Endangered Animal Paragraph Directions & Examples

• Introduction
• Descriptive / Adaptations Which Help It Survive
• Habitat... a Place Called Home
• Family Life / Social Life
• Food Chain / "What's for Lunch?"
• Why is your animal Endangered?
• What's Being Done to Help Protect Your Animal?
• Conclusion

Your introduction should include the following parts:

• Hot Lead
• Tell why you chose this animal
• What types of things will we learn in your report (not specific facts, but major ideas like "habitat", "adaptations", "what it looks like", "why it's endangered", ...
• Closing or Transition sentence

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Fact: bright yellow beak
Fact: It’s chest is white
Fact: It has really sharp claws (special survival feature)
Fact: They grow dark feathers
Fact: They have a white head (not bald)
Fact: size?
Fact: eyesight? (special survival feature)

Next, you need to write a paragraph with the following parts:

• Write a TOPIC SENTENCE to introduce the main idea of this paragraph

• Describe the general looks of your animal

• Describe your animal's adaptations - special features that help it to survive

• Transition / Summary Sentence: Give us a hint that you've finished talking about this subject & will talk about the next subject.

Here's an example to help you. Each part of the paragraph is color-coded.

(indent...) First, I’ll give you a good idea about what the Bald Eagle looks like and some of it’s special features. Many people think the Bald Eagle is bald. It’s not. It’s head is white and its body grows dark feathers. It has a white feathered chest and it has a bright yellow beak. It grows to be _______ feet wide. The Bald Eagle has some very special features that help it to survive. They can see 6 - 8 times better than humans. That’s good eyesight. They also have very sharp claws to catch their prey. Now that you have a good idea of what it looks like, let’s talk about where you might find a Bald Eagle.

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• Include a topic sentence

• Tell what continents, countries your animal lives

• Describe the environment your animal lives in - near water? mountains? in warm or cold climates? in trees? in the desert? where exactly does it live & what does it need - lots of space to run or swim? tall trees?

• Closing or Transition sentence

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• Topic Sentence

• 3-4 detail sentences describing your animal's family life: how long do the young live with the family before leaving? How many in a family? Is your animal a loner or a "groupie"? What does your animal do during a typical day / evening?

• Closing or Transition sentence

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• Topic Sentence

• What does your animal eat?

• Who are your animal's predators?

• How does your animal catch / gather its food?

• Closing or Transition sentence

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• Topic sentence

• Why / How is your animal endangered? Habitat loss? Poachers? ...

• How many are left?

• When did they become endangered?

• How do they survive?

• Closing or summary sentence

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• What groups or organizations are trying to protect your animal? What are they doing to protect the animal?

• Are there any laws protecting your animal?

• How can each of us help protect your animal?

• Closing or transition sentence

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• Topic Sentence

• Tell us what this research has made you think about; what will you remember about this?

• Tell us 3-4 things you want us to remember about your animal or why it's endangered

• Power Punch Ending: Convince us to do something (or NOT do something) that will make a difference

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