Lessons for Hope
Home Teachers Students Scrapbook Projects    
Lessons for Hope Email Lessons for Hope Roots & Shoots Lessons for Hope Home Lessons for Hope Credits
 
Teacher's Guide
Unit Four: Perseverance
Arrow Activity Tasks

Students will:

  • define perseverance.
  • read about recovery plans.
  • research possible solutions to help their endangered species.
  • create a recovery plan.
  • reflect and journal about their endangered species plans.
  • view Dr. Jane’s scrapbook.
  • read a chapter from Dr. Jane's Reason for Hope book.
  • interview someone who has persevered through difficult times and write a report.
  • find their own symbols of hope, songs, or poems.
Arrow Dr. Jane’s Lesson
Dr. Jane has experienced many milestones in both her professional and personal lives. Despite many of the obstacles she encountered while researching chimpanzees at Gombe, she has managed to maintain the study for over 40 years. Similarly, although she has suffered from personal loss and notes the effects of a world often at war, she continues to talk of hope in her role as the United Nations Messenger of Peace. One of the ways Dr. Jane maintains her strength is by collecting small symbols of hope. Students can review Dr. Jane’s scrapbook to understand how hope helps individuals persevere through difficult times.

Arrow Duration
  • Part 1 - 1 ½ hours
  • Part 2 - 20 minutes
Arrow Materials
  • HELP – Identifying Possible Solutions worksheet
  • Books, encyclopedias, other printed resources about endangered species
Arrow Connecting to the Content
Discovering a problem and researching its cause and effects is the first step in alleviating the situation. The next and more difficult step is to create a plan to solve the problem. Students gain experience in helping to solve a seemingly insurmountable problem by developing a species recovery plan. The emphasis is on what the student can do locally to help the endangered species. But if the endangered species is not local, students can continue to help their species through fund raising and public outreach. Students learn there is almost always something they can do to help alleviate a problematic situation.

Arrow Procedure
Part 1: Continue Your Endangered Species Project
  1. Direct the class to Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary to find the definition of persevere. Note the word's etymology.
  2. Ask the class to read about recovery plans.
  3. Direct the class to examine possible solutions to help their endangered species.

    Examine Possible Solutions to Help Your Endangered Species
    Have students use the acronym HELP to find what actions are being taken to save their endangered species. Access the HELP worksheet and complete it by identifying possible solutions to help your species. Students can brainstorm their own actions as well as research the internet and library for existing projects.

  4. Have students create a recovery plan for their endangered species and identify what they can do to help the species.

    Create a Recovery Plan and Help Your Endangered Species
    Instruct the class to think hypothetically and pretend that they and their classmates are in charge of developing the recovery plan for their endangered species.
    1. Ask the class to read an actual recovery plan for Hine's Emerald Dragonfly.
    2. Have students develop recovery objectives and provide an explanation of how the recovery actions address threats to their endangered species.
      1. Have them use the ideas they generated from the HELP activity.
      2. Have them examine past and ongoing conservation efforts, the people and/or groups involved, and the challenges they have faced.
    3. Ask the class to consider the time frame in which these objectives need to be met.
    4. The final part of the recovery plan is for students to identify what they can do locally to help save their endangered species.
      1. If students selected an endangered species in their community, they might be able to work with local scientists to help their species directly. Have them contact organizations in the area that are helping the species they researched and ask what they can do.
      2. If students' species are not in the area, they can explore other ways to help. For example, they could:
        • raise money for conservation efforts.
        • develop a lesson plan to educate the community about the threats to their species.
      3. Once you have completed your endangered species project, complete an activity report.
  5. Have students reflect and complete their journal entries by considering how their project will impact animals, people, and the environment.

Part 2: Reflect on Human Perseverance
  1. Despite many challenges in Dr. Jane's personal and professional lives, she never gave up. Have the class access Dr. Jane's scrapbook to see how she learned from these challenges and moved forward.
  2. Have each student interview a person who has persevered through difficult times and ask them to write a report that includes their questions and responses.
  3. Have students complete one of the following:
    • Find a symbol of hope that has special meaning and bring it to class.
    • Select a song or poem that has special meaning and bring it to class.
Arrow Assessment

Have students:

  • demonstrate the meaning of the word perseverance.
  • demonstrate their knowledge of recovery plans.
  • share their endangered species recovery plans.
  • communicate how their plan will affect animals, people, and the environment.
Arrow Extensions
Students may find an individual who is helping to save endangered species and interview the person about a recovery plan or invite him or her to speak to the class.

Arrow Terms
  • Hine’s emerald dragonfly – Lives in special wetlands called “fens”; is an endangered species found in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, and Alabama.
  • Perseverance – To persist in a state, enterprise, or undertaking in spite of counterinfluences, opposition, or discouragement.
Teacher's Guide
Unit One
  ArrowTree Exercise
  ArrowRoots
  ArrowShoots
  ArrowMentors
Unit Two
  ArrowObserver
  ArrowPioneer  
  ArrowExpert  
Unit Three
  ArrowKnowledge
  ArrowCompassion
  ArrowAction
Unit Four
  ArrowResilience
  ArrowPerseverance
  ArrowCelebration
 
 Related Topics:
  ArrowABC's of Chimp Behavior
  ArrowDr. Jane's Scrapbook
  ArrowE-Card
  ArrowMultiple Intelligences
Profile
  ArrowOnline Dictionary
  ArrowTree Sketching Guide
 
 Site Information:
  ArrowHelp
  ArrowImage Credits
  ArrowSite Map
  Email Lessons for Hope to a Friend  
Lessons for Hope Contact Info
© 2010 Jane Goodall Institute: Lessons for Hope - Content. All Rights Reserved.
© 2010 3rd Learning - "Lessons For Hope" Website. All Rights Reserved.