Lions and people: Keeping the balance
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/18/g68/cclions.html
A lesson plan for Grade 7 Science and Social Studies
About this resource
- Appropriate grades
- 7
- Subjects
- social studies (Africa), thinking skills (higher order thinking, information literacy, research skills, visual literacy), education technology (integrating technology), teaching methods (discussions, online learning)
- Provider
- National Geographic
Legal
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In this Xpeditions lesson, students explore an area of Kenya outside of the national park system that's being managed and studied in an attempt to maintain a healthy lion population as well as a comfortable local human population, particularly Masai herders. Activities in this lesson engage students in online learning, whole class discussion, and development of map-reading skills.
Students will:
- look at maps and discuss the tensions that might arise when lions live near human settlements;
- read and discuss a National Geographic News article;
- investigate how scientists are working with the Masai to minimize damages to their livestock caused by lions;
- discuss how Crittercam might help scientists in their research; and
- write dialogues between scientists and Masai elders.
Xpeditions provides detailed directions for completing the lesson, suggestions for assessment and extension activities, discussion questions, and links to related web resources.
North Carolina Curriculum Alignment
Social Studies (2003)
Grade 7
- Goal 1: The learner will use the five themes of geography and geographic tools to answer geographic questions and analyze geographic concepts.
- Objective 1.01: Create maps, charts, graphs, databases, and models as tools to illustrate information about different people, places and regions in Africa, Asia, and Australia.
- Objective 1.02: Generate, interpret, and manipulate information from tools such as maps, globes, charts, graphs, databases, and models to pose and answer questions about space and place, environment and society, and spatial dynamics and connections.
- Objective 1.03: Use tools such as maps, globes, graphs, charts, databases, models, and artifacts to compare data on different countries of Africa, Asia, and Australia and to identify patterns as well as similarities and differences.
- Goal 3: The learner will analyze the impact of interactions between humans and their physical environments in Africa, Asia, and Australia.
- Objective 3.01: Identify ways in which people of selected areas in Africa, Asia, and Australia have used, altered, and adapted to their environments in order to meet their needs and evaluate the impact of their actions on the development of cultures and regions.
- Objective 3.02: Describe the environmental impact of regional activities such as deforestation, urbanization, and industrialization and evaluate their significance to the global community.
- Goal 6: The learner will recognize the relationship between economic activity and the quality of life in Africa, Asia, and Australia.
- Objective 6.03: Describe the effects of over-specialization and evaluate their impact on the standard of living.
Science (2005)
Grade 7
- Goal 1: The learner will design and conduct investigations to demonstrate an understanding of scientific inquiry.
- Objective 1.01: Identify and create questions and hypotheses that can be answered through scientific investigations.
- Objective 1.09: Use technologies and information systems to:
- Research.
- Gather and analyze data.
- Visualize data.
- Disseminate findings to others.
- Objective 1.10: Analyze and evaluate information from a scientifically literate viewpoint by reading, hearing, and/or viewing:
- Scientific text.
- Articles.
- Events in the popular press.
