Lesson Plan - Crossing Over Danger

Watch a Video: Wildlife Crossings

Discuss: What is the purpose of animal crossings like the ones shown in the video?

Preview Words to Know

Project the online vocabulary slideshow and introduce the Words to Know.

• habitat 
• prey 
• biologist

Set a Purpose for Reading

Note the As You Read question, and have students identify the problem that Washington State is trying to solve.

1. Based on the article, what are some reasons a wild animal might try to cross a highway? Like the mountain lion described in the article, an animal might try to cross a highway to get prey, or food. Or, like the deer that the mountain lion is chasing, an animal might cross to escape a predator, or enemy. 

^{(RI.3.1 TEXT EVIDENCE)}

2. How did scientists in Washington State guide wildlife to use the animal crossings they built along the I-90 highway? The article states that scientists put up fencing along the highway to guide animals to the crossings. 

^{(RI.3.2 KEY DETAILS)}

3. What is the purpose of the sidebar, “Keeping Critters Safe”? The purpose is to show that the animal crossings on I-90 help small animals, like pocket gophers and pine martens, in addition to large animals. 

^{(RI.3.5 TEXT FEATURES)}

FEATURED SKILL: Making Connections 

Use the skill builder “What’s the Problem?” to have students analyze the main problem and solution described in the article. Download it as Google Slides or a PDF.

^{(RI.3.8 PROBLEM/SOLUTION)}