Activity 4: Extra! Extra! Read All About It

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1 Summary Students create a newspaper and pster t educate peple in their cmmunity abut Whping Cranes and threatened and endangered species. Objectives Students will be able t: Define threatened and endangered species Describe causes that lead t species reaching threatened r endangered status Understand the causes f Whping Cranes reaching endangered status Explain why it is imprtant t recgnize species at risk f extinctin Educate thers abut Whping Cranes and threatened and endangered species Understand visual techniques used in mass media Standards Scial Studies A.8.11 Science E.8.6 Art and Design F.8.2 Materials Needed: Paper, cmputer, and art materials necessary fr creating a newspaper Bird Flight Diverter (in Whping Crane trunk) Backgrund: As defined by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, An endangered species is ne that is in danger f extinctin thrughut all r a significant prtin f its range. A threatened species is ne that is likely t becme endangered in the freseeable future. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service prvides species and state specific infrmatin n threatened and endangered species n their website at: One r many factrs can result in the decline f a species t the pint that it is nearly eliminated frm the Earth. Listed belw are sme reasns Whping Cranes became endangered and current threats that still make them vulnerable: 1. Lss f habitat When an rganism lses its hme, it can be difficult t find fd, shelter, and prtectin. One f the leading factrs that caused Whping Cranes t decline was that their wetland habitats were mdified r destryed, and they culd n lnger use them. Habitat lss, such as wetland destructin, is an imprtant factr in the species decline. Pht: USFWS 2. Overexplitatin Species are excessively hunted r cllected s that rganisms are remved frm a ppulatin at a higher rate than they are added. (Fr example, 100 birds are cllected frm a ppulatin each year, but nly 75 eggs hatch per year. Of the 75 hatchlings, nly 43 chicks survive because f predatin and limited resurces.) 3. Pwer line cllisins Cllisins with pwer lines are a significant cause f Whping Crane mrtality during migratin. Cranes ften hit pwer lines after being disturbed frm a rst (a place where the cranes sleep). There is an increasing number f pwer lines in the U.S. that are being marked with Bird Flight Diverters, like the ne in the crane trunk, t reduce the risk f cllisin. Prduced under a grant frm the Wiscnsin Envirnmental Educatin Bard 41

2 4. Intrductin f extic species Organisms can be cnsidered native r extic t an ecsystem. Native species are rganisms that are endemic t an area. Extic species are rganisms that did nt histrically live in the area but have been intrduced either accidentally r n purpse. Extic species can reduce ppulatins f native species when they are invasive; that is, they mve int a native species habitat and eventually take it ver, s that the native species n lnger has available habitat. An example f an extic, invasive species is Phragmites, a tall wetland grass. Phragmites was histrically fund in Nrth America, but an aggressive strain, endemic t Eurpe, was intrduced t Nrth America in the 1800s. Phragmites crwds ut native plant species and reduces bidiversity in wetlands. Phragmites is an invasive grass species in Nrth America. It frms dense clnies in wetlands. This can negatively affect Whping Cranes because they need pen water fr rsting. Pht: Peter Mulligan Histric numbers f Whping Cranes cannt be defined with accuracy. When the species was at its mst numerus, peple were nt taking ppulatin surveys f Whping Cranes. Based n eye-witness accunts, they were never as cmmn as Sandhill Cranes. Because f Eurpean expansin and subsequent habitat reductin, the Whping Crane ppulatin declined rapidly in the late 1800s t early 1900s. By 1944, apprximately 21 birds remained in the whle wrld. Six f these birds lived arund a lake in Luisiana and did nt migrate. Fifteen birds belnged t a ppulatin that migrated between the Aransas Natinal Wildlife Refuge in Texas and the Wd Buffal Natinal Park in Canada. In 1940, severe weather scattered the birds in Luisiana, and by 1947 nly ne Whping Crane remained in that ppulatin. It was relcated t Aransas Natinal Wildlife Refuge in the hpe that it wuld reprduce with a member f that flck, but it died shrtly thereafter. With s few birds left, the Whping Crane was n the brink f extinctin. The tw mst imprtant factrs that led t the decline f Whping Cranes in the early 20 th century were habitat lss and verexplitatin frm unregulated hunting. As Eurpean settlers traveled westward, they drained marshes and plwed prairies fr agriculture, destrying much f the birds nesting habitat. Many remaining habitats were clse t human disturbance, a stress t which this shy and secretive species was unable t adjust. As the number f Whping Cranes declined, hunters, hbbyists, and museum cllectrs scrambled t get hld f the rare specimens and eggs fr their Habitat lss and unregulated hunting were the tw majr causes f the decline f Whping Cranes. Whping Cranes were designated endangered in the U.S. in Pht: Internatinal Crane Fundatin Prduced under a grant frm the Wiscnsin Envirnmental Educatin Bard 42

