Lessons for Kids About Extinct Animals

Pyrenean Ibex

As a class, research the Pyrenean ibex. Have your students work together to create a timeline that begins in the 14th century when these animals were flourishing. The timeline should show the steady decline of the ibex population, efforts to protect the ibex, the death of the last natural born Pyrenean ibex on January 6, 2000, the short-lived resurrection of the ibex through cloning in 2009 and the death of the cloned ibex. Discuss the social, moral and ecological implications of cloning extinct animals. Display the timeline prominently within your school so others may learn about the extinction of the Pyrenean ibex.

Press Clay, a 14-year-old boy, shot the last wild passenger pigeon on March 24, 1900. The shooting of this female pigeon occurred near Sargents, Pike County, Ohio. Discuss as a class how Press might have felt after learning he had killed the last wild member of this group of birds. On September 1, 1914, the last remaining passenger pigeon in capitivity died and the species became officially extinct. Ask your students how this news might have made Press Clay feel. As a class, write an epic poem that addresses Press Clay's ill-fated role in the history of this extinct species.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has declared that the Caribbean monk seal, declared officially extinct in 1996 after having not been seen for over 40 years, died off due to human causes, primarily overhunting. There are two other species of monk seals left on the planet. These are the Hawaiian and Mediterranean monk seals. Have your students compare and contrast all three species of monk seals. Discuss how they are similar and different from one another. Discuss what NOAA and other environmental protection groups are doing to protect endangered seals around the world. Ask them why they think efforts to save the Caribbean monk seals failed. Discuss what might need to be done to save their Hawaiian and Mediterranean counterparts. For closure, have students create posters encouraging others to save the remaining monk seals from sharing the fate of the Caribbean monk seals.

Explain to your class that the golden toad was discovered in 1964 and was declared most probably extinct by experts in 1992. Less than 30 years after being discovered by the scientific world at large, this amphibian appears to have disappeared from the face of the earth. This toad lived in Costa Rica within the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve. After giving your students only this information, ask them to brainstorm what might have killed the golden toads of the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve. Once you have brainstormed possible causes of extinction as a class, challenge your students to research further on their own and write a short essay, story or poem that attempts to solve the mystery of the golden toad's extinction.