Objectives
“As educators and conservators of endangered species, all we can do is shine a light on the beauty and majesty of these animals in hopes to spark a love and a need to keep them from vanishing from our planet.” – Amanda O’Donoughue, a former zookeeper1
While researching, I came upon O’Donoughue’s editorial in response of the death of Harambe, a 17-year old silverback gorilla that was shot in the Cincinnati Zoo to protect a young child who had fallen into the enclosure. O’Donoughue’s quote captures the essence of what I hope students will gain from this curriculum unit.
The curriculum unit will focus on past human action, the present problem, and how to save species in the future. I plan to very briefly explore trends in evolution/extinction and the current evidence that a sixth mass extinction is occurring. Many organisms are endangered and it is important for young students to understand the causes, the present problem, and possible ways to mitigate the causes and save the species in the future. According to Peter Vitousek, a Stanford University professor, et al, “There is no clearer illustration of the extent of human dominance of Earth than the fact that maintaining the diversity of ‘wild’ species and the functioning of ‘wild’ ecosystems will require increasing human involvement.”2
The lack of knowledge of typical urbanites is a hinderance to conservation efforts. There is an even greater lack of knowledge when it comes to understanding human impacts on the local habitat. The young people are the future and it really will be up to them to help save the species and to take care of our planet Earth. This unit will explore ways to manipulate biology in order to save an endangered species or to potentially de-extinct a species.
As a way to hook my students, the unit will use the movie Jurassic Park to set the stage. The film is a classic science-fiction movie based on the novel by Michael Crichton. The movie was released in 1993, but his book preceded it in 1990. In the movie, scientists use dinosaur DNA from the bloodmeals of fossilized mosquitoes to resurrect the dinosaurs. In the movie the dinosaurs are in a theme park, much like Disney World, however due to unintended consequences things spin out of control. The movie will not only excite my students about the idea of de-extincting a species but will also portray some of the ethical issues.
Who the Unit Serves
Currently, I teach fourth grade in an urban school district. This curriculum unit is for science class. Science gets limited time and attention due to the emphasis on reading, math, and social studies linked to state testing. This unit combines cutting-edge science, critical thinking, ethics, and hands-on learning to truly engage my students with some of the tough topics facing our world.
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