Why did the Bald Eagle Almost Become Extinct

1. Why did the Bald Eagle Almost Become Extinct Glassman, S. J., & Sterling, D. R. (January 01, 2012). Why Did the Bald Eagle Almost Become Extinct? A Guided Inquiry Activity to Investigate Humans' Impact on the Environment. Science Scope, 35, 7, 56-61.

2. Day 1Warm-up: 10 minutes • Create a food web for the Bald Eagle using this information. • Use the “Construct the Bald Eagle’s Food Chain” Handout, scissors, glue stick, and notebook paper. • Briefly go over the food webs and review the concept with the students. • http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/eagle/FoodChainDrawings.html

3. Bald Eagle Breeding Pairs - 1963 to 2006Data Table Day 1:Create a Graph Examine the data table. What observation can you make? How could we make this data more user friendly?

4. Graph Self Assessment Rubric

5. Day 2: Introduce the Activity • You are sitting in groups of 4. • Each group member has a specific job to do during this activity. • 1. Leader: Leads group discussion • 2. Recorder: Records relevant data and questions on a Cause & Effect T-chart • 3. Reporter: Asks question after analyzing data • 4. Materials Manager: Gets and returns materials correctly to the teacher at the end of class

6. Names: Draw the following data table on a piece of paper.

7. Procedure for Each Piece of Evidence • Each group will see one piece of evidence to help you answer a specific question. • Your group will have 3 minutes to analyze the data and formulate a yes or no question to ask the teacher. • If your group cannot agree on the question in the amount of time, your group loses its turn. • After you receive all 7 pieces of evidence you will be able to adequately answer the question and support your answer with evidence. • Any questions???

8. Evidence 1 : Picture 3 minutes Examine the evidence. Formulate a yes or no question. Ask the teacher. Listen to each group, record data.

9. Evidence 2: Graph

10. Evidence 3: Silent Spring Passage In the book Silent Spring, Rachel Carson describes how people throughout the country observed fewer baby bald eagles in the 1950s and late 1940s compared to the 1930s and early 1940s. She describes these two specific examples in her book: “Observations at Hawk Mountain are in line with findings elsewhere. One such report comes from Elton Fawks, an official of the Natural Resources Council of Illinois. In 1958 Mr. Fawks reported that a recent count of 59 eagles had included only one immature bird. Similar indications of the dying out of the race come from the world’s only sanctuary for eagles alone, Mount Johnson Island in the Susquehanna River…Since 1934 its single eagle nest has been under observation by Professor Herbert H. Beck…Between 1935 and 1947 use of the nest was regular and uniformly successful. Since 1947, although the adults have occupied the nest and there is evidence of egg laying, no young eagles have been produced” (Carson 1962, p. 120).

11. Evidence 4: DDT Timeline DDT Timeline • DDT was introduced as a pesticide in 1947. • DDT was banned from use in the United States in 1972.

12. Evidence 5: Surface-Runoff Diagram

13. Evidence 6: Energy Pyramid

14. Evidence 7: Bird-Egg Model • Please put on your safety goggles before examining this sample. • The eggs are very fragile. Please be careful. • Record your observations.

15. Time to Decide • You have seen all seven pieces of evidence. • Discuss the evidence with your group. • Then, as a group answer the question, “Why did the bald eagle almost go extinct?” • Be prepared to defend your answer.

16. Why did the bald eagle almost become extinct? • Brief Discussion • Look at the rubric on the next slide to understand how your paragraphs will be assessed. • Homework: Write a summary paragraph explaining why the bald eagle almost became extinct. Use at least 4 of the 7 pieces of evidence to support your hypothesis. • We will share the paragraphs in class tomorrow.

17. Assessment Rubric