EXPLORE: A Search for Endangered Animals Do you know what an endangered animal is? Many of our animals are disappearing from the Earth and are rapidly becoming extinct.  Giant pandas , snow leopards , African gorillas , and colorful South American macawsmight disappear from the Earth forever. There are now 515 species of animals in the United States alone that are threatened with extinction. Can you name any of these? Click here to check your answers and see a list of other endangered animals. Your Mission Choose an animal from the list that you are interested in or would like to learn more about. As you travel through this exciting animal world, we hope that you will learn about your animal, its habitat, and why it is on the world's endangered species list. As you explore the world of endangered animals you will also be exploring the World Wide Web, books, atlases, encyclopedias, and other sources of information available in your library and classroom. Exploration #1: Fact Find Use the questions below to guide you in your search for information on your endangered animal. Look high! Look low! Look behind trees, and under rocks!!! Click here for your list of fact find questions. Exploration #2: Geography Once you have found some facts about your endangered animal, locate and share where the animal lives and what its environment is like. Be able to answer questions like the following about your animal's habitat. Is your animal's habitat a jungle, an ocean, a desert, or something else? Can you locate where your animal lives on a world map? Can you describe the climate of this environment? Can you tell about any other plants or animals that also live there? Exploration #3: Write a Letter Now that you have learned a great deal about your endangered animal, write a letter to a friend telling them what you have learned. Be sure to edit your letter for correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Your letter should give a complete understanding of everything that you have learned during your exploration. Continue Exploring: Additional Activities Write a poem Create a diorama or a poster Role play Make a picture or a sculpture Write a newspaper article Create a commercial to save your animal Write a persuasive letter Endangered Animal Fact Find Questions: 1. What is the name of your endangered animal? (Spell correctly) 2. Where does your animal live? (Continent, country, habitat) 3. What special foods does your animal eat? 4. What words describe how your animal looks? 5. Who and what other animals hunt your animal? 6. How many of your animal are left in the world? 7. Does your animal live in a zoo or an aquarium? 8. Is your animal a mammal, reptile, amphibian, bird, or sea animal? 9. How did your animal become endangered? 10. What are people doing to protect your animal? About Us Web page created by Warwick Public School teachers: Jaimee McElroy- Hoxsie School, grade 5 Judy Monzack- Wickes School, grade 2 Betty Pearce- Wickes School, Librarian Glossary Conservation - The protection and careful use of natural resources such as forests, lakes and rivers, minerals, and wild animals. Endangered - Threatened; an animal that is in danger of becoming extinct. An endangered animal is one that exists is such small numbers that it is likely to die out completely unless it is protected. Environment - The natural conditions that make up the area in which a plant, animal, or person lives, such as air, water, and land. Extinct - An animal is extinct when the last of its kind dies. It is gone forever. Habitat - A place where an animal can find all the things it needs to survive. These needs include food, water, shelter, and a place to raise young. Pollution - Things put into the air, a body of water, or an area of land that make it dirty or harmful to living things. Protect - To keep from being harmed Species - A group of plants or animals that have certain common features which set them apart from others. Threatened - An animal in danger of becoming endangered. Links/Resources Animal Information: http://www.animalsoftherainforest.com/index.html http://www.yahooligans.com/Science_and_Nature/Living_Things/Animals/Endangered_Species/ http://natzoo.si.edu/Animals/animals.htm http://www.borrico.com/ Endangered Species List: http://www.worldwildlife.org/news/pubs/specieslist.html Habitats: http://inchinapinch.com/hab_pgs/index.htm http://www.redlist.org/info/habitat_types.html You Can Help! http://www.ea.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/information/kids.html http://www.wwfus.org/species/species.cfm?sectionid=125&newspaperid=21