Threatened, Endangered & Extinct Lesson Plan

Keywords: habitat, ecosystem, food, water, shelter, space, basic needs, threatened, endangered, extinct

Grade level: 3rd & 4th Grades

Setting: classroom

Subjects covered: Science

Goals:
The student will differentiate between wants and needs.
The student will understand and cite examples of basic needs within familiar ecosystems.
The student will understand that if basic needs aren’t met, organisms may become threatened, endangered, or
extinct.

Materials:
*Threatened, Endangered & Extinct flier (from Environment & Ecology Series) - (1 per student or pair of
students
*worksheet - What are basic needs? (1 per student)
*worksheet – Can you solve these basic needs riddles? (1 per student – optional)
*chart paper, markers (optional)
*website – PA Game Commission (www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/view.asp?a=458&q=150321)

State Standards Addressed: E & E Standards: 4.7.4.A, 4.7.B, 4.7.C

Background Information

All living organisms have basic needs. Air and sunlight are part of all ecosystems. (There are a few living
exceptions (anaerobic bacteria), all living things need oxygen, which is a component of air.) Although
researched resources varied on the exact number of basic needs, the four highlighted in this lesson: food, water,
shelter and space, reflect fourth grade Environment & Ecology Standards.

FOOD - Food is necessary to provide an animal with energy to carry out daily functions. The diets of animals
depend on the seasons of the year, their size, age, sex, and behavior. Food availability is naturally effected by
weather events such as drought, floods, or tornadoes. Man also effects many food sources of animals.

WATER - Water is critical to living things. Water is necessary for internal health, plant growth, and bathing.
Some water provides shelter for living things. Ponds, streams, and birdbaths are sources of water for some, and
other living things are able to obtain all the water they need from their food supply. Too little or too much
water can directly effect the health of living things.

SHELTER - Animals seek shelter for security, a place to feed, a place to rest and sleep, and a place to raise and
care for young. Shelters may come in many forms: vegetation, rock piles, chimneys, fence posts, trees, cliffs,
holes in the ground, or billboards. Sometimes animals seek shelter in more than one place, depending on the
activity: feeding, resting, storing food, etc.
SPACE - Animals must travel to meet their needs, socialize, and reproduce. This area is known as its home
range, or space. Usually, small animals have small home ranges, and large animals have larger ones. Migratory
animals may have several spaces necessary to survive. Animals often defend and protect their space to raise
young. This is called a territory. Animals must maintain a healthy population within their space.
Overcrowding will decrease food supply, and small populations can effect socialization.

THREATENED – Species that may become endangered within a foreseeable future throughout their range
unless the steps are taken to prevent decreasing

ENDANGERED – Species that are in serious danger of extinction and have already been reduced to critically
low numbers or have experienced drastic habitat

EXTINCT - Species that no longer exist across their former range.

Preparation:
1. Read background information and preview/read Threatened, Endangered, & Extinct flier
2. Title chart paper - Basic Needs (optional)
3. Make copies of “What are basic needs?” and “Can you solve these basic needs riddles?”- optional
4. Prepare overhead transparency, or copy “Threatened, Endangered, or Extinct Poem” on chart pap
5. Reserve computer lab time to research Threatened, Endangered & Extinct in PART TWO

Lesson Steps: PART ONE – BASIC NEEDS

1. Initiate discussion of lesson by focusing how living things are able to survive in a habitat/ecosystem because
their basic needs are met.

2. Partner students and have them brainstorm a list of everything they need to survive.

3. Ask for volunteers to share, and write down an adequate number of responses on a list on the white board, or
on post-its. These responses will be sorted into wants and needs.

4. Discuss the difference between “wants” (extras in life, not necessary for survival) and “needs” (necessary
for survival). Create a t-chart on the white board and sort class responses. Possible wants/needs:

wants needs
own bedroom home (shelter)
video games exercise/play (space)
Gatorade, Pepsi water
pizza, Big Mac, Whopper food
air
5. If necessary to develop further understanding, partner students and have them discuss a pet’s wants/needs.
Repeat activity for pets.

wants needs
big fluffy bed home (shelter)
farm field, woods yard to exercise/play (space)
water water
steak bones, dog treats dog food
6. Ask:
Which needs are you able to get easily?
Which needs take effort?
Does everyone in our class get what they need the same way?
Are some needs met the same for everyone?

7. Continue discussion. “Think about home and school.”

Are your needs met differently?
Can you think of a time when your need wasn’t met? What did you do?
What would you do if you could no longer get something you needed?

“Think about plants and animals in different ecosystems and biomes.”

What needs are plants and animals easily able to get in an ecosystem?
What needs may be difficult to meet?
What would a plant/animal do if needs couldn’t be met in an ecosystem?

