Grade 3.2 Informational Performance Task: Advocacy: Taking Care of Animals in Our World
Task:
Your class has been reading articles about saving animal populations that need help. Your class has become interested in learning more about saving animal populations that are endangered or need help. You have found three sources about this topic.
After you have reviewed these sources, you will answer some questions about them. Briefly scan the sources and the four questions that follow. Then, go back and read the sources carefully so you will have the information you will need to answer the questions and complete your research.
In Part 1, you will answer questions about the reading passages.
In Part 2, you will write an informational article using information you have read.
Directions for Beginning:
You will now review several sources. You can review any of the sources as often as you like.
Research Questions:
After reviewing the research sources, use the rest of the time in Part 1 to answer three questions about them. Your answers to these questions will be scored. Also, your answers will help you think about the information you have read, which should help you write your informational article.
Answer the questions on the opposite side of the paper where the questions are located or in the location your teacher directs.
Source #1
You have found an article about how third-graders helped animals in a zoo in Kabul, Afghanistan.
“Taking Care of Animals”
Julie O'Connor's third-grade class at Public School 48 in New York City recently held a bake sale. The students raised $266 from the sale. They gave the money to help the animals at the Kabul Zoo. "The kids were excited to help the zoo's animals," O'Connor said.
Kabul is the capital of Afghanistan, a country in Asia. Afghanistan has suffered from years of war. Bombs and bullets have destroyed some parts of the Kabul Zoo. Many animals at the zoo and in the city died or were injured in the fighting.
Traveling to Kabul
An international group of zoos, led by the North Carolina Zoo, has raised more than $500,000 for the animals of Kabul. A team of scientists and veterinarians traveled to Kabul. The team took food, medicine, and supplies to help the team members repaired the zoo's cages and pens. They also treated injured zoo animals, including monkeys, antelopes, gazelles, and a black bear.
After finishing at the zoo, the team members wanted to help some of the animals owned by people in Kabul. They treated horses, mules, sheep, rabbits, and oxenfor example. Many Kabul residents depend on animals for work and food.
The people of Kabul are thankful that the students of Public School 48 and others are helping the zoo animals. "The reality is that they're proud of the zoo, and they want to rebuild it. And we will help them," said one of the team members.
Source #2
You have found another article about helping animals. This article gives information about why big cats are endangered (in danger of dying out) and what scientists are doing to try to save them.
Saving Big Cats
Jaguars and other wild cats are in danger of dying out. What can be done to help them?
Some big cats are in big
trouble. They are
endangered, or at risk of
dying out. The main
threats to these animals
are habitat loss (a habitat is where animals live) and
illegal hunting. Can
endangered big cats be
saved? Wildlife experts
hope so. They are trying to
protect the cats by
teaching the public about
the problem and making
laws to keep the animals
safer.
Sumatran tigers live on the Indonesian island
of Sumatra. They are the smallest species of
tiger. Fewer than 500 are alive today.
Snow leopards have spotted fur that is white
in the winter and yellow-gray in the summer.
They live in the mountain ranges of Asia where it is cold and it snows in the winter. Only about 4,000 to 7,000 remain in the wild.
Jaguars have yellow fur with black rings and
spots. Most live in the rain forests of Central and
South America. About 15,000 jaguars are left in
the wild.
Cheetahs are the world's fastest land animals.
Most cheetahs live in Africa. Within the past 100 years, the number of cheetahs living in the wild has dropped from 100,000 to fewer than 12,000.
Cheetah Cubs!
Good news for cheetahs at the Saint Louis Zoo!
Three cheetah cubs are growing up at the Saint Louis Zoo in Missouri.
The cubs were born in November [2006] and are now almost five
months old. [They were five months old in April 2007.] They are the
first litter to be born at the zoo in more than 10 years. "The cubs are
doing great," the zoo's cheetah expert, Steve Bircher, told
ScienceSpin. "They are very active. They are playing with each other
and with mom."
By raising cheetah cubs, the zoo is working to save cheetahs from
dying out. The zoo is also supporting efforts to protect cheetahs in the
wild. "We want children to be aware that cheetahs are endangered,"
says Bircher. "It is important to protect their habitat."
Source #3: You have found an informational articleabout how scientists are trying to save Hawaiian monk seals.
Saving Hawaiian Monk Seals
Marine animal experts are on a mission. They want to save Hawaiian monk seals from becoming extinct. Extinct means “no longer existing.”
Today, about 1,200 seals live near the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
Experts fear that the population will drop in the next five years. “The
clock is ticking,” says scientist Jen Palmer.
Experts worry that the seals are not getting enough food. Many of the
pups are thin and are not living past their first few years. Scientists
are trying to figure out why.
Other scientists are monitoring the monk seals' habitat for pollution. A
habitat is a place in nature where an animal or a plant lives. “Every
person takes a very tiny bit of the puzzle, and you hope at some point
you ... put it all together and it makes a pretty clear picture,” says
scientist Charles Littnan.
Part 1: ASSESSMENT ITEMS
- Sources #2 and #3 give information about what scientists are doing to help animals that are endangered. Give an example from each source of what people are doing to help animals survive. Include the source title or number.
(short constructed response)
- Source #2 gives information about people helping endangered animals. Explain how the information in Source #3 added to your understanding of how people help endangered animals. Did it help you understand the meaning of words that you may not have known? Use two details from Source #3 to support your explanation.Include the source title or number.
(short constructed response)
- All three sources give information about saving animal populations that need help. Explain what you have learned about this topic. Use one detail from each source to support your explanation. For each detail, include the source title or number.
(short constructed response)
- Click on the boxes to match each source with the idea or ideas that it supports. Some ideas may have more than one source selected.
Source #1: / Source #2: / Source #3:
- These sources explain how scientists are trying to help endangered species.
/
/
- School children raise money to help animals in a zoo in Afghanistan.
/
/
- This source tells what endangered means.
/
/
Grade 3.2Informational Performance Task: Advocacy: Taking Care of Animals in Our World
Part 2:
- Student Directions
You will now review your notes and sources, and plan, draft, revise, and edit your writing. You may use your notes and go back to the sources. Now read your assignment and the information about how your writing will be scored, and then begin your work.
Your Assignment
Your teacher wants each student to write an informational articleabout animal groups that are endangered. In your article you are to explain why the animals are endangered, who is trying to help them, and how these people are trying to save them. Your article will be read by other students, teachers, and parents.
Using all three sources, develop a main idea about why the animals are endangered, who is trying to help them, and how these people are trying to save them. Choose the most important information from the three sources to support your main idea. Then, write an informational article about your main idea that is several paragraphs long. Clearly organize your article and support your main idea with details from the sources. Use your own words except when quoting directly from the sources. Be sure to give the source title or number when using details from the sources.
REMEMBER: A well-written informational article
- has a clear main idea
- is well-organized and stays on the topic
- has an introduction and conclusion
- uses transitions
- uses details from the sources to support your main idea
- puts the information from the sources in your own words, except when using direct quotations from the sources
- gives the title or number of the source for the details or facts you included
- develops ideas clearly
- uses clear language
- follows rules of writing (spelling, punctuation, and grammar)
Now begin work on your informational article. Manage your time carefully so that you can
- Plan your informational article.
- Write your informational article.
- Revise and edit the final draft of your informational article.
For Part 2, you are being asked to write an informational article that is several paragraphs long.
Remember to check your notes and your pre-writing/planning as you write, and then revise and edit your informational article.