EDUCATOR’S SCIENCE GUIDE The Nocturnals: The Mysterious Abductions By TRACEY HECHT with illustrations by KATE LIEBMAN A Flabbergastifying Adventure Under the Stars! ISBN: 978-1-944020-002 • $15.99 Next Generation Science Standards About the Book Alignments and Activities In The Mysterious Abductions, Dawn, a serious The activities in this guide have been correlated with fox, Tobin, a sweet pangolin, and Bismark, the loud the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), mouthed, pint sized sugar glider, are nocturnal which were developed by the National Research friends that form a brigade to protect themselves Council (NCR) of the National Academy of from a blood-thirsty snake. Then animals begin dis- Sciences. The NCR’s framework for K–12 science appearing without a trace, and the brigade realizes education combines practices, crosscutting con- that their night realm is threatened. Together with cepts, and disciplinary core ideas to address relevant the help of a wombat, a band of coyotes, and many science, technology, engineeringe, and math (STEM) other Nocturnals, Dawn, Tobin, and Bismark jour- concepts that students should learn. ney to the depths of the earth in a wacky, high stakes game that determines their survival. www.fabledfi lms.com PB 1 Activity Meet the Animals 6. Review the cards to familiarize students with the 1 different types of information required. Helpful from The Nocturnals sites include: 1. Prior to conducting this activity, make copies • IUCN Red List of Threatened Species site at: of The Nocturnals science activity sheets. These http://www.iucnredlist.org/ sheets represent the front and back of The Nocturnals identification cards. Either make • University of Michigan’s Museum of Zoology double-sided copies or make individual copies Animal Diversity Web: and provide students with plain index cards, scis- http://animaldiversity.org/ sors, and glue so they can create their own cards. • BBC’s Nature: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ 2. Begin the discussion by asking your students nature/adaptations/Nocturnality what the word “nocturnal” means and invite a • San Diego Zoo Kids: volunteer from the class to explain how a noc- http://kids.sandiegozoo.org/ turnal animal is different from an animal that is awake during the day or crepuscular. • National Geographic Kids: http://kids. nationalgeographic.com/animals/ *Nocturnal: of, relating to, or occurring in the night • National Geographic: http://animals. nationalgeographic.com/animals/facts/ *Nocturnal animals: active at night 7. Give students time to conduct research and com- *Crepuscular animals: active at twilight pile information on each of the animals and draw 3. As a class, brainstorm reasons why animals might a picture of each animal on it’s respective card. be nocturnal. Possible responses: animals that Invite them to share what they learned about The go out at night to avoid the heat lose less water Nocturnals in small groups or have them present through evaporation; there is less competition for an animal’s characteristics to the class. food, water, shelter, and space at night; it’s easier to hide from predators in the dark; and some NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS predators find prey at night. USED IN THIS ACTIVITY 4. Next, challenge students to identify characteristics LS3.A: Inheritance of Traits of nocturnal animals. Possible responses: large • Many characteristics of organisms are inherited from eyes; large ears; heightened senses of touch, taste, their parents. (3-LS3-1) • Other characteristics result from individuals’ interactions and smell; *echolocation or a process for locating with the environment, which can range from diet to distant or invisible objects by means of sound learning. Many characteristics involve waves reflected back to the sender from the objects. both inheritance and environment. (3-LS3-2) Discuss the advantages of each characteristic. LS3.B: Variation of Traits • Different organisms vary in how they look and function 5. Assign each student a partner. Give each student because they have different inherited information. (3-LS3-1) a copy of The Nocturnals science activity sheets. • The environment also affects the traits that an organism Instruct students to conduct research with their develops. (3-LS3-2) partners to learn about the eight animals in the LS1.A: Structure and Function • Plants and animals have both internal and external book. Recommend that they select the species of structures that serve various functions in growth, each animal that they think is most likely repre- survival, behavior, and reproduction. (4-LS1-1) sented in the book. 2 Activity 4. Give the student groups time to research poach- 2 Investigate Poaching ing. If they need help finding information, sug- gest the following resources: 1. Begin the discussion by asking your students what • National Geographic Society: http://education. the word “poaching” means and encourage stu- nationalgeographic.org/topics/poaching/ dents to share what they know about poaching. • The Humane Society of the United States: *Poaching: to hunt or fish unlawfully http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/ 2. Next, inform students that although conserva- poaching/ tionists are working to stop poaching, the practice • African Wildlife Foundation: http://www.awf. continues. Poachers have already hunted many org/campaigns/poaching-infographic/ animal species into extinction, and many more animals could disappear within our lifetime. 