I have a little rhyme that pops into my head when I think about science lesson plans related to extinction and endangered animals: ?

The dodo used to run about ?

And take the sun and air.

The sun yet warms his native ground…

The dodo is not there!

The voice that used to squawk and squeak ?

Is now forever dumb.

Yet you may see his bones and beak

All in the mu-se-um.

(The Dodo by Hilaire Belloc) ?

Now, you’ve probably informed your students that we are losing many endangered species a day – most science lesson plans have this as one of the main teaching points.?But some bright people have ensured that even if a species does undergo extinction, “the voice that used to squawk and squeak” will not remain “forever dumb” and that more than the “bones and beak” will be visible.?This delightful site is called the?ARKive.? It aims to be a sort of virtual Noah’s Ark that will preserve footage, facts and photos of currently endangered animals for future generations to enjoy. ?

The ARKive is an absolute goldmine for quirky facts and fascinating animals (and plants and fungi) and can be used for science lesson plans of all types, not just when teaching about extinction and conservation.?Lessons on classification, adaptation and habitats can all include a visit to the ARKIve’s website – or its younger version, Planet ARKive, which teachers in Grade 2 to Grade 6 will find helpful.?If you’ve mastered the art of using small video clips as part of your science lesson plans, you will have plenty to choose from. ?

Now, this ARKive is still under construction, and is still hunting for footage of some plants, animals and fungi.?If you teach in an area where one of the rare and endangered animals/plants/fungi still lives, you might be able to create a few science lesson plans or even a unit that culminates in a field trip to find and film the life form in question – you never know; you may strike it lucky and get some very valuable footage.?And even if you don’t, your class will have had one of the most memorable science lessons they will ever have. ?

The ARKive is very teacher-friendly as well as pupil-friendly and has a few science lesson plans ready made on the site – well worth checking out!?But don’t forget to use this valuable and fascinating site even if you aren’t a science teacher and science lesson plans aren’t really useful for you. ?

English:?Some of the endangered animals have really quirky names??How about showing your class some footage of the animal without showing the name of the animal and then getting your students to create a name for it?? ?

Math:?The ARKive has some startling facts and figures related to extinction that can be used in a maths class.?For example, if one species becomes extinct every twenty minutes, how many species is that per day??Per week??This will be a very sobering lesson… ?

The ARKive is just one of many valuable and fascinating websites that have multiple uses in the classroom.?Don’t let the words “technology integration” scare you. Standard methods for using media in your elementary lessons are still the benchmark for an effective lesson. Technology should be seen as just another tool in your lesson-not the lesson.

By: Kimberly Stohlman

About the Author:

Information gap activities are those in which students exchange information in order to complete a required lesson plan activity.

Most information gap activities are done in pairs, with each student having a part of the information. They are especially effective when used as vocabulary activities during the pre-reading part of a reading lesson, but they can also be applied to reading comprehension and math activities as well.

For example, this strategy can be used to teach new vocabulary from a passage students haven’t yet read. Student A would have the vocabulary words written on strips of paper and student B would have the definitions of those words. Working together, they pair words and definitions to learn new vocabulary.

Vocabulary Activities

Information gap activities such as the example below function as vocabulary lessons after students have already encountered the vocabulary in the text.

Teacher and/or class prepare 2 lists of about 20 items. List A contains people and animals. List B contains objects. The aim is to combine one words from List A with one from List B. Example: What can a/an A do with a/an B? Why does a/an A need a/an B? Students create a list of combinations.

Or, Student A has pictures of newly introduced words and student B has the matching words. When matched correctly, they create an interesting shape.

Math Activities

The same principles of information gap activities can also be applied to Math lesson. Student A measures triangles of various sizes while student B measures circles of various sizes. Together, they answer questions that relate to the relationship between them.

Reading Comprehension Activities

An information gap activity can also be used as a main reading task when students need to share information they read from an assigned passage. An especially effective information gap activity is A jigsaw reading which is a type of activity that is done usually in groups. In a jigsaw reading, the teacher can use academic texts or texts from the students’ coursebook.

In the traditional method of jigsaw reading, the teacher divides a text into sections and assigns each group a section to read. Each group is responsible for understanding its part. Then new groups are formed with one member from each previous team. The new groups now have one representative from each section and each can share what s/he understood from his or her part of text. Students then can either write a summary of the text or answer questions about the entire text.

How An Information Gap Activity Should Be Structured

Consider also the following main issues in your lesson plans:

* Purpose: What is the purpose of the activity? For example, is the purpose to introduce, reinforce, use or bridge the gap between letters and their corresponding sounds? Or, is the purpose to reinforce words and their meanings?

* Organization: Who is in control – the class or the teacher? Once you develop the necessary classroom management skills, you can effectively implement information gap activities.

* Length of Lesson: The element of time must be considered. How long will this activity take?

* Ability level: Consider the ability of the class, homogeneous or heterogeneous groupings, and adaptations such as a backup plan when students can’t do the activity as planned.

* Materials and procedures: What is needed for the lesson? How will the teacher present information gap activities.

* Who? The level of the students including the ability and grade.

* What? What is the context for your information gap activity?

* How? Through which new points will the main skills be introduced? Example: Will students need to read a passage containing the new words before matching words and their corresponding definitions in pair work?

Possible Problems Using An Activity on an Information Gap

What if your lesson didn’t go as planned? A potentially well planned information gap lesson can backfire due to neglect of one of the main planning issues (see above).

Classroom management is typically the reason why information gap activities do not go as planned. It is worthwhile to invest time therefore, in the principles of classroom management before implementing any information gap activity.

Information gap activities are user-friendly for the teacher to recycle previously taught information. Some will take more time to implement, but it is an investment well worth the effort.

By: Dorit Sasson

About the Author: