Introduction

1. Introduction • It is five o'clock at night and your parents are making you watch the news. After whining to your parents about the TV show, you sit down on the couch in disgust. After trying to ignore the news show, you suddenly hear a story. The newscaster starts talking about how the dolphins are becoming more endangered and that there are groups of people working on helping the Dolphin population grow. These people are trying to clean up the environment so these animals have a clean place to live. You turn to your parents and ask,"What is an endangered specie?"

2. Task • Hundreds of Species are dying out each year due to many different causes. Some of these causes are environmental, human caused, natural selection, and changes over time to the specie(evolution). Extinction has already taken over 500 species from the United States alone. Plants such as the beautiful Sexton Mountain mariposa lily, and animals like the colorful and once-abundant Carolina parakeet are gone forever and will never be seen by human eyes again. (http://consci.tnc.org/library/pubs/rptcard/assets.html) As of 1997, over 20,000 species are currently endangered in the United States. (http://consci.tnc.org/library/pubs/rptcard/life.html) That number is only increasing and everyone can do something to help stop some species from going down the endangered species road.

3. Scenario • The Endangered Species Act is meant to protect fish, wildlife, and plants that are listed as threatened or endangered species in the United States. The Act also implements the provisions of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). (summary from Endangeredspecie.com on 8/9/01). There are also other laws helping to protect the endangered species in the United States. Examples of other protective measures are Marine Mammal Protection Act, Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and Wild Bird Conservation Act of 1992. • You are a reporter for the local newspaper and your editor has given you your first assignment as a reporter. You are to research an Endangered Specie from the United States. You use your article to teach people about what an endangered specie is, what causes them, should they be safe or not and why do you think this. You are also to show an example of what an endangered specie is. Before you can do this, you must first acquire a basic understanding of what an endangered specie is, what causes them, what is being done to stop this problem, and how does species going extinct effect us, as humans. You will do research to gather information on your specified endangered specie. Start by reading the listed articles, review the reference books available, and complete the following items:

4. What do I Do??? • Compare and Contrast the difference between an endangered species and threatened species (in your own words). • Determine what causes a species to become endangered. • Write an article describing the above information and your endangered species. This article must include: A. Description of the animal and its habitat. B. What does it need to survive? C. What does it eat? How does it fit into the food web? D. What areas of the world does it live in? F. What organizations are helping the species? How are they helping? What can be done to help the species survive? G. Should we save this species? How can we do this? Is this possible to do in today's world?

5. Resources Online Resources: • Endangered Species Program This link lists statistics about endangered species. It also has article about many of the endangered species in the United States. • World Wildlife FundThis link is about the world wildlife fund. It shows examples of the work they are doing and information of the animals. • Endangered Species Act of 1973This link is about this act the congress passed in 1973. This was the start of Americans showing they care about the other animals we share the planet with. • Endangered SpeciesThis link connects you to an Encarta page about endangered species. This it general information and will give you examples of endangered species. • National Wild life FoundationThis link is about this foundation and the work they do. Also, includes information about endangered species. • CA Department of Fish and GameThis link is about endangered species specific to California. • Endangered Species Information This link is about general endangered species information. • American Zoological Association This site is great. It talks about zoos and different animals located in them. There is great stuff about endangered species. • Endangered species IIThis site has information about the Endangered Specie Act, Endangered Species In Your State, Interesting Endangered Species Facts, Endangered Species Profiles & Photo Gallery, and Laws That Protect Endangered Species

6. Conclusion The product of your research and article helps you to see what an endangered species is. Your research also should have lead you to some of the causes for these species becoming endangered. You have discovered that some of the reasons species are endangered is because of humans and what we have done to the environment. You have taken your base knowledge and applied it to researching a particular species. You have found out about the habitat, where your animal is located in the food web, and where it lives. You have also found out about the organizations that are helping your animal and how they are doing this. With all this new informaiton you have gathered, think about what you are doing to help out endangered species. Next time you should recycle, or reuse, maybe you will remember this project and make the right decision.