Elephants
From African savannas to southern Asian forests, these unique animals engineer the landscapes of their ecosystems and support wildlife around them. In this lesson, meet the earth’s largest land mammals and learn how students can participate in their conservation by reading nonfiction, teaching their peers, and meeting an elephant expert.
© Richard Barrett / WWF-UK
💡 Warm up
Classroom Presentation: All About Elephants
Begin the lesson by presenting the slides about elephant facts. Once students have built a basic understanding of elephants, verbally quiz students to see what they recall about elephant lifestyles, diets, threats to elephants, and why we should care.
© WWF
💻 Tech time
Recorded Livestream: African Elephants: From Their Tusks to Their Poop
Play the video and learn from WWF’s Director of African Species Conservation Bas Huijbregts about the importance of elephants as ecosystem engineers, how human pressures threaten them, and even some surprising information about their poop! Be sure to download the supplemental resources linked in the video description for pre- and post-video questions.
▶️ Activities
© WWF
Team Research
Trade Knowledge, Not Ivory
Guide students in conducting mini-research projects about the geographical, economic, historical, and civic aspects of the ivory trade and in teaching their peers about their findings.
© WWF
Reading and writing
The Ranger Diaries
Build your learners’ creative writing skills as they read informational text and compose a journal entry from the point of view of a wildlife ranger.