5. Challenge the student groups to use what they Online resources to review with students include: learned to write a two- to three-minute news report on poaching. Inform students that a good • http://education.nationalgeographic.org/ news report begins with a catchy lead that will topics/poaching/ grab listeners’ attention and combines research • http://www.africanconservation.org/ with an objective summary that answers vital questions about their assigned topic. 3. Tell students that they will conduct an investiga- tion to learn more about poaching and the impact 6. Give students time to complete their news reports. it has on the animals featured in The Nocturnals. Invite students to present their reports to the class Divide the class into small groups and assign each as a recorded segment or an online newspaper group one of the following topics: article. Record the presentations and compile them into a complete “Special Nocturnals Poach- • An Overview of Poaching: What is it, why do ing Report.” Share the complete report with other people do it, and why does it matter? classes or post it on a class or school website. • Poaching and Crocodiles: What happened to Boris’s family? NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS • Poaching and Pangolins: Why are pangolins USED IN THIS ACTIVITY like Tobin classified as a critically endangered LS4.D: Biodiversity and Humans species? • Populations live in a variety of habitats, and change in those habitats affects the organisms living there. (3-LS4-4) • Without a Trace: Which endangered animals are poachers hunting into extinction? *Source: http://wordcentral.com/cgi-bin/student • The Domino Effect: How do disappearing species impact the larger ecosystem? • Solutions: What can people do to stop This guide was written by LIBBY ROMERO B.J. (University poachers? of Missouri-Columbia) and M.Ed. (Marymount University). Libby is a former journalist and teacher who has developed curriculum guides and activities for numerous educational publishers, including National Geographic and the Smithsonian Institution. 4 3 PB ANSWER KEY FOR ACTIVITY 1 Behavioral Characteristics: nocturnal; solitary; often Behavioral Characteristics: nocturnal; shy and Meet the Animals live in dens abandoned by other animals; nocturnal; mainly solitary; build burrows; beat prey on ground from The Nocturnals can run up to 48 km/h and jump up to 2 m high; stay before eating it; usually try to escape threats instead in same home range entire life of attacking; coil body into a ball when hiding in NOTE: The information below was obtained from the burrows IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (http://www. Diet: rodents; rabbits; insects; fruit; carrion Diet: worms, insects, crayfi sh, amphibians, eels, fruit iucnredlist.org/) and the University of Michigan’s Map: species located throughout much of the north- Museum of Zoology Animal Diversity Web (http:// ern hemisphere from the Arctic Circle to Central Map: species found on islands of New Zealand animaldiversity.org/). Responses are accurate based America, the steppes of central Asia, and northern Habitat: subtropical and temperate forests and upon the species selected. Student answers will vary Africa if they choose to investigate a different member of grasslands; prefer large, dark forest areas Habitat: forest, tundra, prairie, desert, mountains, the identifi ed species. Major Threats: predators, such as dogs, pigs, cats, farmlands, and urban areas brush-tailed possums, and stoats Major Threats: loss of habitat PANGOLIN Status: Vulnerable Status: Least Concern Scientifi c Name: Manis javanica Common Name: Malayan pangolin CROCODILE WOMBAT Scientifi c Name: Crocodylus porosus Physical Characteristics: covered from just above Scientifi c Name: Lasiorhinus krefftii nostrils to tips of tails by many rows of hard, overlap- Common Name: saltwater crocodile Common Name: northern hairy-nosed wombat ping, movable, sharp-tipped scales; 79–88 cm long, Physical Characteristics: males up to 7 m long; including the prehensile tail; scales on back and sides Physical Characteristics: thick, stocky body about 1 females up to 3 m long;