An important lesson for children to learn is the impact that an extinct species has on other animals. Children can learn this by creating a food chain. Before starting the activity, teachers should explain the students what a food chain is. Teachers can divide the children into groups to create a food chain or do it as a full class. Once the food chain is completed, teachers should discuss with the students the impact that a certain animal in the food chain would have on the whole chain if it became extinct.
Species charades is a game that can teach younger students about extinct animals. Younger children might not understand completely why some animals are extinct, but they can learn about their characteristics with this activity. For this game, teachers should prepare a list of extinct animals, write their names on little pieces of paper and place them in a jar. A picture can be added for the use if younger children. To play this game, children need to pick a piece of paper without looking and pretend to be the animal written on it. The rest of the students guess what the animals is.
Older children can learn about the characteristics of extinct animals by doing research. Teachers can divide the children in groups or have them work by themselves. For this activity, teachers should prepare a worksheet with the information that students need to find about their assigned species. Children can choose a specific species, or teachers can assign one. Information that students could research includes the species' role in the food chain, the issues or events that made them extinct, the animal's characteristics and the impact the extinction caused.
Some animals became extinct because of human actions, so it is important for children to learn the impact their actions can have on endangered species. For this activity, children need to research animals that became extinct because of human activities. Teachers should lead a classroom discussion to talk about some examples. After the discussion, children can be put in groups to create plans that could have saved the extinct species and plans that could save endangered species today. An extinct species or endangered species should be assigned to each group. After the groups have developed their plans, they can be presented to the rest of the class.