8. Ask for volunteers to assist in categorizing basic needs of living (humans, animals, birds, plants) organisms.
Teacher may create a poster to hang in classroom during discussion, or have students who finish “What are
basic needs?” early create a colorful classroom display. Categories should reflect the following:

Basic Needs
food - a variety of nutritious food necessary for energy and health
water - necessary for health
shelter - a place to sleep, rest, live
space - area encompassing school, church, entertainment, athletic activities, area to search for a mate,
play (may be in square miles)

9. Distribute copies of Threatened, Endangered & Extinct. Ask for volunteers to read section about basic
needs. Discuss.

10. Review/discuss directions for worksheet - “What are basic needs?” Assign for independent seatwork.

11. Optional homework: worksheet “Can you solve these basic needs riddles?”

Lesson Steps: PART TWO – THREATENED, ENDANGERED & EXTINCT

1. Initiate a discussion about what would happen if an organism’s basic needs weren’t met for a period of time.

2. Write words threatened, endangered, and extinct on white board. Discuss their meaning. Ask if students are
aware of specific examples.

3. Show /read to class Threatened, Endangered & Extinct Poem that is attached.

4. Ask students what they learned about the great egret. Write brainstormed list on white board. List may
include:
*endangered throughout USA *yellow bill
*white *black legs and feet
*about 40 inches tall *shallow river, stream, pond
* eats frogs, minnows, small water animals *nest in trees near river, shrubby growth
*55 inch wingspan *hunted for feathers, habitat loss, polluted water
5. Write the following categories on the board: Physical Characteristics, Habitat, Reason why Endangered,
Food. Ask for volunteers to place generated items in proper categories.

6. Introduce the names of the following threatened, endangered, or extinct organisms on the board. Students
will become excited after hearing the unique names of some birds and animals. Explain that these are all
threatened, endangered, or extinct species found in PA. Discuss familiarity of animals with kids.

7. Take class to computer lab, (or print out copies of species) and launch PA Game Commission website
(www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/view.asp?a=458&q=150321). Allow free exploration of site.

8. Ask students to select a specie, and take notes in the following categories: Physical Characteristics, Habitat,
Reason why Endangered, Food.

9. Students can take notes back to class to create a short poem about their specie. The poem must contain
information from each category. Students can publish their poem by sharing their poem with the class and
drawing an illustration.

Resource: Threatened, Endangered & Extinct flier (from Environment & Ecology Series)

Prepared by: Susan Taptich, September 2007

 What are basic needs?

All ecosystems have sunlight and air to provide life to organisms.

Other basic needs that organisms require are food, water, shelter, and
space.
Give examples of how the following organisms find basic needs in their ecosystem.

organism food water shelter space

you

dog

sunflower

fox

1. A farmer accidentally destroyed a fox’s den when he plowed the land to make a new
farm field. How could the fox adapt to survive?

_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

2. What if an organism is unable adapt or find basic needs within its ecosystem?

_____________________________________________________________________
 Can you solve these basic needs riddles?

Ecosystems have sunlight and air to provide life to organisms.

Other basic needs that organisms require are _______________, __________________,

________________, and _____________.

Choose from the word bank below to solve each riddle.

food water shelter space Who am I?

I am a plant eater. I will drink from

I like thick brush I’m usually alone,
I love to eat clover, puddles or other
where I can lay but relatives are
dandelions, and places where water
down and hide. close by.
garden plants. collects.

I ‘m usually alone
I like greenish- after I hatch from
I wait patiently to Insects that I eat brown stick like an egg with
reach out and grab provide me with
plants that look hundreds of
tasty insects. water.
like me. brothers and
sisters.
I need space on the
I make my own I don’t need a lot of ground to spread
I get water from
food using energy shelter, and I like out and my seeds
the soil.
from the sun. sunny areas. need a lot of space
to fly in the wind.

I carry my house
I don’t need a lot of
Leaves and stems on my back. I like
I get water from space. I usually
are some of my to hide under
plants that I eat. live where my food
favorite food. leaves. I don’t like
is.
the bright sun.

My favorite food is I drink from I build my nest on I like open spaces

worms, but I’ll eat puddles, bird a sturdy branch in with trees where I
grubs, spiders, baths, or where a leafy tree so it is can find food and
berries, and seeds. water collects. hidden. raise my young.

I like to eat frogs, I drink from During warm

I like cool places
salamanders, and puddles or where months I like to
under rocks or
insects. I swallow water collects on stay in the same
logs.
them whole. the ground. area.

garter snake American robin cottontail

rabbit snail dandelion praying mantis
 Threatened, Endangered, Extinct Poem

The poem created below is an example that was created from information taken from the PA Game
Commission website. Student generated poems do not have to follow this rhyming format.

The Great Egret

Walking quietly along the forest path, in the crisp, autumn air,
I looked toward the shallow river and guess what I saw there?
A tall, majestic bird, with black legs and black feet,
Looking in shallow water for frogs and minnows to eat.

I started paging through my field guide, looking for the bird of white,
I found it on page seventy-three, oh what a beautiful sight!
I noted that its wingspan reached 55 inches wide,
And 40 inches tall is measured from top to ground along its side.

I looked back toward the bird creeping silently with the flow,
Its yellow beak finding food, oh what a show!
My curious eyes found a nest way up in the trees,
I bet it just flew down in the refreshing autumn breeze.

I looked back at the guide and discovered that I was lucky

As it turns out, the great egret is an endangered specie
The birds were once hunted for their feathers of so white,
Polluted water and habitat loss contributed to their plight.

I hope people appreciate the beauty of this bird,

And continue to take steps to help it so it can be part of our world!