Standards Correlations

R.1, R.2,  R.3, R.4, R.6, R.7,  W.3, SL.1, L.4, L.6

Learning Objective

Students will compare two texts about extinct and endangered animals.

Key Skills

compare and contrast, text features, vocabulary, summarizing, cause and effect, problem and solution, point of view, critical thinking, drawing conclusions, narrative writing

Complexity Factors

Purpose: The first text explores the idea of bringing back the woolly mammoth from extinction. The second explains how humans helped the California condor avoid extinction.

 

Structure: Both articles are informational.

 

Language: The language is clear and accessible. Domain-specific vocabulary is defined in the vocabulary box.

 

Knowledge Demands: No prior knowledge is required.

Levels

Lexile: 600L-700L 

Guided Reading Level: T 

DRA Level: 50

Lesson Plan: Should We Bring Back the Woolly Mammoth?/The Great Condor Comeback

Essential Questions

  • What responsibility do humans have to the natural world?
  • How can technology help us connect with nature and protect it?

Literature Connection

  • Novel: Elephant Secret by Eric Walters
  • Novel: Mammoth by Jill Baguchinsky
  • Nonfiction: California Condor by Amanda Lanser

1. Preparing to Read 

Preview Text Features (10 minutes)

Guide students to locate the article in their magazines or at Action Online. Preview the text features by asking the following questions:

  • Read the articles’ titles and subtitles. How do you think we might come face-to-face with woolly mammoths? How do you think scientists might have saved the condor? Make predictions. Answers will vary. Students might bring up the concept of reviving genes in their answer to the first question and wildlife protection programs in their answer to the second.
  • Look at the photos included in the articles and read their captions. How long can a California condor’s wingspan be? Who was Lyuba, and when did she die? The California condor’s wingspan can be nearly 10 feet. Lyuba was a woolly mammoth whose body was discovered by scientists. She died nearly 40,000 years ago.

Preview Vocabulary (10 minutes)

  • Point out the vocabulary box. Read the words (extinct, cells, development, endangered, captivity, habitats) aloud and discuss their definitions.
  • Play the Vocabulary Slideshow.

Make a Plan for Reading

Before students start to read, walk them through a reading plan:

  • Set a purpose for reading by telling students that the first article gives information about bringing back animals that are extinct and the second describes how North America’s largest bird came back from the brink of extinction.
  • Tell students that after they read, they’ll compare and contrast information from the two articles to better understand the role humans play in determining the fate of animal species.

 2. Reading and Unpacking the Text

Read the article. (Higher- and lower-Lexile versions are available on the Story page at Action Online. Click Presentation View to access an audio read-aloud.) Then discuss the following close-reading and critical-thinking questions.

Close-Reading Questions (20 minutes)

  • How do scientists at Colossal plan to bring back the woolly mammoth? (summarizing) Scientists at Colossal plan to bring back the woolly mammoth through a process called de-extinction, which involves using genes from frozen mammoth bodies to create a creature that's part mammoth, part elephant. They'll do this by putting mammoth genes into elephant cells to create an embryo, which will then be either placed in a female elephant or grown in a lab.
  • What problems might result from bringing woolly mammoths back from extinction? (cause and effect) We might find that woolly mammoths can’t live in our warmer world. The mammoths might end up living only in zoos and labs. And we could be taking resources away from efforts to keep endangered animals from becoming extinct.
  • What were the main threats to the California condor's survival, and how did scientists handle these problems? (problem and solution) The main threats to the California condor's survival were hunting, collisions with power lines, and lead poisoning from eating animals shot with lead bullets. To address these problems, scientists captured the remaining condors and raised them in captivity to build up their numbers. They also worked on fixing the environmental problems that endangered the condors, like informing hunters about the dangers of lead bullets, cleaning up plastic trash, and training captive condors to avoid power lines.
  • Why did some people disagree with the ways scientists planned to solve the condor problem? (point of view) People were concerned about taking away the birds’ freedom, and they worried that condors born in captivity would behave differently from those born in the wild.

Critical-Thinking Questions (10 minutes)

  • Do you think it’s a good idea to bring back the woolly mammoth? Why or why not? Use details from the article to support your opinion. (critical thinking) Answers will vary.
  • What does the California condor's comeback tell us about how people can help animals? (drawing conclusions) The comeback of the California condor shows us that people can help animals by identifying the problems the animals face (often caused by humans). By keeping the condors safe and having more of them born in places where they are protected, people were able to stop the birds from disappearing forever. It proves that when people work hard and use their knowledge, they can fix problems that are harmful to animals. 

3. Skill Building and Writing

  • Have students work in pairs to complete our Compare and Contrast Skill Builder.. (Click here to view all your Skill Builders for this article.)
  • Writing prompt: Imagine that you are one of the condors that was taken into captivity for protection. Write a paragraph describing what it was like to be caught and kept in captivity, how you felt about it at the time, and whether you decided afterward that the program was a good idea.

Learn-Anywhere Activity

An enrichment activity to extend the learning journey at home or in the classroom

Project the task below on your whiteboard or share it with students in your LMS.

Boost Your Animal Knowledge

After reading the articles, watch our fun video “Animals of the Ice Age.” The video mentions a number of animals, some extinct and some still living. Choose one and do some research to learn more about it. Try to find at least five facts about the animal, such as:

  • how much it weighs/weighed
  • how long it lives/lived
  • what it eats/ate
  • where it lives/lived
  • what dangers it faces/faced

After you’ve found your facts, write or type them all onto one document to create an animal fact sheet that your teacher can display in the classroom. Include an image of the animal.

Language-Acquisition Springboard

Discuss synonyms as a way to improve writing.

After reading both articles, go back to the first one and point out the words colossal and mammoth. Tell students that both words are (among other things) adjectives that mean ‘very large. “

Let students know that one way to make their writing more interesting is to avoid repeating the same word over and over. So if they wanted to write an interesting passage about a woolly mammoth or a California condor, it would be helpful to know a number of words that mean “very large.” 

Tell students that words with the same meaning are called synonyms. Have them use a thesaurus (such as the one found at wordcentral.com) to find at least five more words that are synonyms of colossal and mammoth. A few examples are:

  • enormous
  • giant
  • gigantic
  • huge
  • humongous
  • immense
  • jumbo
  • massive
  • tremendous
Once students have made their list of synonyms, have them write a paragraph about the woolly mammoth or the California condor that includes any three of the words on their list.

Looking for more ELL support? Download our full lesson plan and scroll to p. 5 to find questions that will help your ELLs respond to the text at the level that’s right for them.

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