Primary lesson plan about endangered animals

Use this lesson plan with your primary learners to consider the importance of safeguarding all kinds of animals.

The Climate action in language education series:

This lesson is part of our series of 'Climate action in language education' teaching materials. There are sixteen lesson plans in the series, available for teachers of primary, secondary and adult learners of English. See the full list of lesson plans in this series.

Introduction

This lesson is part of a series of engaging lessons about the climate emergency and biodiversity loss. It explores different topics connected to the crisis. In this lesson, learners will reflect on the importance of all animals and look at how big, cute animals are over-represented in wildlife conservation efforts. They will read about five more unusual endangered animals and choose one to replace the giant panda as the symbol of worldwide conservation.

The lesson plan and student materials have been designed to be used in either face-to-face classrooms or remote teaching contexts.

Learning outcomes

Talk about endangered animals, especially lesser-known animals
Compare animals using adjectives: cute, big, etc.
Read about five endangered animals
Select, make and present a new logo for the WWF

Age and level

Primary learners aged 9–11 years at CEFR level A2 and above

Time

65 minutes. This could be done in two lessons.

Materials

The materials can be downloaded below in PDF format.

Lesson plan for remote teaching contexts
Lesson plan for face-to-face classroom teaching
Remote teaching class presentation
Student worksheets

Before the lesson

Find out a bit more about endangered species: https://www.wwf.org.uk/learn/wildlife/endangered-animals

Task 1: Introduction (10 minutes)

Display slide 2. Ask, What animal is this? (the giant panda); Where does it live? (China); Are there lots of pandas? (No). Elicit reasons why not and accept possible answers, e.g. People kill them; They don't have space to live; etc. Write learners' ideas on the board. Write 'Pandas are endangered?' and make sure that learners understand that this means they may not exist soon because there aren't many alive now. Elicit other endangered animals that they know and the reasons they may be endangered.
Ask if anyone knows what the WWF is. If necessary, explain that the WWF is a charity that protects endangered animals and that its logo is the panda. Tell the learners that the WWF says there are 1,864 pandas in the wild. Explain that there are now more pandas than before, so, in fact, pandas aren't endangered any more! (They are officially 'threatened', which is not as serious as 'endangered'.)
Have learners draw a picture of a giant panda in their notebooks. You could ask them to copy the logo or find a photo.

Task 2: Discuss the problem (10 minutes)

Ask the class to guess which endangered animals on the planet get the most money and help from people. Write their ideas on the board.
Explain that big, cute and furry animals often get a lot more help than other animals. Then ask learners if they think that these big animals are more important than other animals, and find out why. Ask for a show of hands of how many learners think we should help the smaller, less popular animals like we do the big ones. Hopefully, they will say yes!
Display slide 3. Explain to learners that these are all endangered animals. Ask for them to vote on their favourite from the images. Then ask them which animal they think gets the most support. There is no correct answer.

Task 3: Reading for detail (15 minutes)

Show the class the worksheet 'Unusual endangered animals'. You can either use the handout, display the information on the walls or use presentation slides. Explain that these are less famous endangered animals. Ask learners to read quickly and to identify why each animal is endangered.
If you're not using the worksheet, show slide 6. Ask learners to copy the table into their notebooks.
Explain that they should read the texts again and complete the table. Display slide 4 and allow learners time to find the answers.
Complete the information about the lemur frog by eliciting from the whole class to make sure everyone understands the task.
Show slides 4 and 5, allowing time for learners to complete their table. As learners are reading, monitor and support with any unknown vocabulary.
Learners work in pairs and compare their answers. Either use the presentation or draw the table on the board. Nominate learners to fill in each cell of the table.
Check with the whole group if they agree with each answer as it is written. This helps to keep all learners actively involved in the answer.

Task 4: Memory game (10 minutes)

Put learners into groups of three or four.
Do a quick 'buzzer' round to check how well the learners read the fact files. Pretend to press a buzzer on your desk and make a suitable noise (like on a TV quiz). Get the learners to check whether their imaginary buzzers are working.
Ask the questions. Award a point to the group that buzzes first and answers correctly.
- How many animals are endangered because people are destroying trees? (2)
- How many animals live in trees? (2)
- Which animal can grow very old? (coconut crab)
- Which animal is bigger than the tree kangaroo? (the coconut crab)
- Which animal is the smallest? (lemur frog)
- How many animals are eaten by people? (2)
- Which animal lives in only one place? (axolotl)
- Which animal changes colour? (lemur frog)
- Which animal lives closest to here? (your own answer)
This could be the end of lesson 1.

Homework

Using websites, learners could research and choose another endangered species and write a text similar to the fact file texts in the article. Two websites are suggested: https://cites.org/eng https://wwf.org/
Learners could find out about endangered animals and plants in their local area.
There is also a homework worksheet about pandas.

Task 5: Design a new logo for the WWF (10 minutes)

Explain that the WWF has decided to change its logo. It has had the panda for many years, and there is lots of money now to protect the panda. It is time for a new animal to represent the organisation!
Put learners into pairs or small groups and explain that they are teams of designers who are competing for the contract. The Fund has asked them to create a new logo showing an endangered animal that isn't as famous as the panda. Explain that they must first of all agree on an animal and say why they have chosen it. Then they should draw the logo, which they will present to the WWF bosses. The best logo, with the best reasons, will win the contract!
Make sure each group has paper and pencils. Go around the teams, encouraging them with their ideas.

Task 6: Presentation (15 minutes)

Have each team present their logo to the class. Make sure each says why they chose it.
When all the teams have presented their logos, ask everyone to vote on their favourite with a show of hands (it can't be their own project!). Count the votes for each and announce the winner.

Task 7: Matching (10 minutes) OPTIONAL

Hand out the worksheet. Tell learners to find all the animals hidden in the letters. Show them the first and write 'peacock' on the board. Ask learners to point to the picture of the peacock (picture 4). Put learners in pairs and have them write the names in a list, numbered according to the pictures, e.g. 1 = fish.
Answers: 1 fish, 2 butterfly, 3 eagle, 4 peacock, 5 monkey, 6 fish, 7 spider, 8 owl, 9 lemur, 10 frog
Learners will notice that there are two fish. Explain that there are more animals hidden in the letters! These animals have two words in their name. Use the first as an example. Say, The 'peacock spider' is a kind of spider. Ask learners to guess how many kinds of spider there are on the planet. When all have guessed, congratulate the learner who got closest to the figure (45,000!). Add, There are more than 90 different kinds of peacock spider!
If possible, have learners write the other animals hidden in the chain on the board or in the chat box.
(Answers: peacock spider, spider monkey, monkey lemur, lemur frog, frog fish, fish eagle, eagle owl, owl butterfly, butterfly fish)
Explain that the pictures are of these kinds of animal, i.e. the spider silhouette is of a peacock spider, not just any spider. Ask why they think it is called a peacock spider (its abdomen is like a peacock¡s tail).

Task 8: Comparisons (10 minutes) OPTIONAL

Point to the silhouette of the spider. Ask, Are spiders big or small? (small); Are they bigger or smaller than pandas? (smaller). Point to the example sentence and review how to form comparatives if necessary, e.g. adding -er if short adjectives, more + adjective if longer, etc.
Elicit two or three more sentences comparing the panda to the animals in Activity 1, using different adjectives. Then put learners in pairs to write five of their own.

References