During the 1930's, people viewed wolves as dangerous and destructive animals and sought to remove them from Yellowstone National Park. This three-part informational text takes students on a journey from the wolves removal in the 1930s to their amazing return in the 1990s and the subsequent transformation of Yellowstone's present-day ecosystem. The ecological changes after their removal were widespread and evident. An excellent lesson about the power of nature's interconnections and the cascade of events that can occur when a species is removed from an ecosystem.

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Great for teaching Language Arts OR Science!

This resource is included in the complete Ecosystems unit! Check it out!

Part One - Students read about the removal of the grey wolf from Yellowstone National Park in the 1930s. Comprehension questions and predictions are required before moving to part two.

Part Two - Students next read about the cascade of ecosystem changes after the wolves disappeared from Yellowstone. After the reading, students complete a graphic organizer regarding the changes that occurred and answer comprehension questions.

Part Three - Finally, students read about the exciting return of the grey wolf and how the ecosystem changed once again. Students then answer comprehension questions and higher-order questions at the end of the activity.

This product is NGSS and ELA CCSS aligned.

NGSS

Supports 5-LS2 and MS-LS2 - Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy and Dynamics with crosscutting concepts of cause and effect as well as systems and stems models.

ELA CCSS

Supports information text learning of key ideas and details, craft and structure as well as the integration of knowledge and ideas.