Endangered Animals--Research and Art--Fourth Grade

Welcome to the Endangered Animals Project!

This project was done by the fourth grade and was a combined effort of the Library Research Program and the Art program. For the project, students did the following:

• chose an endangered animal in the world
• researched their animal and wrote a blog post
• drew/sketched their endangered animal
• created the same design on a plate
• sculpted the animal in a cup form

The lesson was aligned to the California State Standards in Science, developed skills in research and writing, implemented the principles of design and the elements of art, and encouraged students to develop individual aesthetics.

Students used a wonderful website for their research that you can find at http://kidsplanet.org/factsheets/map.html. Please scroll down to see all the students' postings.

We hope you enjoy their work!

Elephants-=T.C.

Elephants are a very interesting animal of Africa. When the elephants are born they are brown, and over time they turn to gray. Their diet is grasses, leaves, bamboo, and many more things. The reason why they are endangered is because they have lost their habitat and people have been poaching. I love elephants and I hope people will stop endangering them.

Giraffe--K.R.

What a unique spotted animal the giraffe is and it could soon be gone. Giraffes have spots, long necks, and long legs. Giraffes are up to nineteen feet tall. This animal can live in savannas all over eastern and southern Africa. Giraffe's favorite dinner would be leaves of the acacia tree. Giraffes don't normally drink water, they get it from leaves. The giraffe has three threats. One is people who want tails for bracelets, two--they want meat to eat, and three--they want the coat for a shield. Next time you go to buy any of those things, think first.

Penguins--M.W.

A world would be sad without penguins. Penguins are black and white and their beaks are yellow. They are found in Antarctica. They eat krill, fish, and squid. They are threatened by sharks and seals. Please save the penguins.

Hummingbird--A.D.

I think its quite sad that some beautiful animals, such as the hummingbird, are endangered. Hummingbirds have specialized long bills and they are bright and tropic colors. Also hummingbirds only live on the Western Hemisphere. Most of them live in the tropics. Hummingbirds often eat flower nectar and insects. A fact about their eating is that when they eat nectar it takes them thirteen licks per second with their long tongue. The saddest part about the hummingbird is that they are killed by hunters for their rare and beautiful feathers. If we stop hunting hummingbirds then they may be able to live.

Koalas--D.T.

Koalas have always been a favorite animal to many people, but that could end someday soon. Koalas have soft grey fur, gray on the top, white on the bottom. They also have white hairs on their eartips. They have little black eyes and black noses. Koalas have sharp claws so they can hug and cling on to trees. The Koalas range stretches all the way across Australia. Today they can be found in Queensland, new South Wales, Victoria, and South America. Koalas eat mostly leaves, such as eucalyptus tree leaves and tree bark. They can consume mistletoe and box leaves. Once, numbering in the millions, Koalas suffered major declines in population during the 1920s when they were hunted for their soft fur. Also, dogs kills about 4,000 Koalas yearly! I hope someday you will help Koalas population increase!

Sea Turtle--L.H.

The baby sea turtle is dying because of the filthy things we've done! Who can save it? My animal's shell is streamlined for swimming in water. It can also not put his legs or arms back in his shell. The baby sea turtle lives in warm temperate waters hundreds of miles between nesting and feeding grounds. Most sea turtles all eat jellyfish, seaweed, crabs, shrimps, sponges, sea snails, algae, and finally mollusks. All of the sea turtles are endangered because their habitat is threatened by fisheries, the im0act of coastal development, pollution (of course), pathogens, and global warming!