Endangered Animals

Grade Levels: 3 - 5

Objectives

• Students will gain an understanding of the importance of saving endangered animals.

Materials

• 100 dried beans
• Books and magazines of endangered animals
• Construction paper
• Glue
• Lunch sacks
• Markers and crayons
• Scissors

Procedures

1. Hide the dried beans around the room while the children are outside.

2. When they come in ask them to hunt for the beans.

3. Count and see how many are found. (They probably won't find all of them.)

4. Challenge them to look for more beans, then count to see how many are found the second time.

5. Ask the children to hunt for beans a third time, and count results.

6. Talk about how each time they looked for beans they were harder to find and there were fewer of them. The same is true with some of the animals on the earth. There are fewer and they are more difficult to find – they are called endangered animals.

7. Make a list of endangered animals. Why are they in danger?

8. Go to the library and find more information on endangered animals.

9. Let the children make puppets of their favorite endangered animals with the lunch sacks.

10. Put on a puppet show. Ask the children why their animals are endangered and what people can do to save them.

Challenges

• Write politicians letters about enacting legislation that will save endangered wildlife.