PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

Unfortunately there is a lot of animal cruelty in the world.

The biggest topic on animal cruelty at the moment is about the killing of big game animals. Sadly, a lion, named Cecil by the locals in Zimbabwe, was shot and killed by a a US citizen. 

Focus: Students will learn about the animal cruelty rates in these multiple countries. I would like them to use two countries (of my choosing) and the United States to research. Out of the countries chosen, I would like to collaborate with one, if possible, on this issue. 

Involving others: I would like to collaborate with other schools across the country and the world. Many times we are only given information about the United States. I would like my students to be exposed to issues of animal cruelty in other countries, like Cecil in Africa. 

Guest Speaker:  Many celebrities have spoken out about animal cruelty. One that is very commonly seen is Sara Mclachlan, in her famous ASPCA commercial. However, John Orlandini is also a famous speaker on behalf of animal cruelty, for the last 25 years. I would like to use either one of those for the guest speaker in this project. If possible, I would chose one of them and then another video conference with a speaker from a country, decided by the students, to discuss the ongoing problem of animal cruelty. 

A link I found about John Orlandini available for speaking engagements (http://wsav.membercenter.worldnow.com/story/293282...

Activity: Students will be given an assignment to research the rate of animal cruelty in two countries (of my choice) and the United States. They are to develop questions they would like to ask Sarah/John and the speaker of a country of my choice. These questions must yield informative responses. I would like the students to stray from asking yes or no questions. 

Follow up: After the conference with the guest speaker(s), I will ask the students to create a presentation on what they learned from them. This will be created with either Prezi, Thinglink or Glogster. I want the students to include two main questions that were answered by the speaker(s) and their responses. I would like them to include images and/or videos of the topic we are discussing. Also, students will pretend they are an advocate against animal cruelty and develop an idea on how they can help stop it.