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Mammoths extinct - Extinction activity from Wikid

  • Key Stage 3
  • SciQ Sequences

Type: Activity
Learning Strategy: Imaginative inquiry
Topic: Feeding relationships

This activity is a ready-to-go sample from version 2 of the Extinction unit, part of the upd8 wikid course. Find out more about the course

It now includes everything you need to evaluate or even try out the lesson
- student sheets
- levelled assessment task (homework)

So you can see how this lesson fits into the unit, we've also included the:
- unit guide
- unit student's guide.

Introduction to the Extinction unit
As the Arctic ice melts away, polar bears are sliding towards extinction. Climate change is radically altering many of the Earth's environments. Will other species be able to adapt? Earth's history also shows there have been many extinctions in the past. So should we be worried that species are dying out today? And which should we be trying to save? Students are trainee reporters for environmental awareness channel Planet TV. As part of their assignments they learn about the changing atmosphere, adaptation, variation and classification, behaviour, collaboration, developing argument and scientific communication.

Download the Extinction unit guide to see the How Science Works and content coverage

About this activity
The students are on their first assignment as trainee reporters for Planet TV. They have been sent to Siberia where they helped Lauren, an experienced reporter, produce an 'on the spot' news report on the discovery of a frozen baby mammoth. They learned what Europe was like 15,000 years ago when mammoths were alive and suggested what might have changed to make Mammoths become extinct.
Now their editor thinks there's a bigger story so they are sent to Yakutsk to cover a Mammoth conference. They collect evidence from an international panel of experts to find out what changed when the mammoths became extinct. The experience shows scientists from different disciplines collaborating to gather evidence and come up with explanations.

Download the PowerPoint presentation to see the sample activity

11-14 How Science Works:
The unit focusses on 'Scientific Communication': (PoS 2.3, strategy 1.1a2)

Good communication captures attention, keeps the audience interested, and gets the message across with clarity and impact.

Published: 3rd June 2008
Reviews & Comments: 3

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Learning objectives

- The composition of the atmosphere has changed continuously since Earth formed and so has the climate.

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You will need Acrobat Reader installed to open the activity sheets.

Changing atmosphere (PoS 3.4c, strategy 5.3)

Running the activity

Download the lesson plan for full details.

Reviews & Comments

Write your online review to share your feedback and classroom tips with other teachers. How well does it work, how engaging is it, how did you use it, and how could it be improved?

Science

Aug 27th, 2009

5 Star

I have used the resources and they are great for the pupils as they are engaging and creative activities for pupils to develop themselves.

Mohammed Khan
Handsworth Grange Community Sports College

Reviewer: Mohammed Khan

year 7 science

Jul 10th, 2009

5 Star

The resources were excellent but required a lot of organising before the lesson. It required two lessons to really do the topic justice. Overall I was very impressed.

Reviewer: caroline morrison

Mammoths extinct - Extinction activity from Wikid review

Dec 9th, 2008

3 Star

Good resource to use as part of the evolution topic in year 10

Reviewer: Sarah Brookes

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