CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS GRADE 7 The BC Ministry of Education encourages cross-curricular studies. One of these cross-curricular areas is Environment and Sustainability and one of the theme studies identified by the Ministry is Endangered Species. Personal Planning (Career Exploration): Ask an expert (scientist, naturalist, wildlife worker, museum personnel) to share information about their careers. Invite a guest who works with wildlife and ask them what tools they use for their work in the field. How do they band birds, fish etc. so they can follow their movements? Do they use radio collars? What tools do they use to move birds' eggs to adoptive parents' nests? What tools to they use to replant forests and grasslands? Art: Design a stamp, flag or license plate that would highlight a species at risk. Create paintings or prints which emphasize the patterns in nature. Language Arts: Debate: Should humans be in charge? Who has rights? Is the (species) worth saving? Poetry: haiku is a wonderful poetry form for writing about nature. Letters: lots of letters can, and should, be written to the decision-makers! Interviews: interview a variety of concerned people to get their points of view. This could be done using cassette or videotape. Interview an "endangered species". Math: Determine how quickly a species population could grow if it had ideal habitat and safety conditions. To calculate this you must know: How many adult "parent" birds there are at present. How many young are born at a time. Average life span. Make a graph to illustrate your findings. (This is an Operation Lifeline activity.) Image Credits: photo of Burrowing Owl taken by D. Low   this section sponsored by: Industry Canada