LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE
Your Name: Emily Coley
Title of Lesson: Threatened and Endangered Species of the Sonoran Desert Ecosystem
Grade: 3
STANDARDS
NOTE: Please list at least two complete standards your lesson plan covers. [Common Core State Standards
(math and language arts), Next Generation Science Standards (science), Arizona State Social Studies
Standards (social studies)].
NGSS
3-LS4-4. Make a claim about the merit of a solution to a problem caused when the environment changes and the
types of plants and animals that live there may change.
AZ Common Core Reading Standard for Informational Text
Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the
answers. (3.RI.1)
LESSON SUMMARY/OVERVIEW
Provide an overview/synopsis of the lesson and the topics that it will cover. Make sure to provide a reason
why you selected this to be relevant for a unit on sustainability?
This lesson provides students with the opportunity to reflect on what they have learned about threatened and
endangered species within the Sonoran Desert ecosystem.
Students will read and respond to following informational texts:
 Why are plants and animals in our area are in trouble?
 Case Study: The Colorado Pikeminnow
 Problems with Introduced Non-native Species
 Why should we can about loss of species?
 What can we do to protect plant and animal species?
The lesson offers time for student-to-student interaction and individual cogitation. The lesson starts out with the
question being stated, goes into small group work, discussion with the students, and ends with the optional
independent extension assignment.
OBJECTIVES
Describe what you want students to know/be able to do as a result of the lesson.
For example, “Students will be able to…”
SWBAT,
·Define the terms endangered and threatened.
·Explain some of the principal factors that cause species to become endangered or threatened.
·Describe how endangered and threatened species are protected by the Endangered Species Act.
ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION
What measures will you use to know if you students met the objectives?
At the beginning of the lesson, students will participate in verbal classroom discussion about the meaning of the
terms endangered and threatened.
During the lesson, students will reference the student handout to answer the seven following questions:
1) What are two reasons species are becoming endangered or threatened in the Sonoran Desert Region?
____________________________________________________________________________
2) What is habitat? ________________________________________________________________
Why is it important to protect habitat?________________________________________________
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3) What happened to Colorado pikefish numbers after dams were built? ________________________
Why is this a problem?___________________________________________________________
4) How do non-native species affect native species?________________________________________
5) What is biodiversity? _____________________________________________________________
What happens to biodiversity when buffelgrass takes over?_________________________________
6) What is the best way to protect species?_______________________________________________
7) What is the Endangered Species Act?_________________________________________________
PREREQUISITE KNOWLEDGE
What will students need to know prior to completing this lesson and how will you access their prior
knowledge?
Your students may already be familiar with the terms endangered and threatened but might not realize that they
apply to animals and plants found close to home. This activity provides background information and questions to
introduce and discuss the plight of endangered and threatened species in the Sonoran Desert Region.
MATERIALS
List of required materials.
Student Handout – Endangered and Threatened Species of the Sonoran Desert Region
(make copies for students-see attached handout)
VOCABULARY/KEY WORDS
List of key vocabulary terms.
Biodiversity: the variety of organisms in a specific environment, or on Earth as a whole.
Conservation: the wise use and protection of natural resources.
Endangered species: a listing given by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to species of plants and animals whose
population numbers have dropped so low that they are in danger of becoming extinct.
Endangered Species Act: created in 1972 and is designed to identify, list, and protect plants and animals in trouble
in the US.
Habitat: the place in an ecosystem where an organism lives.
Habitat Loss: the use of an animal’s or plant’s habitat by people, making it no longer usable by those animals and
plants.
Invasive: aggressive species that they take over and displace native species from their habitat.
Native: Species that evolved in a particular area or moved into the area naturally without the help of humans.
Threatened species: species that may become endangered if numbers continue to shrink.
TEACHING PROCEDURES
Procedural Steps (Step by step instructions for teaching the lesson):
1) Ask your students, “Can you think of any endangered or threatened animals?”
List their ideas on the board. Ask if someone can define what it means to be endangered or threatened.
Elaborate on their answers and explain that endangered species are plants and animals whose numbers have
dropped so low that they are in danger of becoming extinct if nothing is done to help them immediately.
Threatened species are any plants or animals whose numbers are very low or decreasing rapidly. They are
likely to become endangered in the future if nothing is done to protect them.
2) Choose one of the animals listed on the board (preferably something from Africa or Asia) and ask the
students if they know for what reasons that particular animal is endangered or threatened.
3) See if they have listed any animals from the Sonoran Desert Region. Point one out and discuss it as above.
If not, ask the students if they think we have any endangered or threatened species in our area. Explain that,
although we often hear of endangered species like Bengal tigers or panda bears from far away places, right
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here, some plants and animals are endangered or threatened with extinction. Tell them they will do some
activities to explore why plants and animals face the threat of extinction here in the Sonoran Desert Region.
Read up on it: endangered and threatened
4) Pass out a copy of Student Handout -Endangered and Threatened Species of the Sonoran Desert Region to
each student. Have the students read the handout, discussing new vocabulary or questions they may have.
Give them a few moments to answer the questions at the end of the reading, then discuss them as a group.
Discussion
Answers to Assessment questions:
1) What are two reasons species are becoming endangered or threatened in the Sonoran Desert
Region?
(Answers include: habitat loss, draining of riparian areas, diversion of rivers, invasive species
introduction, logging, overgrazing, pollution, off-road vehicle use in sensitive habitat, illegal hunting,
collecting, and misuse of pesticides.)
