This activity is part of the Detours and Distractions: How Humans Impact Migration Patterns unit.
 
l. Remind students of the ways humans can impact animal migrations and introduce a solution.

• Direct students’ attention to the Human Impacts Photo Gallery around the room.
• Ask students:
• In what ways do we know humans impact animal migrations and ecosystems? (Possible responses: Human infrastructure and behavior have altered animal migration patterns in many ways. Roads act as a barrier to wildlife crossings; wind farms create hazards for birds, bats, and insects; climate change can render ecosystems uninhabitable.)
• Invite volunteers to summarize the wind turbine problem for animal migration. (Wind turbines provide a cost-effective, clean, sustainable source of energy. But it is estimated that hundreds of thousands of birds, bats, and insects die every year when they accidentally collide with turbine blades. Bats may even succumb to the pressures created when the giant turbine blades pass through the air, a phenomenon known as barotrauma. Depending on where wind farms are located, they can also impact other animals who migrate on the ground.)
• Ask students:
• What are some solutions that could help this problem?
• Engage the class in a discussion about potential solutions. Invite students to share their ideas; record students’ responses to be displayed in the classroom.
• Possible responses may include: removing wind turbines, using them during times when they will have minimal effects on wildlife, changing locations, turning them off, or changing their shapes.
• Project the article For the Birds (and the Bats): 8 Ways Wind Power Companies are Trying to Prevent Deadly Collisions.
• Read the introductory section aloud to students, then either facilitate a whole-class reading of the article or assign each of the eight sections to different groups of students to read and report on the solutions addressed.
• Debrief by comparing the ideas presented in the article to students’ initial solution ideas.   

• Organize students into their project groups and distribute the following resources to each student, selecting for the correct reading levels:
• Wildlife Crossings
• Fish Tale
• The Gray Whale: Past, Present, and Future
• Snake Migration
• Exploring Solutions to Animal Migration Problems handout
• Orient students to the Exploring Solutions to Animal Migration Problems handout; explain that after they complete the reading, they will be asked to summarize the solutions outlined in the articles, identify different stakeholders, and brainstorm pros and cons to each solution.
• Define a stakeholder: a stakeholder is someone with an interest or concern in something or one who is involved in or affected by a course of action. Ask students: 
• How many stakeholders can you identify in the wind turbine problem? (Possible responses: wind turbine businesses; scientists who study birds, bats, or other animals; people who get electricity from wind turbines; community members who like their community with or without the wind turbines; environmentalists)
• Remind students to keep this concept in mind as they identify stakeholders in their final project.
• Provide groups with choices for how they can work together to complete the handout; for example, students could use the Jigsaw method where each member reads one article and reports back to the others. Or, all students can read the articles together and compare notes. Each student should complete their own handout.
• Ask students to complete the handout with their groups, circulate to facilitate discussion, and press student thinking. Press student thinking with questions like:
• How are the components of these solutions similar or different?
• Do you think the same kind of solutions would work for all animals, or do different kinds of animals need different kinds of solutions?
• How would you measure success of these solutions?
• Collect students’ handouts upon completion or at the end of the activity.

• Distribute a supply of two new colors of sticky notes.
• Remind students of the initial exercise from the Collision! Human Impacts on Animal Migration activity: they examined each photograph in the gallery walk and identified what they thought could be impacting a migrating animal (e.g., a highway) and what effects that might have. Then explain the activity:
• Sticky color number one: First, students will examine each photograph in the gallery walk and reflect on their earlier thinking. Encourage students to read their own, and others’, original sticky notes, and to add anything that has changed about their thinking. As before, students should stick their new note on the wall next to the photograph.
• Sticky color number two: Have students record a possible solution that could overcome the impact in the photograph. Again, students should stick their note on the wall next to the photograph.
• Bring students back together as a class and invite volunteers to share their ideas and thoughts about each photograph.

• Work with students to select which of the following projects you would like to pursue at the conclusion of the unit:
• Identify local migratory organisms. Create a backyard “pit stop” for the most vulnerable—such as a bat box or specific native flowering plants.
• Author a class letter to Congress, local government, or a local business to encourage an animal migration solution (e.g., building a wildlife crossing bridge). Students can submit copies of their maps and presentations as evidence.
• Download the Animal Tracker app or eBird app and follow and add to scientific knowledge about migrating animals through student citizen science field work.
• To maximize student engagement, assign student roles in the planning process.
• Remind students that this opportunity for further action serves to continue student momentum toward helping end the negative impacts of humans on animal migration and extends the impact of their project work into the local or global community.

