Lesson Plan - Daring Giraffe Rescue

Build Knowledge and Vocabulary

Provide these questions for students to answer as they watch the video “The Great Giraffe Rescue”: What problem did the giraffes face? How did people solve that problem? After watching, discuss students’ responses. Then use Words to Know to preteach the domain-specific terms extinction, nonprofit, peninsula, poacher, and species.

Read the Article

Read the article aloud or have students read it independently or in pairs. As students read, have them mark details about the problem giraffes faced with a P and details about the solution with an S. (Or have students highlight information using different colors.)

Answer Close-Reading Questions

Have students write their responses, or use the Close-Reading Questions to guide a discussion.

• How have human activities affected giraffes? (Cause and Effect)
One way humans affect giraffes is by illegally poaching them, which is why conservationists had moved some giraffes to the peninsula in Lake Baringo. Since the 1980s, the giraffe population has fallen by almost 40 percent. Giraffes have lost much of their habitat as humans use areas for farming and logging. Wars have also driven some giraffes from their habitats.

• What do you think David O’Connor means when he says giraffes are “undergoing a silent extinction”? (Domain-Specific Vocabulary)
He means that giraffes are at risk of dying out, as only about 3,000 Rothschild’s giraffes are left in the wild. O’Connor might call the extinction they face “silent” because he thinks that not enough people are paying attention to the problem.

• How does the “Shrinking Habitats” map support the article? (Text Features)
The map shows how much the range of giraffes has shrunk since the 1700s. It also shows the location of Lake Baringo in Kenya, where the giraffes were trapped on an island.

Analyze a Habitat Map

Have students answer the questions about the map on page 25 independently or in groups. Review answers. For more geography practice, find our full Map Skills Boot Camp curriculum of 13 lessons at junior.scholastic.com/mapskills.