Evidence of animals living long ago exist in fossil records. A paleontologist takes different bone pieces and analyzes them, weighing and measuring each bone sample. The paleontologist then compares the bones to pictures of extinct animals and record their findings. Next, they guess the name of the animal that the bone came from and draw a picture of that animal.

Questions that guide paleontologists' inquiries are:
. Who was it?
. When did it live?
. What happened to it?
. Is it related to anything we know now?

Identify an animal that you want to study. Study where it lives, what it needs in order to live, what it looks like (with skin and without skin). Next go looking for its ancestors... Learn what group the animal belongs to. Try and find what the fossil relatives of the group are. Most of the groups can be found on the Internet, but sometimes you have to dig a little. Talk to the paleontologist in our virtual classroom about your animal. And as all scientists find out, as you learn more, you end up with more, not fewer questions!

You might want to look for fossil evidence. Find fossils, or pictures of fossils, bone pieces that might be related to the animal that you have chosen. Create a exhibition that demonstrates what you have learned and what you know about the animal you have studied.

TASK 2 - Authentic Representations

Our conversations and questions with the paleontologist led us to discussions about authentic representations for our animals. Through knowledge gained by these conversations students were dissatisfied with their artistic representations and felt they needed to further explore what they should look like. We used the work from the paleontologist to further develop these representations.

TASK 3 - Representing our Understanding...

Students became so passionate about their new knowledge they decided to share their journey with the community. With the teachers' assistance they set out to find a piece of literature that told a story of extinction. We discovered "The Last Wolf of Ireland." Through fortunate connections , students were able to work with the author, Elone Malterre. She helped us to storyboard the novel and create a script that would tell their story. The students decided this script needed to be told in the form of a movie. Kelly McKie Grenier and Angela Bewick from the Galileo Educational Network stepped in to help make this movie possible.