Changing Climate, Changing Animals

In this project, your group, working together, will spend some time gathering information about one of the animals that lives near your community. You will consider the impacts of climate change on this animal, and the impacts on you and your community if this animal should adapt, or be unable to adapt, to climate change. All this information and thought will be put together in your poster (or, in some cases, a mural) – a cooperative effort that will include artwork and written information.

Step 1 – Consider the Questions

1. What are the habitat and the habits of the animal? Think about the food they eat, what preys on them, what climate they like, the range they live in and so on. (Note: If you don’t know, your teacher will help you with some research materials.)
2. How is the animal specially adapted to their habitat?
3. Brainstorm the ways that this animal’s life will be affected by climate change. Try to come up with lots of answers. You may need to do some research, ask questions of your parents, go to books or the web, or make an educated guess. Write down all the ways you can think of that this animal might be affected.

Step 2 – Rate the Changes

Decide if each of these changes would be positive or negative for the animal. Place a + (for positive) or – (for negative) next to each point (e.g., early spring vegetation might be a +, because it could help your animal get more food). Put a question mark next to any change if you don’t know whether it would be positive or negative.

Step 3 – Add up the Impacts

What will the overall outcome of these impacts be on the animal? Will it be able to adapt? Will it become extinct? Write down your answer, and also the reasons for your answer.

Step 4 – Get Personal

How will the outcome affect your life? The life of your family? Your community? You may need to ask your parents and elders about this.

Step 5 – Create Your Poster

Now it’s time to create your poster. Your poster must have:

• a picture of your animal
• a title that describes what the poster is about
• headings to organize your information
• information including:
• what impact climate change could have on your animal (at least 3 impacts)
  
  
  • how the impacts would affect the animals overall
  • how this would impact your life & the community.

Make sure that each member of your group has a job in creating the poster. It will be easier if you divide up the work.

As you go along – Keep Track of Questions

As you work through this project, you may come up with some questions that you don’t know the answer to. Are there any things you don’t know about how your animal will be affected? (For example, will climate change affect the calving grounds? The travel patterns?) When you think of questions you don’t know the answer to, write these questions down in the Question Box below. Later on, you may post these to a scientist.