March 2024

Saving Ramphy

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Academic Standards

Reading Objective:

Students will identify ways a hurt pangolin was helped to heal and grow.

Next Generation Science Standards:

K-LS1-1: What animals need to survive

K-ESS2-2: Animals change the environment to meet their needs

1-LS1-1: How animals use external parts to survive

1-LS1-2: How parents help young animals survive

Vocabulary:

pangolin, nest

Use your Science Spin to find the best answer to each question.

 

1. What did the nurse feed Ramphy at first?
(milk)

2. How did they know that Ramphy was getting heavier?
(They weighed him.)

3. What do big pangolins eat?
(ants)

4. What sticky body part does Ramphy use to get ants? Draw it!
(Answers will vary.)

 Go online to print or project the Reading Checkpoint.

  • Pangolins like Ramphy are endangered. They have been hunted so much that there are not many left in the wild. People are working hard to protect them.
  • When they’re attacked, pangolins roll into a ball. Their scales protect them—they’re so hard that not even a lion can bite through!
  • Pangolins also squirt a smelly liquid to make attackers run away.

Materials: Is It Scary? Roll Up Like a Pangolin

Overview: When baby pangolins meet something that scares them, they roll into a ball. What makes kids want to roll up? A lion coming near? A trip to the dentist? Read the list. Let kids roll up or not and record their responses.    

Directions:

  1. Tell kids that when there’s danger, pangolins roll into a ball to protect themselves. Their hard scales protect them. Even a hungry lion can’t bite through!
  2. Sometimes baby pangolins roll into a ball when they see something new—like ants!
  3. Ask students what would make them roll into a ball. It can be a real threat, like a lion. Or it can be something that just feels new and scary, like going to the dentist.
  4. Let kids spread out on a soft surface. Tell them they’re going to be scientists observing their own behavior. You’ll read out a list of things that might be scary—or not. For each one, kids can roll up in a ball—or not.
  5. Pass out the skill sheets. Read the list, and let kids roll up or not! Kids can also add to the list.
  6. Record results on the skill sheets.