Animals of the Rocky Mountains:

(FOR OLDER STUDENTS)

1. In this scene, Aunt Cécile thinks she sees a mountain goat. Does she? There are thirteen different animals hidden in this illustration that live in the Rocky Mountains.
2. Ask the students to take a close look at the illustration in the book and to find as many of the thirteen animals as they can. It will be helpful to have several copies of the book for partners or small groups to examine closely.
3. List their findings on the board.
4. When all the animals have been discovered, ask each individual, pair, or small group (depending on the number in your class) to do research on one of the animals.
5. Depending on the grade level of the students, you may ask them to develop a poster, an oral report, a written report, a PowerPoint presentation, or another type of assignment to present to the class about their assigned animal.
6. The students should be given requirements for content in their report. They should include pictures of the assigned animal. Other content may be decided upon, based on the grade level of the students and curriculum considerations. Some suggested ideas are facts about the animal’s size, weight, coloration, habitat, range, food, its predators, its prey, type of eater (herbivore, carnivore, or omnivore), population, activity (diurnal or nocturnal), and type of animal (i.e., mammal, bird, reptile).
7. The following Web resources should be helpful:
   
   http://rockymountainnationalpark.com/pages/wildwatch.html
   
   Included in this site is a kids’ Web page with a game that students can play related to Rocky Mountain National Park and its wildlife:
   
   www.nps.gov/romo/naturescience/animals.htm
   
   Photographs of wildlife:
   
   http://raysweb.net/wildlife/
   
   Plants and animals:
   
   www.ohranger.com/rocky-mountain/flora-fauna
   
   Individual sites on each type of animal may also be helpful, but there are too many to list here. Encourage the students to use the library for books on individual animals.

Standards: NS.K-4.3 Life Science; NL-ENG.K-12.2 Reading for Understanding; NL-ENG.K-12.3 Evaluation Strategies; NL-ENG.K-12.4 Communication Skills; NL-ENG.K-12.5 Communication Strategies; NL-ENG.K-12.8 Developing Research Skills; NL-ENG.K-12.12 Applying Language Skills