2) What is habitat? Why is it important to protect habitat?
(Habitat is where living things get what they need to survive. If they don’t have habitat, they cannot
survive.)
3) What happened to Colorado pikefish numbers after dams were built?
(They laid less eggs and therefore there were fewer young.)
Why is this a problem?
(The population might drop that the species may become extinct.)
4) How do non-native species affect native species?
(They compete with native species for water, food, and breeding space, and sometimes eat native
species.)
5) What is biodiversity?
(Biodiversity is the variety and number of species found on Earth.) What happens to biodiversity when
buffelgrass takes over? (It gets reduced, we lose biodiversity.)
6) What is the best way to protect species?
(Protect the habitat that species depend on.)
7) What is the Endangered Species Act?
(A federal law passed in 1972 designed to identify, list, and protect plants and animals in trouble.)
5) Ask the students who decides if a species should be listed as endangered or threatened (state and federal
agencies that manage plants and animals). Ask how these agencies get their information. (Scientific
research on a particular species lets them know how populations have dropped and if there are threats to a
species.) Explain that all kinds of scientists and policy-makers are involved. It takes the information from
researchers like wildlife biologists to help make the decision to protect a species. Ask the students about
what is done once a species is listed as Endangered and Threatened. How, for example, are wildlife
managers trying to protect the Colorado Pikeminnow? (Fish are raised in a captive breeding program then
released into their historical habitats when they are big enough to avoid competition and being eaten by
largemouth bass.)
6) After students have discussed the answers to the questions, take the discussion one step further. Ask if they
think it is necessary to have an Endangered Species Act. They should generate a variety of responses.
Perhaps they will think it is important for people to intervene when a species is about to become extinct,
and that a law protecting that species is the best way to go about it. Others may think that the loss of a
species is not important, that the planet has lost species before, and it is no big deal. Try to get a feel for the
opinions of the group. Accept any reasonable answer. If there is a diversity of opinions, ask those who
believe it is important to protect endangered species why should we care about endangered or threatened
species. Remind them that losing biodiversity means losing species that play an important role in their
habitats and that may play an important role for people, too. If one species is lost, it affects all the other
species around it.
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Extension
7) Have the students research a particular animal or plant of the Sonoran Desert Region which is listed as
Endangered or Threatened. They should use scientific reports from magazines, the Internet, television, or
other media. (See the resources section, p.2, for links to Arizona Endangered and Threatened Species.)
Have them write a report that includes information about the animal’s or plant’s range, habitat
requirements, when and why it was listed as Endangered or Threatened, and what kind of recovery plans, if
any, are underway to protect it. If no recovery plan is listed, have them propose their own.
RESOURCES
List any references you used to create this lesson. If you borrowed ideas from any lesson plans please note
them here. Use APA format.
Lesson adapted from:
Endangered and Threatened. (2008, January 1). Retrieved April 20, 2015, from
https://www.desertmuseum.org/center/edu/docs/4-6_Endangered_endangered.pdf
ASU School of Sustainability: Values Thinking [Motion picture]. (Available from Arizona State University, Wrigley
Hall, 800 Cady Mall #108, Tempe, AZ 85281)
ASU School of Sustainability: Futures Thinking [Motion picture]. (Available from Arizona State University,
Wrigley Hall, 800 Cady Mall #108, Tempe, AZ 85281)
Extension resources:
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum: 2021 N. Kinney Rd., Tucson, AZ 85743. Phone: (520) 883-3025
www.desertmuseum.org
Bat Conservation International, Inc. : P.O. Box 162603, Austin, TX, 78716. Phone: 1-800-538-2287.
www.batcon.org
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Endangered Species:
http://endangered.fws.gov/
[This site contains information on federally listed endangered plants and animals, including those from the Sonoran
Desert region. It provides comprehensive lists of endangered species for each state, teacher information
packets, and other resources.]Another is http://species.fws.gov/ which provides wildlife fact sheets about
different endangered species.
WAYS OF THINKING CONNECTION
Provide a complete explanation of how your lesson plan connects to futures, system, strategic, or values
thinking. Define the way of thinking you selected and used in this lesson plan. Remember, this should be
included meaningfully in the lesson plan.
Values Thinking:
This type of thinking means “being able to examine the effects our values have on own decisions. Values thinking
recognizes that different people have different values. If you can express your own values and be open to
understanding the values of others, significant progress can be made toward finding sustainable solutions”(ASU,
Values Thinking, 2015).
In my lesson about Threatened and Endangered Species in the Sonoran Desert Ecosystem, students will describe
and evaluate the reasons human activity affects plant and animal habitat in the Sonoran Desert. Students will discuss
and differentiate between endangered and threatened. Students are asked to formulate reasons based upon values
thinking in order to draw conclusions about protecting endangered species.
Futures Thinking:
“This type of thinking means “thinking about how the past, and the present influence the future. We need to imagine
the potential consequences both positive and negative of human activity and manage that activity to progress
towards the future we all want” (ASU, Values Thinking, 2015).
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The lesson, Threatened and Endangered Species of the Sonoran Desert provides opportunity for futures thinking.
Students will be able to compare the differences between threatened and endangered species in terms of time. In the
short term, students are asked to describe and evaluate the need for immediate protection for endangered species. In
the long term, students are asked to visualize the consequences of protecting or not protecting species on the
threatened list. In this way, futures thinking is used to help students model potential future scenarios.
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