Activity Overview
Girl Scouts play an endangered species matching game and choose one species to investigate further.
- Talk about endangered species, and explain why they might be facing extinction.
- Have Girl Scouts play a matching game with the provided handout, then choose one species to learn more about.
- Have Girl Scouts share their research on their chosen species if they’d like.
Leader Guidance
Say:
- What does it mean for an animal to be “endangered”? (Wait for answers.)
- When an animal is endangered, it means that it is in danger of disappearing forever, or becoming extinct.
- What are some reasons that animals become endangered? (Wait for answers. Prompt Girl Scouts with ideas.)
- Some animals (and even plants) become endangered due to human-caused habitat loss, deforestation (the mass cutting of trees), climate change, hunting for fur or meat, and pollution, to name a few reasons.
- These factors lead to the decline of species: their homes are destroyed, their food sources run out, and their health is exposed to diseases.
- Humans have a responsibility to help save these species from becoming extinct. By helping endangered species survive, we show our love and care for our entire ecosystem.
- In this activity, you will explore different animals and investigate the factors behind their endangerment using a matching game!
Let Girl Scouts know they’ll be learning about different endangered animals and why those animals are at risk. Using Endangered Species Matching Game, have them match each animal to possible reasons it has become endangered. Next, prompt them to pair the endangered species to ways people can help protect them and prevent them from disappearing.
After, split Girl Scouts into small groups. Encourage them to select one endangered species from the handout to focus on. Ask them to research why their chosen species is endangered, what factors caused it to be at risk, and what real-life actions people are taking to help protect it. Once they’re done researching, ask Girl Scouts to share what they learned with the larger group if they’d like, including the challenges their species faces in its habitat.
When everyone is finished, ask leading questions like:
- What is the biggest danger the animal faces right now?
- Are there ways the animal is trying to adapt?
- What human action would make the biggest difference?
