As you're reading about your animal, take notes on key information, such as where your animal lives (its range), what type of biome it lives in (its habitat), how big your animal gets, what it looks like, what it eats, what eats it, how long it lives (if this is known), etc.

The Structure of the Animal Report:
Start your report with an introductory paragraph that states the main ideas that you will be writing about. Make it catchy so people will be want to read it! Then write at least four to five paragraphs that clearly describe your animal and how it lives. Each paragraph should cover one topic (for example, you should have one paragraph that covers the animal's anatomy). You should also devote a paragraph to discussing your opinions on whether you support or don't support the forest preservation. End the report with a closing paragraph that summarizes what you wrote and learned.

Topics to Research and Include in Your Report:
When you write your report, try to answer as many of the following questions as you can (unfortunately, not all of these things are known for all animals):

• The Animal's Name: What does its name mean? Sometimes this will tell you something important or interesting about the animal. For example, platypus means "flat-footed." For some animals, there are special name for a baby, a male, a female, or a group. Also, list your animal's scientific name; this should consist of a capitalized genus name and a lower-case species name. For example, the platypus is Ornithorhynchus anatinus.
• Anatomy/Appearance: What does your animal look like? How big is it? What shape is its body? What does an average one weigh? Does it have horns, antlers, fur, crests or claws? Describe the teeth, head, neck, tail, etc. How many legs does it have? Are its legs long or short? How many eyes and how many body parts does it have? Does it molt as it grows? Draw a picture if you can.
• Locomotion: Can your animal move? If so, how does your animal move (does it walk, fly, jump, burrow, etc.)? Is it slow-moving or fast-moving? Why is this important to its survival? For example, most fast-moving animals are fast so that they can catch dinner (like the cheetah) or avoid becoming dinner (like the deer).
• Diet: What does your animal eat and how does it get its food? Is it an herbivore (plant eater), carnivore (meat eater), omnivore (eating meat and plants), or something else? Is there something unusual in the way your animal eats? (For example, the flamingo sieves its food from mud while its head is upside down under the water.) Where is your animal in the food web (is it a top predator, like the grizzly bear, is it at the base of the food web, like krill, or is it somewhere in the middle?
• Habitat and Range: What type of biome does this animal prefer (does it live in the desert, swamp, tundra, deep sea, coral reef, tropical rainforest, pond, or other habitat)? Where in the world does it live? List the continent(s), country/countries, and/or smaller areas that it lives in.
• Adaptations: What are the obvious adaptations of your animal to its environment? For example, the giraffe's neck is an adaptation for obtaining leaves that are high off the ground. It also has tough lips to avoid thorns on its main food source.
• Life Cycle/Reproduction: Give information on the animal's life cycle and reproduction. For example, in the case of insects, list and describe each stage in the process of their metamorphosis. For a species of shark, describe whether it bears live young or lays eggs.
• Behavior: Describe interesting features of your animal's behavior. For example: Is there evidence of herding or is it a solitary animal? Does it burrow underground? Does it hibernate, estivate, or migrate in cold weather? Is it nocturnal (most active at night)?
• Defense/Offense: How does it defend itself (and/or attack other animals)? Does it use teeth, fangs, claws, armor, horns, antlers, pincers, poison, a stinger, muscles, a strong smell, and/or something else?
• Enemies: What animals eat or otherwise kill your animal? For example, for caterpillars, birds eat them, but wasps also lay their eggs in the caterpillars, and this eventually kills them.
• Species Survival Status: Is this animal species in danger of extinction? If so, why? Has it lost habitat, lost a food source, or has it been overhunted?
• Something Special: Is there anything special about this animal? This can often be the best part of the report, taking you off on interesting topics. For example, are there legends about the animal?

The Following is a Rubric For Assessing each Part of Your Informative Report:

.	Beginning 1	Developing 2	Accomplished 3	Excellent 4	Score
Introduction	Disorganized, no information on what is to come	Gives too little information.	Summarizes report	Concise, well-written introduction	.
Research Part 1 (name, anatomy, locomotion, diet, habitat, range, adaptations)	Does not cover all appropriate topics	Covers some of the appropriate topics.	Covers most of the appropriate topics.	All appropriate topics covered well. Also includes interesting facts.
Research Part 2 (life cycle/reproduction, behavior, defense/offense, enemies, species survival status, classification, etc.)	Does not cover all appropriate topics	Covers some of the appropriate topics.	Covers most of the appropriate topics.	All appropriate topics covered well. Also includes interesting facts.	.
Spelling/Grammar	Many spelling and grammatical errors	A few errors	Only one or two errors	Spelling and grammar perfect	.
Presentation	Illegible, messy	Almost illegible	Legible writing, accompanying illustrations	Well organized presentation, typed or written using a word processor, accompanying illustrations	.
Connects with opinion of either supporting or not supporting forest preservation	Doesn't give opinion	Gives opinion but doesn't support it	Gives opinion with supporting it with little detail	Gives opinion with great detail, perhaps quoting from article	.
Timeliness	Over a week late	A week late	A day or two late	Handed in on time	.

Name: _____________________ Date: ___________________

Project Title: _____________________ Teacher(s): Miss Jill Greenberg

Presentation Rubric

Process Below Avg. Satisfactory Excellent 1. Has clear vision of final product 1, 2, 3 4, 5, 6 7, 8, 9 2. Properly organized to complete project 1, 2, 3 4, 5, 6 7, 8, 9 3. Managed time wisely 1, 2, 3 4, 5, 6 7, 8, 9 4. Acquired needed knowledge base 1, 2, 3 4, 5, 6 7, 8, 9 5. Communicated efforts with teacher 1, 2, 3 4, 5, 6 7, 8, 9

Product (Project) Below Avg. Satisfactory Excellent 1. Format 1, 2, 3 4, 5, 6 7, 8, 9 2. Mechanics of speaking/writing 1, 2, 3 4, 5, 6 7, 8, 9 3. Organization and structure 1, 2, 3 4, 5, 6 7, 8, 9 4. Creativity 1, 2, 3 4, 5, 6 7, 8, 9 5. Demonstrates knowledge 1, 2, 3 4, 5, 6 7, 8, 9, 10 6. Other: 1, 2, 3 4, 5, 6 7, 8, 9

Total Score:____________________________

Teacher(s) Comments: