An ecosystem is a place where living things interact. As the human population grows, we put more stress on the organisms we share living space with. Some species, like the Dodo, cannot cope and become extinct. Others are barely hanging on. An endangered species is an organism that is in immediate danger of becoming extinct. Its numbers are usually low, and it needs protection in order to survive.

Your job is to create a poster that talks about your endangered organism and then present your findings to the class. There are some facts that you must find (see below). You will also need to include your sources. You need to visit at least 3 sites to find your information.

Required information

• A picture of your organism
• Common name and scientific name (Latin name)
• At least three interesting facts. May include facts like size, weight, special markings, living habits, shelter, life expectancy,
• A description of the natural habitat and where in the word the animal is found.
• Food chain level (producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer etc.)
• What does it eat?
• What eats it?
• 2 adaptations your organism uses to survive
• could be adaptation to climate.
• could be adaptation that helps it catch food.
• could be adaptation to help it from getting eaten.

o Present world population. How many left?

o Why is this organism endangered?

o What is being done to help save the species? (If you can’t find this info, explain what you would do to help this species)

o How is your organism beneficial to its ecosystem?

Endangered Species Rubric

Requirement	Comments	Points
Picture included	Does not need to be color, can be hand drawn.	3 points
Common name and Scientific name	Both need to be included to get points. The scientific name should be 2 words.	5 points
Interesting Facts	Need at least 3 and they cannot be the same as other requirements on poster. You can do more than 3 if you wish. Be careful to use your own words.	5 points
Description of natural habitat and where it is found in the world	Habitat should be very descriptive, location in world can be a map that is colored in.	5 points
Food Chain level	We did this in class	5 points
What does it eat?	A few examples	5 points
What eats it?	One example. If on top of the food chain, say so. See if you can find an animal it competes with for food (another animal at the top of the food chain living in the same area)	5 points
2 adaptations	Need 2 different adaptations, say one for climate and one for finding food. Shouldn’t do 2 for 2 defense or 2 climate.	4 points each (8 total)
Present world population	About how many are left. If you find different numbers, see if several sources agree on one and use that one.	3 points
Why is this organism endangered?	Could be several reasons.	5 points
What is being done to help species?	If you can’t find this info, look up what threatens other endangered species and explain what you would do to help it.)	3 points
How is your organism beneficial to its ecosystem	Think food web.	3 points

50 points total. Project grade.

Sources also need to be included. 6 points off for not including them.

You must use your own words. If you cut and paste information you will lose 10 points. I do not want a report, it should look like a poster with highlighted information. I also don’t want a simple list. Use headings so I know what requirement your information is referring to. Be creative with your poster and make it look nice, a poster that looks like it was done at the last minute will lose 5 points.

Mammals Invertebrates

1. Black-footed ferret 1. Queen Alexandra’s birdwing butterfly
2. Black-tailed prairie dog 2. vernal pool fairy shrimp
3. bowhead whale Birds
4. Florida panther 1. California condor
5. Gray bat 2. Whooping crane
6. Manatees 3. Bald eagle
7. Gray wolf 4. California clapper
8. Brown/Grizzly Bear 5. Ivory-billed woodpecker
9. Bobcat 6. Hawaiian hawk
10. Stephen’s kangaroo rat 7. Crested honeycreeper
11. Cheetah 8. Peregrine falcon
12. Blue whale 9. Northern Spotted owl
13. African elephant Fish
14. Mountain Gorilla 1. Desert pupfish
15. Pygmy hippopotamus 2. Chinook salmon
16. Black rhinoceros 3. Slender seahorse
17. Grevy’s zebra 4. Coelacanth
18. Chinese river dolphin Amphibians
19. Asian elephant 1. Goliath frog
20. Snow leopard 2. Desert slender salamander
21. Asiatic Lion 3. Chinese giant salamander
22. Giant panda Reptiles
23. Tiger 1. American alligator
24. Giant ant eater 2. American crocodile
25. Jaguar 3. Gila monster

4. Desert tortoise

5. Galapagos land iguana

6. Leatherback sea turtle

7. Komodo Island monitor

8. Gavial

9. Galapagos tortoise

10. Indian Python