Mini-Lesson

Reading for Information

Mini-Lesson: Grades 4-6

Objective: Students will read a news story for specific information.

1. Tell students that scientists from around the world are going to be studying the body of a baby wooly mammoth that was found last May. Explain that scientists have many reasons for studying extinct animals. Ask: Why do you think scientists want to spend time studying the wooly mammoth? What kinds of information might they learn by examining the animal's body?

2. Pass out the latest timeforkids.com news story, A Mammoth Discovery. Tell students that it is their job to keep track of the scientists' reasons for studying the baby mammoth. Have students underline the different types of information scientists hope to learn from this research.

3. Challenge students to phrase their findings as questions that the scientists hope their study of the wooly mammoth will answer. For example: Why did the wooly mammoth become extinct? What was the earth's atmosphere like during the last Ice Age? What does the future hold for humans?