LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Farm Animal Immigrants

Students will identify a rare or endangered farm animal and then locate its country of origin on a world map. Students will also research the animal and its uses to determine why it was an imported.

A lesson plan for grade 5 Social Studies

By Meg Millard and Pamela Webb

About the authors

We teach at Frank Porter Graham Elementary School in Chapel Hill. This lesson plan was created as part of a LEARN NC workshop in cooperation with NC Echo and Newspapers in Education May 2004

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Learning outcomes

Students will discover that farm animals were also early immigrants to our country from many other countries of the world.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

5 days

Materials/resources

Books about farm animals

World Map

Paper stars or other means to identify where each animal came from (I used color coded paper stars…a different color for each species, i.e. pink stars for horses, gold for chickens, etc)

paper, pencils, markers, large sheets (12″ x 18″ or larger) of construction paper or poster board for mounting, yarn

Technology resources

computer(s) with access to the Internet

printer

Pre-activities

Students will have begun to explore the concept of immigration to this continent by humans.

Create a KWL chart about what students currently know about farm animals.

Activities

  1. Students will visit the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy website and explore the variety of rare and endangered farm animals presented there on their “Conservation Priority List.” Students will discover that farm animals were also early immigrants to our country from many other countries of the world. Other sources of information about rare and endangered farm animals can also be found through the NC ECHO website. Go to the “Online Collection-Format” in the side bar and click on “photographs” and search for “Farm Animals.” Historic Latta Plantation should be listed there. You can click on animals to find more information. You can also use the Google search engine to look for information about rare and endangered farm animals
  2. Students will choose a farm animal to research and learn where it were imported from.
  3. Once students have chosen an animal they will locate its country of origin on a world map. Students will write the name of their animal on a color coded star (corresponds to the species of their animal) and place it adjacent to the world map. They need to connect the star to the country of origin of the animal with a piece of yarn.
  4. Students will research the animal. They need to attempt to determine some basic facts about the animals, i.e. - Where was the animal imported from? When was the animal originally imported? What was the animal used for? Why are they rare or endangered at this time?
  5. Students will create a mini poster about the animal that includes a picture (if available) and answers to the above questions.
  6. The posters will be mounted along a timeline across the classroom wall based on time of immigration to this continent.

Assessment

See attched rubric titled “Farm Animal Immigrants Rubric” Click here

Supplemental information

Look for other great books on farm animals at your local library or contact your county agricultural extension agent for help finding more information or local farmers who might raise rare and endangered farm animals.

Related websites

http://www.albc-usa.org Other sources of information about rare and endangered farm animals can also be found through the NC ECHO website (http://www.ncecho.org) go to the “Online Collection-Format” in the side bar and click on “photographs” and search for “Farm Animals.” Historic Latta Plantation (http://www.lattaplantation.org) should be listed there. You can click on animals to find more info. You can also use the Google search engine to look for information about rare and endangered farm animals (http://www.google.com)

Comments

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North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

Social Studies (2003)

Grade 5

  • Goal 4: The learner will trace key developments in United States history and describe their impact on the land and people of the nation and its neighboring countries.
    • Objective 4.02: Explain when, where, why, and how groups of people settled in different regions of the United States.
    • Objective 4.03: Describe the contributions of people of diverse cultures throughout the history of the United States.