3 cllectins. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) listed the Whping Crane as threatened with extinctin in 1967 and endangered in Canada designated the Whping Crane as endangered in The ultimate gal f current restratin effrts is t remve the Whping Crane frm the Federal List f Threatened and Endangered Species. One way t reach this gal is t have tw self-sustaining ppulatins f Whping Cranes that can breed and raise yung n their wn in additin t the Aransas-Wd Buffal flck. Currently, the Aransas-Wd Buffal flck is the nly self-sustaining ppulatin f Whping Cranes. This is a small ppulatin f birds that spends each winter in the same vicinity n the Gulf Cast f Texas. Any catastrphic event such as a natural disaster (severe strm, hurricane, r trnad) r disease utbreak culd eliminate the entire ppulatin. In 1999, the Whping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP) was frmed when nine gvernment agencies and nn-prfit rganizatins jined tgether with a similar gal: restring a secnd migratry ppulatin f Whping Cranes t eastern Nrth America, and a nn-migratry ppulatin in Luisiana. Restring a secnd and third ppulatin in anther part f the cuntry wuld help safeguard the species frm extinctin; if smething catastrphic happens t ne ppulatin, the ther ppulatins may be unaffected and survive. Establishing these new ppulatins f Whping Cranes will bring the birds clser t delisting frm the Federal List f Threatened and Endangered Species. The Whping Cranes in the Aransas-Wd Buffal ppulatin (that migrate between Canada and Texas) are designated endangered. The Whping Cranes in the Eastern Migratry Ppulatin and the Luisiana Ppulatin have been designated nnessential experimental ppulatins (NEP). Whping Cranes in a nnessential experimental ppulatin are treated as threatened when they are lcated n natinal park and natinal wildlife refuge prperties, and as prpsed fr listing when n ther prperties, which prvides mre flexibility and discretin in managing the ppulatin. Because Whping Cranes in the tw intrduced ppulatins fall under the nnessential experimental ppulatin designatin, they are nt cnsidered endangered in Luisiana r states in which the Eastern Migratry Ppulatin is fund (see belw). Prduced under a grant frm the Wiscnsin Envirnmental Educatin Bard 43

4 Prcedure: 1) Let students examine the Bird Flight Diverter fund in the Whping Crane trunk. Ask them t cnsider hw it reduces Whping Crane cllisins with pwer lines. Ask the students t give pssible explanatins f hw the Bird Flight Diverters wrk. 2) Divide students int small grups and have students design a newsletter t educate peple in their neighbrhd abut Whping Cranes and the imprtance f recgnizing threatened and endangered species. The newsletter shuld include bilgical infrmatin abut the Whping Crane, an explanatin f why it is imprtant t recgnize endangered species, current Whping Crane restratin effrts, and suggestins f what peple can d t help remve Whping Cranes frm the endangered species list. The newsletter shuld include written as well as graphic materials. Here are sme questins that students shuld address in creating their newsletter: a) What specific causes resulted in the Whping Cranes becming an endangered species? b) Why is it imprtant t recgnize threatened and endangered species? Include in yur respnse the different types f value that a species can have. Is it wrth mney? Des it serve a specific functin in an ecsystem? Des the species prvide a specific service imprtant t peple? Is there a mral imprtance in cnserving a species? c) Why is it imprtant t restre the ppulatin f Whping Cranes in Nrth America? d) What are the pssible effects f the permanent lss f a species frm the Earth? e) What are three ways that peple in the cmmunity can help the Whping Crane? Threatened and endangered species in general? Actins taken t help Whping Cranes dn t have t be difficult r invlve lts f mney. It s prbably easier than yu think. One way peple can help Whping Cranes is by writing letters t their representatives. When peple in the legislature understand that their cnstituents care abut prtecting this species, they may be encuraged t pass bills prtecting wetlands. Reprting sightings f Whping Cranes is a way the public can becme invlved in the science behind mnitring the cranes. Scientists want t knw where the birds are and hw they are using their habitat. This can help better understand lcatins that are apprpriate t release Whping Cranes int the wild s they have a higher chance f survival. Anther way t help Whping Cranes is t simply spread the wrd. By being able t crrectly identify a Whping Crane and pint them ut t friends r family is a simple actin that culd Prduced under a grant frm the Wiscnsin Envirnmental Educatin Bard 44

5 decrease accidental shtings. Sharing infrmatin abut Whping Cranes n scial media is a gd way t spread the wrd t hundreds f peple quickly with little effrt. 3) Have student grups cme up with a slgan and design a pster t encurage the peple in their neighbrhd t save the endangered Whping Cranes. Extensins: 1) Students can research ther threatened and endangered species in their state. Hw many endangered species are there? Hw many f them are birds? Mammals? Plants? 2) Ask each student t give a presentatin n a threatened r endangered species. Students shuld prvide life histry infrmatin n the species, causes fr the decline f the species, and restratin effrts currently underway. 3) Have students research and create a presentatin n species that have been remved frm the List f Threatened and Endangered Species, such as wlves, turkeys, trumpeter swans, and bald eagles. 4) Students can check ut their state s Threatened and Endangered Species n the US Fish and Wildlife website at: Which animals and plants d they recgnize? Which species have they seen and which have they heard abut? Hw and what d they knw abut them? Prduced under a grant frm the Wiscnsin Envirnmental Educatin Bard 45