This activity is part of the Detours and Distractions: How Humans Impact Migration Patterns unit.
 
l. Activate students’ developing knowledge about human impacts on migration and create a Know & Need to Know chart to engage groups in setting research goals.

• Distribute the Human Impacts Map Layer: Know & Need to Know Chart to each student.
• Ask students to discuss the questions in their project groups and record their thoughts on their chart:
• What do we already know about how our animal’s migration pattern is impacted by humans?
• What do we already know about solutions to these impacts?
• What do we need to know about how our animal’s migration pattern is impacted by humans in order to create a human impact map layer?
• What do we need to know about solutions to these impacts? Or, what do we need to know to create solutions to these impacts?

• Explain that for the remainder of this activity, each group will research, gather, and organize information to create a final map layer showing how their focal animal’s migration is impacted by humans and explaining, illustrating, or describing at least one possible solution to this impact. This map layer should also include a key.
• Remind students about the definition of stakeholders: a person with an interest or concern in something or one who is involved in or affected by a course of action.
• Explain to students that as they are learning about human impacts on their animal's migrations and recommending solutions, they will list at least four stakeholders and explain what their stake is in the impact, solution, or animal migration.
• Distribute the Human Impacts Map Layer Rubric and orient students so that they are familiar with the expectations before they begin their work.

• Prompt students to gather all completed map layers and handouts from previous activities.
• Help students choose and print the same map layer as their base map using MapMaker 1-Page Maps.
• Set parameters for students on where they can do additional research. See the Background & Vocabulary tab for helpful sources.
• Support and structure student research as needed based on how the previous project work sessions have gone.
• While students are working, circulate to provide assistance and remind them of the required components.
• Prompt for a key: What do all of the symbols and colors on your map mean?
• Prompt for an understanding of the human impact on their animal’s migration pattern: How is your animal’s migration impacted by humans? How are you illustrating that on your map layer? Are these effects being seen now? How might these effects continue to get worse if no solution is provided?
• Prompt for a list of stakeholders and descriptions of their stake: Who is responsible for this human impact? Who would be involved or affected by a solution? How would they be affected?
• Prompt for an explanation of at least one solution to the human impact on the animal’s migration pattern: What are some ways that your focal animal’s migration pattern can be helped? Are these solutions already in place, or ones that you are coming up with? Is there evidence that these solutions are successful? How would you measure their success? How feasible are these solutions? Are there real-life examples of this happening and helping? How long do you think it might take for this proposed solution to help?
• Collect group maps at the end of the activity to assess students' work and provide formative feedback. 

This activity is part of the Detours and Distractions: How Humans Impact Migration Patterns unit.
 
l. Introduce evidence-based arguments.

• Explain to students that they will prepare and present an evidence-based argument that takes a stand on human impacts on animal migration.
• On the board, define more clearly each of the following components of an evidence-based argument:
• Question: Why should your recommended solution(s) to animal migration be implemented by your stakeholders?
• Claim: What is your answer to the question? Your claim should state your position. For example, “[Our recommended solution] is effective because it will...”
• Evidence: What data supports your claim? You should have multiple pieces of evidence gathered from your research.
• Reasoning: How does your evidence support your claim? You should provide reasoning for all evidence.
• Show the Wildlife Crossings Stop Roadkill. Why Aren’t There More? video. As the video is playing, encourage students to identify the question, claim, evidence, and reasoning from the video. As a class, have students share what they have identified.
• Question: Why aren’t there more wildlife crossings when they have been shown to prevent roadkill?
• Claim: Wildlife crossings prevent roadkill, but they are expensive to install. When design solutions are identified that are more cost effective, more wildlife crossings can be built.
• Evidence: Wildlife crossings that are already made (like in Banff, Canada), tracking data that show individual animals using the crossings, camera trap videos showing different kinds of animals using the crossings. When a cheaper design solution was identified through a design contest, Colorado agreed to install it.
• Reasoning: Data show that wildlife crossings are effective, and that states agreed to install a wildlife crossing when the cost was more reasonable. This shows that when wildlife crossings become more affordable, more will be built.
• Ask students: Why are evidence-based arguments important? (They support critical thinking, provide support for making decisions and forming opinions, and help to express content knowledge in an accurate and fair way.)

