AGENDAOPENING:

- Introduce book and author- Where are the Galapagos Islands?- Read Island: A Story of the Galapagos

WORK PERIOD:- Galapagos species sort activity

CLOSING:- Why do these species live in the

Galapagos Islands and not Niagara Falls?

openingObjectives: Students will think about the effects that an environmental change could have on an island and the species that inhabit it. Students will also investigate the evolution of species and adaptation.

Islandby Jason Chin

Charles Darwin first visited the Galápagos Islands almost 200 years ago, only to discover a land filled with plants and animals that could not be found anywhere else on earth. How did they come to inhabit the island?

How long will they remain?This extraordinary book by Award-winning author and artist Jason Chin is an epic saga of the life of an island—born of fire, rising to greatness,

its decline, and finally the emergence of life on new islands.

opening

opening

Where in the world are the Galapagos Islands?

WORK PERIODStudents will complete a sort activity

matching a Galapagos species to the Island it inhabits on the Galapagos.

Directions:* You will be divided up into 8 groups* Each group will receive an envelope with

4 Island cards and a picture of a species from the Galapagos Islands

* As a group, your job is to read about your species on the back of the picture, read all 4 island cards, and decide which island would be the BEST fit for your species.* Record your findings on your work time

activity sheet.

Galapagos species

Galapagos Land Iguana

Giant Tortoise

Galapagos Marine Iguana

Blue-Footed Bird

WORK PERIOD Part 2* WARNING! Your Island has been hit with

an environmental change.* Read your Island Environmental Change

card and discuss the two questions on your student work time sheet with your group… 1. What is the effect on the

environment as a result of the change card you were given. 2. Do you think your species will still

be able to survive on your island after the “change?” Justify your answer.* Record your answers on your work time

activity sheet.

closingWhy does your species live in the Galapagos Islands and not

here in Niagara Falls?

Refer to the pages in the book that address what happened to the finches’ as a result of the drought and change of climate (slides 21 and 22). Did all the finches’ who were already living on the island adapt to the change? What happened to the species over time?

EXTENSION ACTIVITYGOOGLE went to the Galapagos Islands to film last Spring to add the footage to Google

Maps. Here is a short 4 minute video that shows their journey as they were filming!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKG2qH8778U