Endangered Species Storybook
Your assignment is to write a story about an endangered species from Texas. The story should tell about
the species and how they became endangered. The story should describe the life of the species before the
event(s) that caused them to become endangered and then tell how the humans are trying to help them
avoid extinction. Use the following questions and guidelines to help you research the information
necessary for the story.
On the Student Learning Hub there is a file with a question mark symbol by it in Topic 2 right under the
file for the Project. This is where you choose your species.
Use the following Websites as a jumping off sites to do your research:
https://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/wildlife_diversity/nongame/listed-species
http://www.iucnredlist.org/
1. What is the common name and scientific name of your endangered species?
2. Where does your species spend its time? What geographical region of the state, and what biome
does it inhabit? What does it eat?
3.
Where does your species fall on the food chain? What kind of eater is it? (Carnivore, herbivore or
omnivore)
4. Is your species threatened, endangered, critically endangered, or vulnerable, according to the
IUCN? When telling your story make this distinction.
5. Is your species on the Red List? If so, when did it get on it?
6. How big is the population of your species, currently? Is it on the rise, or decreasing? What was the
population originally before the decline?
7. What are the major threats to your species? What will happen to the environment if the species
becomes extinct?
8. What has caused the species to become endangered?
9. What conservation efforts and by whom are these efforts being made to help your species? Is there
a way that the public can help?
Now, let’s look at your story… These questions are to help plan out your book. Use the information on
the front side, to help.
1
Endangered Species Storybook
1. Judging from the range of your species, what is the setting of your book? Is it a Brazillian forest,
the Sahara desert, or the epipelagic zone? What will the background of your pages look like? Be
specific.
2. List two other native species that live in the same region. These could be friends to your species.
What are they? Be specific.
3. Who is the enemy of your species? This will be the antagonist in your story.
4. What happens to your character that causes its population to decline?
5. How do you plan to tell the story? (Man vs. Animal or Animal vs. Man)
6. Is your story going to be cartoony, serious, funny, sad, happy, will it have a good ending?
7. How can your species to be helped to get off the IUCN list?
8. Remember, your book should make the reader empathetic towards your character, so that they
want to help. How will you help build this empathy?
9. Make sure you list some organization that can help your species, so that the reader’s empathy can
be put to positive use for your species.
10. What is the story you are trying to tell? How does it start, progress, and end?
Your assignment is to select one of the endangered species that lives in the state of
Texas, and create a storybook about this species. Aim for an audience that knows
nothing about the subject. The grading rubric for this assignment is attached.
2
Endangered Species Storybook
List your endangered species here: ______________________________________
Requirements for each cell: (You may have more than 12 cells, but that is the minimum
for this assignment.)
 The storybook must be no shorter than 12 cells. It may be longer but not shorter.
One cell may NOT say “The End”, if it does it will not be counted as one of the 12
cells.
 Title Cell 1: Title (should have creative title & artwork), your name, period, and
date.
 Cells 2-11: Tell the story. It MUST be no shorter than 10 cells. Your story should
be given from the species’ point of view with a narrator explaining the science of
the story. (This should be displayed in a text box at the bottom of each cell.)
 Main character – your endangered species telling the story
 Secondary characters – your main character must encounter two other characters
in the course of the story, including a character that plays the antagonist.
 Interaction of characters should show one of the following relationships: Man vs.
Animal or Animal vs. Man
 Setting should be an accurate depiction of the habitat of your endangered species
 Story must address all of the following:
o What is the level of endangerment of the species and how did it get there?
o How will the environment be affected if the species disappears?
o How can we protect the species? Specifically what is being done to provide
that protection and by whom?
o What is the current population of the species and what was it originally
before the decline?
 Cell 12: Bibliography. You must have at least 2 different web sources
Illustrations/animation requirement:
 You must use www.storyboardthat.com/classroom to create your storybook.
The Quick Start Guide is on the Student Learning Hub under the Endangered
Species Project.
Bibliography requirements:
Use the following guidelines to cite your work:
 Internet: Title of the page, date last updated if provided. Web address (the
http:// stuff).
 It is easiest to use easybib.com to do this!
Other requirements:
 Your storybook will be graded on grammar and spelling, as well as the aesthetics
(how nice it looks).
My Endangered Species is _______________________________________________.
Very
detailed/
Detailed/
Meets nearly
3
Lacking in
detail/ Does
Missing
critical
Section
is
Endangered Species Storybook
Meets all
requirements
all
requirements
Title Cell
4 points
Setting: Accurate Habitat
4 points
Main character common &
scientific name
4 points
Appropriate use of secondary
characters, including
antagonist
4 points
Correct amount of Cells
5 points
Character’s story
5 points
Species interaction
determined
Man vs. Animal or
Animal vs. Man
5 points
Narration
5 points
What level of endangerment
and how did it get there?
14 points
How will environment be
affected if species disappears?
14 points
How can we protect the
species? Specifically what is
being done to provide that
protection and by whom?
14 points
What is the current population
of the species and what was it
originally before the decline.
14 points
Bibliography
4 points
Spelling / Grammar
4 points
Total points: ___________ of 100
4
not meet all
requirements
information
missing