic location on a map
Examples of the other animals and plants that live there
A description of the connection that exists between the habitat and the endangerment of the animal, and what is creating the problem
Visual representations of their animals and habitats (These can be either drawn, downloaded or printed photo images from web sites, magazines or books)
Student web site resources:
http://library.thinkquest.org/25014/english.index.shtml?tqskip1=1
(Great image gallery)
http://enchantedlearning.com/biomes/
(Very cool site for habitats, their components and maps of where they reside)
http://mbgnet.mobot.org/
(Excellent student friendly site speaking on habitats/ecosystems and their components)
http://nationalgeographic.com/
geographyaction/habitats/index.html
(Virtual tour and explanation of habitats, locations and components for student research)
http://enature.com/main/home.asp
(Easy site to select habitat life with descriptions and images)
http://cheetahspot.com/extinction.php
(Site on cheetahs)
http://pbs.org/tal/costa_rica/habitat.html
(Site specifically about rainforests)
http://pbs.org/americanfieldguide/
topics/ecosystems/index.html
(Sophisticated site with virtual yours of various habitats)
http://pbs.org/americanfieldguide/
teachers/oceans/oceans_sum.html
http://desertusa.com/animal.html
(Good site for desert research)
http://mbgnet.mobot.org/fresh/wetlands
(Informative site about the wetlands habitat)
http://endangered.fws.gov/media/spotlight.html
(Good list of some endangered species)
http://endangered.fws.gov/search.html
(Endangered species search engine)
http://images.fws.gov
(Site providing good images of endangered species)
http://mnh.si.edu/arctic/html/wildlife.html
(Good site for animals in the arctic habitat)
http://natzoo.si.edu/ConservationAndScience/
EndangeredSpecies/Cheetah
(List of endangered animals and their habitat
http://animaltrial.com
(Great site for animal facts and images)
http://library.thinkquest.org/25014/english.index.shtml
(Really great image gallery)
http://kidsplanet.org/factsheets/map.html
(Very good site listing animals, their habitats and images)
Development: Mentor the students during their research, paying attention to equal and cooperative group interaction and skills used for research. Remind the students of the book and chapter format they developed earlier.
Creating dioramas: As the students continue with their research have them begin thinking about creating their dioramas. The American Museum of Natural History offers a number of suggestions on the following web sites:
http://amnh.org/nationalcenter/online_field_journal
(Visual representations)
http://amnh.org/education/resources/
card_index.php?rid=395
(Additional info for creating a diorama)
Additional sites describing dioramas:
http://argos.k12.in.us/elementary/0304/ h abitats/habitats.htm
http://uwsp.edu/museum/lesson26.htm
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