• Distribute the Presentation Rubric to each student and orient students to expectations.
• The objective for the presenting group is to convince key stakeholders (role-played by their classmates) that they should implement their recommended solution.
• The stakeholders will be identified and defined by student groups, and will be portrayed by another student group that will evaluate their argument during presentations. Each student in the listening group will evaluate from the perspective of one stakeholder.
• To be successful at this presentation, groups will need to think from the perspective of different stakeholders, and provide evidence and reasoning to support their claims.
• Groups will research, gather, and organize evidence to support their argument. Their completed unit project maps, with its animal migration base layer, ecosystem layer, and human impact layer, will act as a key piece of evidence for their argument.
• The objective for the listening group is to decide, from each stakeholder’s perspective, whether they should approve the solution recommended, whether they should offer revisions, or whether they will not approve the solution.
• Whatever they decide, they must provide reasoning to back up their decision. Each stakeholder’s reasoning will be a part of the presenting group’s assessment, and the reasoning for the stakeholder’s decision should be persuasive and fair (e.g., stakeholders cannot just say “because we think so.”).
• Orient students to the presentation method and parameters.

• Distribute the following documents to each group:
• Sample Stakeholder Descriptions
• Stakeholder Descriptions and Evaluations
• Ask students to retrieve their Exploring Solutions to Animal Migration Problems handout.
• This was completed during the Exploring Solutions to Human Impacts on Animal Migration activity. Students will use this handout now to guide how they identify and define their stakeholders.
• Allow students to read the Example Stakeholder Descriptions handout and work in their groups to complete the stakeholder descriptions on the Stakeholder Descriptions and Evaluations handout.
• After students have completed this, collect their Stakeholder Descriptions and Evaluations handout and, while they are working on their presentations, make enough copies for the listening group (e.g., if there are four students in every group, four copies should be made so that each student can represent a different stakeholder).

• Prompt students to retrieve all of the completed handouts, thought organizers, Know & Need to Know charts, and all other articles, videos, encyclopedic entries, and resources used throughout the unit.
• Set boundaries for students on how much additional research is expected. Encourage students to limit their research to only what is necessary to support their arguments. As needed, provide instruction for effective online research and online literacy.
• As students are working, remind them to keep in mind the different stakeholders they are trying to convince. Make sure that for every different claim they make (which may be a different claim for each different stakeholder) there is evidence to support their claim.
• Focus students’ research with questions like:
• What pieces of evidence are you using to support your claim? How many pieces of evidence do you have to support your claim? Is that enough to convince all stakeholders?
• Do any of your stakeholders need to see different kinds of evidence to be convinced?
• How does this piece of evidence support your claim? What is the reasoning behind this?
• How are you going to present all of this information in a clear way?
• Do you have any visuals or pictures to support your textual evidence?

• Distribute the corresponding, now completed, Stakeholder Descriptions and Evaluation handouts to each group that will be acting as listening groups during a presentation. (Each presenting group should have one listening group, and each group should act as a listening group at least once.)
• Remind non-participating groups that they should still be actively listening to the presentations.
• Orient stakeholder groups to their roles. Each member of the group will act as a different stakeholder. If there are more group members than stakeholders, students can work as teams or there can be duplicate stakeholders.
• Reminder: Their objective is to decide, from the stakeholder’s perspective, whether they should approve the recommended solution, offer revisions, or reject the solution. Reasoning must be provided for all decisions. 
• Presenting groups will be evaluated by the teacher using the Presentation Rubric and by the listening group with the Stakeholder Descriptions and Evaluations handout.
• Determine in advance whether the stakeholder groups will share their thoughts out loud with presenting groups, or whether the feedback will be written on the handouts.

• Invite volunteers to share their reflections, thoughts, and changes in thinking regarding the unit. To close, ask students to share actions or behaviors they feel would minimize human impacts on animal migration. 

• Now that the unit is over, prepare your class to execute further action to continue student momentum toward helping end the negative impacts of humans on animal migration and extend the impacts of their project work into the local or global community.
• Identify local migratory organisms. Create a backyard “pit stop” for the most vulnerable—such as a bat box or specific native flowering plants.
• Author a class letter to Congress, local government, or a local business to encourage an animal migration solution (e.g., building a wildlife crossing bridge). Students can submit copies of their maps and presentations as evidence.
• Download the Animal Tracker app or eBird app and follow and add to scientific knowledge about migrating animals through student citizen science field work.