Please follow these guidelines for completing your Endangered Animal and Biomes Project. Students will be given guidelines information in class, with a space provided for a parent signature. Please return that page tomorrow, 10/5. It will be checked and returned with your child so you have this information at home. This project is due Monday, October 17th. Project selections must be made by Friday, October 7th.
Students may select from these options:
ENDANGERED ANIMAL BIOME COLLAGE
Make a colorful collage of a specific endangered animal on a full sheet of poster board. Neatly cut out pictures from a magazine, download colorful pictures from the Internet, or draw your own pictures to show your animal in action in its natural habitat or environment. To do a collage, overlap each picture slightly, so none of the poster board shows. Include captions under the pictures describing the scene, or use adjectives to describe the traits of the animal. Your endangered animal’s name must stand out on this collage. Make sure your name and date are on the front of the collage. A map of the biome location and food web should be included on your collage. A written report of the endangered animal must be turned in with the collage. Details below.
BIOME TRAVEL POSTER
Create a colorful poster on a full sheet of poster board that highlights a specific land biome. Include on your poster a map of the geographical location (continent or continents), either hand drawn or copied, a description of the climate, and animals and plants found there. Add other important details about the biome that would encourage people to visit there. You may do illustrations yourself or use pictures from magazines or the Internet. All pictures should have a caption underneath describing that scene. Get creative with this! Your travel poster should have a catchy title with the name of the biome you’re advertising. Your name and date should be on the front of the poster as well. A written report will be turned in with your travel poster. Details below.
ENDANGERED ANIMAL BIOME DIORAMA
You will need a large shoebox to make a 3-D diorama for this project. Research an endangered animal and design a scene showing it in its natural environment. You can make your animal out of clay or use other materials. The more details, the better! The box must be completely covered on the outside so the entire diorama resembles the animal’s habitat. Include a map of the geographical locations (biomes) where this animal lives on the outside of the box. Your diorama should have a title clearly displayed on the front or top of the box, along with your name and the date. A written report must be turned in with your diorama. Details below.
LAND BIOMES BOOK
Create a book that describes each of the six land biomes we studied in class: tundra, taiga, deciduous forest, grasslands, desert, and tropical rain forest. Your book must have a title page, a Table of Contents page, and a “The End” page. Each content page must be numbered to match the Table of Contents and include a brief description of each biome: the geographic location of the biome (continent or continents) shown on a map, the climate (including the average temperature, amount of sunlight, and rainfall), the plants and animals found there and any adaptations they need for survival, and a “Did You Know?” interesting fact about each one (ex. Did You Know? The tundra is known as the frozen desert!) Colorful illustrations of each biome should be included on each page. Include a food web for one biome of your choice. No written report is needed with this project since the book IS the report!
WRITTEN REPORT GUIDELINES
Your report should be at least two pages if handwritten. Skip a space between lines, and DO NOT write in the margins of the paper. You may use pen, but no scribbling out. This should be your neatest work. If you type your report, it should be one page or longer, double-spaced, using a font no larger than 18. There must be a title page with the title of your project, your name and the date.
If you are writing about an endangered animal, your report must include a description of the animal, the biome in which it lives and the geographical location of the biome, the animal’s diet, the special adaptations it has to survive in its environment, and any natural predators it has. Also include why it is endangered and what is currently being done to protect it. A food web of this animal must be included with the report (unless you show it on the collage or diorama), showing how energy is transferred from one organism to another (make sure the sun is incorporated into your food web).
Biome reports must include information on the geographic location (continents), the climate, including the average temperature, the amount of rain, and how much sunlight is received, and the animals and plants found there along with their adaptations. A food web found in this biome must be included. Add other information you find interesting about these biomes.
In addition to a cover page, all reports should include a bibliography or resources page with at least two references. Students will receive a sample bibliography to see how to cite different sources. The Internet may be used as a source, but you must write the website, not just “Google.com”. Also, books, magazines, educational TV shows or videos may be used as sources, in addition to personal interviews with experts in the field.
Enjoy this GREAT learning adventure!
