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| Endangered Animals
In the past, species of plants or animals used to die out or become extinct naturally because more recently evolved species were more successful at competing for food and living space. Some became extinct because of changes in the planet or because of natural disasters. Today, however, most plants and animals become endangered because of the interference of humans. The introduction of exotic, non-native species has negatively impacted many animals. These non-native species disrupt natural systems, compete for food, space, and other resources, and may introduce disease. Over-hunting and over-harvesting has had serious effects, but habitat modification or destruction has been the most devastating to the earth's animals. Sample some of the following activities to learn more about endangered animals. Places To Go | People To See | Things To Do | Teacher Resources | Bibliography The following are places to go (some real and some virtual) to find out about endangered animals. Pandas are one of the most highly endangered animals in the world. You can visit our national panda, Hsing Hsing, who was a gift to the United States from China. The still photos from this live web cam at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. automatically refresh every 60 seconds. And there is also a live video cam! This great zoo also has a web cams that feature other endangerd animals such as Sumatran tigers, pandas, and elephants.
Remember Koko? She was the gorilla who learned how to use sign language. The URL of her website is easy to remember--it's http://www.gorilla.org/. Find out about endangered gorillas, meet Koko's gorilla friends, Mike and Ndume, learn some gorilla sign language, see great gorilla photos, and find out how to write or email Koko. Visit with John James Audubon. He founded the National
Audubon Society to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing
on birds and other wildlife for the benefit of humanity and the earth's
biological diversity. Listen to whale songs. Then click on "Fishin' for Facts" to learn about whale echolocation which is how whales communicate with each other.
Send someone an electronic endangered animal postcard. There are many to choose from, and they are all free! Find out how many species are endangered in Utah. Predict what you think will be the Endangered Species of the Next Millennium.
Get involved in an ongoing global project in which students from different countries share knowledge and activities about endangered species. See the project that students who are part of ThinkQuest Junior made about Endangered Species. Click on "Multimedia" to see their slide show.
Learn about endangered monarch butterflies and their long migration to their wintering grounds in Mexico. Check out the book Gone Forever ! An Alphabet of Extinct Animals by Sandra and William Markle. You'll find out all about the quagga, a zebra-like animal that used to live in Africa and the elephant bird whose eggs were so large that the shells of the eggs could hold 2 gallons of milk! These birds were over 10 feet tall!
Online activities are a listing of internet sites with fun, interesting, and educational tasks attached to each one. (You can learn how to use this WWW Activities tool created by UEN for Utah educators).
Virtual Field Trips are teacher and student-created tours of curricular topics. (You can learn how to use this UEN Virtual Field Trip tool created by UEN for Utah educators). Lesson Plan/Webquests/Activities
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