Extinct Animal Challenge
How can we design a habitat for an extinct animal that meets its needs while keeping people safe?
Students began the Extinct Animal Challenge by choosing an extinct animal to investigate. Using a guided digital tool, they explored different animals and selected one to study.
Students researched where their animal lived, what it ate, the adaptations that helped it survive, and why it became extinct. They used their research to build a model of their animal, choosing which physical features and adaptations to include based on what they had learned. Their research then became the starting point for a design problem: What would this animal need if it were living today?
Students planned and built a habitat that could support their animal while also considering the people around it. Their designs needed to account for the animal’s needs, its ability to remain within the habitat, and the safety of people nearby.
The challenge connected life science, research, problem-solving, engineering, and design. Students moved from researching an animal to applying that information to make decisions about what and how they built. They finished by sharing their animals and habitats and explaining the reasoning behind their design choices.
My hope is that students left the Extinct Animal Challenge understanding that survival depends on more than the animal itself. Animals depend on their environment for food, water, protection, space, and other conditions they need to survive. When those conditions change or disappear, animals may not be able to adapt and extinction can be the result.
If your child joined us, ask them: Why did your animal become extinct? What would it need to survive today?
-Cristina
