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Endangered
Species Webquest
A
WebQuest for 7th Grade (science and language arts)
Designed
by
Grace
Miller and Molly Dorgan
gmiller@ccsd146.k12.il.us
dorgmo@ccsd146.k12.il.us
Introduction | Task
| Process | Evaluation
| Conclusion | Teacher
Page
INTRODUCTION 
Recent
studies have shown that more and more species of organisms are becoming
endangered. Hundreds of species are dying out each year due to many
different causes. Some of these causes are environmental, human caused,
natural selection, and changes over time to the species. Extinction has
already taken over 500 species from the United States alone. The Endangered
Species Act is meant to protect fish, wildlife, and plants that are listed
as threatened or endangered species in the United States. You are on a
team of field biologists assigned to research and come up with a proposal
on an endangered specie for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The
Task 
In pairs you will choose a specie to research. You will complete an ongoing
activity sheet and then based on your findings, write up and present a
proposal.
The
Process 
1. You
will be assigned a partner to work with.
2. Go
to http://www.endangeredspecie.com/specieprofile.htm
and
choose an endangered specie to research.
3. Answer
the following questions (hint: divide them up between
the two of you) on the activity sheet provided.
-
What is
an endangered species?
-
What specie
did you choose?
-
In what
area of the world does your specie live? Describe its habitat in detail.
-
What things
does your specie need to survive.
-
What does
it eat? How does it fit into the food web (what level is it)?
-
What factors
are causing this specie to be considered endangered?
-
What can
be done to help this specie survive? This is the question you will be basing
your proposal on, so be specific and realistic!
4. You and
your partner are to write up a proposal explaining your specie, its habitat,
what is causing the specie to become endangered, and what we can do to
help. Remember that you are writing and presenting to the EPA in order
to save this specie.
5. In
addition to your written proposal, you and your partner will present your
findings to the EPA (class). For this presentation, you will summarize
your proposal, outlining ONLY THE MOST IMPORTANT PARTS.
6. For
your presentation, you will need to create a poster. On this poster, include
pictures of your specie and its habitat and any other information pertinent
to your proposal presentation.
The Resources
General
information web sites: 
http://endangeredspecie.com
http://eelink.net/EndSpp/
http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/species.cfm
http://www.amnh.org/nationalcenter/Endangered/index.html
Statistics
of endangered species in United States:
http://endangered.fws.gov/
List
of threat types:
http://www.redlist.org/info/Threat_types.html
Reasons
why species are at risk:
http://www.cbc4kids.cbc.ca/general/the-lab/endangered/default.html
The
Evaluation 
-
Your behavior
in the computer lab and the activity sheet will be graded by your science
teacher. Your grade will be based on completed answers and knowledge of
chosen specie. This will be a shared grade between you and your partner.
-
Your written
proposal and presentation will be graded by your language arts teacher.
You will receive a complete rubric from your teacher explaining what you
will be graded on.
*Keep in
mind that this is a group grade!
The
Conclusion 
Congratulations
on a job well done! You and your partner have proven to be experts in your
field and are more knowledgeable about endangered species and how
to help them. Now it is your job to put this new found knowledge to good
use and prevent specie extinction.
Last updated
on August 15, 1999. Based on
a template from The
WebQuest Page
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