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While many animal and plant species are in short supply, there is no shortage of Web sites that teachers and students can use to explore this popular classroom topic. This week, Education World explores some of the most valuable "endangered species" sites for teachers and students. Also included, endangered species activities and online projects for students of all ages!

On December 28, 1973, President Richard Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act of 1973, a law in which the United States "pledged itself, as a sovereign state in the international community, to conserve to the extent practicable the various species of fish or wildlife and plants facing extinction."

Why was the law necessary? What did it mandate? How was it implemented? And how are "endangered species" doing today? Grab your mouse and your pith helmet -- and join Education World on a cyberspace search for endangered species!

BACKGROUND SITES FOR TEACHERS (AND STUDENTS)

The subject is vast, and facts and figures are constantly changing. In order to ensure that the information you present to your students is current and correct, we travel first to the online domains of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service, the government agencies charged with administering the Endangered Species Act (ESA). If you only have time for one stop on our cyber search, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service Endangered Species Home Page is the place to go. This comprehensive research and teaching resource provides an abundance of information about the ESA and related programs and projects -- and provides you with the tools to teach it. Here, you can click Species Lists and follow the taxonomic links to learn about the status of a particular animal or click State Lists to learn about threatened and endangered species in a particular area. At this site, you can also study the history of the ESA, read about current environmental issues, and obtain overviews of government programs to save endangered species and habitats…

But, if you do nothing else here, be sure to click Teacher's Packet and make use of the variety of valuable information and activities provided. This packet includes fact sheets on a number of endangered species, important definitions, suggested teaching themes and classroom activities, a slide show on endangered animals, activities and lesson plans about endangered plants, crossword puzzles, a word search, a coloring book, a down-loadable teachers' guide, and much more.

Also included is an extensive list of links to environmental sites. You'll particularly want to check out the Investigating Endangered Species in the Classroom: Lesson Plans from the University of Michigan for access to a number of valuable classroom activities.

And, whatever you do, don't miss the Biodiversity Symbol designed by a 1-3 multi-aged classroom in Cincinnati, Ohio!

Supplement your visit to the Fish and Wildlife Service with another to the Marine Fisheries site. Here, you can browse a sea of articles and reports on current environmental issues, visit the Office of Protected Resources to find out about the status of marine fish and mammals, and explore the Office of Habitat Conservation to learn about programs to conserve marine habitats. Or, if you're looking for information about a particular topic and haven't found it yet, type key words into the site's search engine to gain access to online reports and publications about almost any subject.

If you can only manage a single additional visit, make it the National Wildlife Federation Endangered Species and Habitats Web site. Here you'll find a clear explanation of the ESA and its importance, information about programs concerned with the conservation of specific species and habitats, links to information about current legislative and administrative actions, and a list of additional useful links. (While you're there, check out their Fun Things for Kids! pages, discussed in the Sites for Students section of this article.)

A number of other agencies and organizations maintain online sites containing information on endangered species. Sites provided by The National Park Service, the World Wildlife Fund, Defenders of Wildlife, and The Nature Conservancy are all worth a side trip, if you have the time.

INTERESTING AND FUN SITES FOR STUDENTS

Now that you've collected enough background information and resources for a unit on endangered species, it's time to share the highlights of your explorations with your students.

Encourage students to start their explorations at Endangered: Exploring a World at Risk, an exhibition from the American Museum of Natural History. This fascinating site will hold the attention of students of all ages, as they investigate endangered animals and endangered habitats, discover the causes of endangerment, learn how humans contribute to it, and find out what they can do to prevent it. Best of all, students can take an interactive tour of the museum's exhibition on endangered animals and habitats -- a tour that includes radiated tortoises, flying frogs, and live chichlids!

World Endangered Species, from Thinkquest, is another terrific site for students in Grade 3 and above. Here, kids will learn why species become extinct and what they can do about it. The site includes a list of well known and little-known plants and animals that kids can click on to find information and maps showing where they're found. In addition, students can view an interactive slide show, download pictures of endangered animals, or listen to animal sounds. Links to organizations involved in protecting endangered species, and the opportunity to email questions or comments to the Endangered Species Team, are also provided.

Younger students will enjoy exploring the Endangered Species Learning Center (from Defenders of Wildlife). This site provides information about biodiversity and endangered species in clear, easy-to-understand terms. The site also includes clickable pictures of 21 endangered animals. Students click a picture to learn more about the animal and its habitat.

Students in grades 9-12 will be captivated by the graphics and format at Bagheera: A Website for Our Endangered Species. This gorgeous site, which provides information about endangered species and encourages students to act to save them, was designed as series of stand-alone modules that combine to create a cohesive unit. The modules include classroom activities, information about endangered species, suggested resources, and news items in a form and format that older students will find appealing. This is, however, a commercial site and, particularly in some of the later modules, visitors will have to navigate ads for books and music to get to the information.

Some additional sites for kids primarily provide information about several specific species. They include Endangered Animals of the World and Species at Risk.

Younger students will enjoy the activities at Endangered Habitats Kids' Page. Here, they'll find Eight Simple and Fun Things Kids Can Do To Help Save Endangered Species, such as making masks, puppets, and storybooks. Or they can take a Cool Tour of Endangered Species while completing activities such as matching animals with their descriptions or finding different species in a local garden. This site also includes an Endangered Species Quiz.

The E Patrol interactive world map provides information about some endangered species around the world. Students click a continent, then click on an animal to learn more about it. Even non-readers will be able to navigate this appealing site.

NOW WHAT? (ONLINE PROJECTS)

Now you've completed your cyber search and explored the issue of endangered species ad infinitum, but your students are still fired up and anxious to show off what they've learned. You might want to give them the opportunity to participate in an online project. One simple project is the School World Internet Education Endangered Species Project. At this site, students can read reports on endangered species written by other students and then they can write and contribute their own reports. Students are also encouraged to provide their own graphics.

The Endangered Species and Nature of the World (TESAN) is a slightly more involved international project hosted jointly by a teacher from the United States and a teacher from the Netherlands. At this site, students are asked to choose an endangered species or a Nature Park from their own region to research and report on. The project is open to K-12 classrooms anywhere in the world.

NO SHORTAGE OF SITES!

According to figures provided by the Fish and Wildlife Service, 355 animals and 567 plants in the United States are endangered and 120 animals and 135 plants are threatened. While the numbers of those species are in short supply, there is no shortage of Web sites devoted to saving them. This article has focused on only a few of the more general sites. For specific information on individual species, follow the links -- or invite your students to join you on your own cyber search.

ADDITIONAL ONLINE RESOURCES

• Factsheets and News Releases on Threatened and Endangered Species
• EE-Link On the Internet
• The Electronic Zoo

RELATED ARTICLES FROM EDUCATION WORLD

• Internet Projects to Celebrate Earth Day!
• Animals of the World
• It's a Zoo Out There!
• Iguanas and Komodos and Skinks -- Oh, My!

Article by Linda Starr
Education World®
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