Where did the Dodo go: A lesson on extinction

A WebQuery for 4th grade Science/History

The Dodo, a flightless bird, extinct since the mid-1700's

Introduction

Did you know that most of the species that have ever lived on Earth are now extinct? Extinction and endangerment can occur naturally such as in a catastrophic event, like the collision of an asteroid with Earth around 65 million years ago. The impact brought about the extinction of almost 50% of plant species and 75% of animals species then living on Earth, including the dinosaurs. Disease, a change in climate, and competition between species for food and habitat can also can result in natural extinction. However, since humans became Earth's dominant species, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of extinct species.

In this assignment you will be putting on your detective hats to find out more about extinction.

Task

Students will work in small groups of 2-3 to design a poster that displays their discoveries about a topic conserning extinction. Each group member will be assigned one of the following responsibilities: research archivist (collects all resources used for the poster), task master (keeps the group on task, oversees the poster making process while participating), and presenter (will be the speaker during the group poster presentation). All students are responsible for participating equally in the research and production of the poster. Students will follow a rubric to complete this assignment, but will also be given the choice in what they would like to include on their posters by selecting a research prompt. Poster board and all other materials will be provided to each group and students will have 45 minutes to research and make their posters. Groups will be required to give a 3-5 minute presentation to share their posters and ideas with the rest of the class.

The Process

1. Brainstorm as a class a list on the board of any details or ideas that they know concerning the topics of conservation, endangerment, and extinction.

2. Students may chose to research any of the following questions (only one group per topic):

How, when, and where did the following animals go extinct or become endangered?

Dinosaurs
Dodo bird
West African Black rhino
African elephant
Golden toad
Baiji dolphin
Spix's macaw
Po'o-uli, also known as Black-faced Honeycreeper
Hawaiian crow
Passenger pigeon
Saber tooth tiger
Dwarf emu

What is conservation, and how can we help prevent endangered animal extinction?
Are some animals on the endangered list in more danger of becomeing extinct than others?
Would biodiversity recover if humans disappered?
How do animals become extinct or endangered?
What are some things that are made out of animals, and how might this lead to their endangerment? (i.e. shark fin soup from shark fins may lead to endangerment from over hunting)
In what ways have humans contributed to the endangerment or extinction of animals and plants?

Resources

Endangered Species: a general introduction offers a short summary of the causes and amount of extinction, some important vocabulary, and why this is an important topic.
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Redlist offers information describing conservation, endangerment, and extinction and a list of all threatened, endangered, or extinct animals.
World Wildlife Foundation find out how to actively help save endangered animals and keep up with the threatened animals in the news.
Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia service that provides information about everything!

Evaluation

Grading will consist of both an individual participation grade assessed by teacher observation using a checklist and a group grade assessed using a rubric.
Describe to the learners how their performance will be evaluated. Provide students with a clear understanding of the grading criteria which will be used to evaluate their project.

CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Required Elements	The poster includes all required elements as well as additional information.	All required elements are included on the poster.	All but 1 of the required elements are included on the poster.	Several required elements were missing.
Content - Accuracy	At least 7 accurate facts are displayed on the poster.	5-6 accurate facts are displayed on the poster.	3-4 accurate facts are displayed on the poster.	Less than 3 accurate facts are displayed on the poster.
Graphics - Relevance	All graphics are related to the topic and make it easier to understand. All borrowed graphics have a source citation.	All graphics are related to the topic and most make it easier to understand. All borrowed graphics have a source citation.	All graphics relate to the topic. Most borrowed graphics have a source citation.	Graphics do not relate to the topic OR several borrowed graphics do not have a source citation.
Title	Title can be read from 6 ft. away and is quite creative.	Title can be read from 6 ft. away and describes content well.	Title can be read from 4 ft. away and describes the content well.	The title is too small and/or does not describe the content of the poster well.
Use of Class Time	Used time well during each class period. Focused on getting the project done. Never distracted others.	Used time well during each class period. Usually focused on getting the project done and never distracted others.	Used some of the time well during each class period. There was some focus on getting the project done but occasionally distracted others.	Did not use class time to focus on the project OR often distracted others.

Conclusion

Students will gain an understanding of the issues surrounding endangered and extinct lifeforms. Knowledge will be enhanced in two ways, first through individual and shared exploration, and second through group presentations which will introduce the ideas of other groups to each student thus increasing their knowledge base. I encourage students to find out more about the endangered animals so that they can make an effort to stop the harmful effects that may eventually lead to the world losing another part of the great web of life.

We all benefit by being generous with our work. Permission is hereby granted for other educators to copy this WebQuery, update or otherwise modify it, and post it elsewhere provided that the original author's name is retained along with a link back to the original URL of this WebQuery. On the line after the original author's name, you may add "Modified by (your name) on (date)". If you do modify it, please let me know and provide the new URL.

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