Wild About Illinois Species!
Articles/Websites
Grades6, 7, 8Biology
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Provided by Illinois Department of Natural Resources
What it is
- This resource is a collection of pages about species that live in Illinois.
- There are dedicated sections for mammals, birds, lizards, snakes, turtles, frogs and toads, salamanders, fish, fungi, invertebrates, and plants.
- Many sections include videos for more information, additional pages for specific species, and links to educational materials.
Teaching tips
Positives
- This resource contains a wealth of information for a variety of purposes.
- Students will love the images of familiar Illinois animals.
Prerequisites
- This is a very comprehensive resource that teachers may want to preview beforehand, especially for readers with low reading stamina, since not all sections are the same length.
Differentiation & Implementation
- Teachers can use this resource for a regular “Illinois Species of the Week” activity, where students read one of the articles weekly and write a one or two-sentence summary about the species.
- This collection can be used as a starting point for a research project about an Illinois species.
- This resource includes the taxonomy for each species, so it may be helpful for supporting lessons about taxonomy.
- Teachers may also be interested in this resource to talk about how climate change and human activities impact Illinois species, such as the greater prairie chicken.
- The bat section covers white-nose syndrome, which is a useful example of how human activity and climate change can threaten wildlife populations.
- This resource can be used to make regional connections to Sustainable Development Goal 14, Life Below Water, and Goal 15, Life on Land.
From the scientist review
This resource is a collection of articles about plant and animal species native to Illinois. These articles provide basic information about the plant or animal along with the scientific classification. The information presented is accurate, and this resource is recommended for teaching.
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Hosted on dnr.illinois.gov
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