The Jeff Corwin Experience
Turtles
Teacher’s Guide
Grade Level: K–8
Curriculum Focus: Life Science
Lesson Duration: Two class periods
Program Description
Whether terrestrial, freshwater, or marine, these reptiles all have a bony shell and a toothless horny
beak. Examine several species of turtles in their natural habitats.
Video Index
Segment 1: The Amazon River Basin (3 min.)
Description
Explore the Amazon River Basin and discover an unusual turtle—the matamata. Find out how it
takes in food and blends into its environment.
Pre-viewing question
What do you know about turtles?
Answer: Answers may include that turtles are reptiles and live near water.
Post-viewing question
Why is camouflage important for the matamata?
Answer: The matamata’s coloring blends into its surroundings, which helps it hide from predators.
Segment 2: The Galápagos Islands (4 min.)
Description
Visit the Darwin Center on the Galápagos Islands and learn about the efforts save the blue hill
tortoise.
Pre-viewing question
Why should the blue hill tortoise be protected?
Answer: Answers may include that human activity has diminished their numbers.
Post-viewing question
Why was rehabilitation necessary for one tortoise?
Answer: The animal was injured during a volcanic eruption.
The Jeff Corwin Experience
Turtles
Teacher’s Guide
Segment 3: California (2 min.)
Description
Discover how the desert tortoise in California survives in the hot climate, particularly how it
conserves water.
Pre-viewing question
What do you think is the biggest challenge of the desert tortoise?
Answer: Answers may include that an animal with such a name must cope with the heat and little
water in a desert climate.
Post-viewing question
How does the desert tortoise conserve water?
Answer: To avoid the intense heat, the animal digs an underground burrow where it spends much
of its time.
Segment 4:New York City (2 min.)
Description
Observe Jeff travel with rescue workers in New York City who are trying to save a stranded
diamondback terrapin. Find out why this turtle could not survive for long in this environment.
Pre-viewing question
What kind of environment do turtles need to survive?
Answer: Answers may include that turtles need to be near water.
Post-viewing question
How long could the diamondback terrapin have survived in the city?
Answer: It may have been able to survive for about one month.
Segment 5: Guyana (5 min.)
Description
Journey to the Guyana Shield, one of the world’s most pristine rain forests, to take a close look at
the giant river tortoise, the largest freshwater turtle.
Pre-viewing question
Would turtles have a difficult time surviving in Guyana?
Answer: Answers may include that such an untouched area would make survival easier than a
place with a lot of human activity.
Post-viewing question
Why did people hunt the giant river tortoise?
Answer: Hunters wanted the giant river tortoise for its meat and fat, which was used as fuel. The
invention of kerosene helped save this animal from extinction.
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The Jeff Corwin Experience
Turtles
Teacher’s Guide
3
Segment 6: Zanzibar (4 min.)
Description
Meet the aldabra turtle in Zanzibar, and take a close look at its elephant-like legs, which support its
massive body.
Pre-viewing question
Why would scientists study aldabra turtles?
Answer: Answers may include that these because the animals are extremely rare, the more
scientists know about them, the easier it will be to protect them.
Post-viewing question
How are scientists studying the aldabra turtles?
Answer: Scientists are tagging the turtles with microchips to learn more about their habits.
Segment 7: Costa Rica (9 min.)
Description
Observe the arribada, when the olive ridley turtles lay their eggs on the beach. Take a close look at
the turtles burying their eggs in the sand.
Pre-viewing question
Why might olive ridley turtles lay their eggs on the beach?
Answer: Answers may include that the beach is a relatively safe place to bury the eggs until they
hatch.
Post-viewing question
Why do the turtle eggs have a rubbery outer shell?
Answer: The rubbery texture allows eggs to bounce instead of break when they are laid in the nest.
Lesson Plan
Student Objectives
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View the program The Jeff Corwin Experience: Turtles.
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Work with a partner to create a profile for a turtle featured in the program.
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Share the profiles and develop an understanding of similarities and differences of turtles.
Materials
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The Jeff Corwin Experience: Turtles video
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Computer(s) with Internet access
Published by Discovery Education. © 2005. All rights reserved.
The Jeff Corwin Experience
Turtles
Teacher’s Guide
4
Procedures
1. Begin the lesson by asking students to view the program The Jeff Corwin Experience: Turtles. Ask
students to choose a favorite turtle, if possible, as they watch the program.
2. After students have finished watching the program, tell them that they will work with a partner
to create a profile sheet for their favorite turtle. Try to have all seven turtles in the program
represented.
3. Tell students that the profile sheets should include the following points:
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•
•
•
•
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name of turtle
type of animal
where it lives
what it eats
unique physical features
unique habits
4. Give students time in class to work on their profile sheets. They should refer to the program for
the information to complete their profile sheets. If students finish early, they can talk to other
student pairs to compare and contrast what they learned about their turtles.
5. During the next class period, ask students to present their work. Post the profile sheets in the
room so visitors can learn about different turtles.
6. Conclude the lesson by asking students what characteristics all turtles share. Make sure that
students know that all turtles are reptiles that have a large outer shell, and that they live in every
habitat on Earth. Their unique features, such as the coloring of the desert tortoise, are adaptations
that help them survive in their natural environments.
Assessment
Use the following three-point rubric to evaluate students’ work during this lesson.
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3 points: Students worked well with their partners in completing the profile sheet; filled out
the sheet thoroughly and carefully; and were highly engaged in class discussions about the
project.
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2 points: Students worked somewhat well with their partners in completing the profile
sheet; filled out the sheet adequately; and participated in class discussions about the project.
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1 point: Students did not work well with their partners in completing the profile sheet; did
not complete the sheet; and participated minimally in class discussions.
Vocabulary
Published by Discovery Education. © 2005. All rights reserved.
The Jeff Corwin Experience
Turtles
Teacher’s Guide
adaptation
Definition: A body structure or behavior that helps an animal survive in its environment
Context: Turtles live everywhere in the world, and each has developed adaptations, such as
camouflage or unique structures for eating, that help them survive.
aldabra turtle
Definition: A large turtle with elephantine legs found in Zanzibar
Context: The aldabra turtle is extremely rare, so scientists are tracking it with microchips to
develop a deeper understanding of its behavior.
blue hill tortoise
Definition: A turtle from the Galápagos Islands that spends most of its life on land
Context: The blue hill tortoise stores water in its bladder o it can live in dry climates.
desert tortoise
Definition: A land turtle that lives in the California desert and has developed adaptations that
allow it to survive in a harsh climate
Context: The desert tortoise spends much of its time underground to avoid high desert heat.
diamondback terrapin
Definition: A turtle species that must live near water to survive
Context: Rescue workers in New York City found a diamondback terrapin just in time to return
it to the water safely.
giant river tortoise
Definition: A large turtle that lives in freshwater and in the pristine rain forest of Guyana
Context: The giant river tortoise is the world’s largest freshwater turtle.
matamata
Definition: An unusual turtle species in the Amazon River basin whose coloring blends in with
its surroundings
Context: The matamata has a vacuum-like mouth that can suck up food that passes by.
olive ridley turtle
Definition: A turtle in Costa Rica that lays its eggs during the annual arribada
Context: Every year olive ridley turtles make their way to the beaches of Costa Rica to lay their
eggs and bury them in the sand.
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The Jeff Corwin Experience
Turtles
Teacher’s Guide
6
Academic Standards
National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences provides guidelines for teaching science in grades K–12 to
promote scientific literacy. To view the standards, visit this Web site:
http://books.nap.edu/html/nses/html/overview.html#content.
This lesson plan addresses the following science standards:
Grades K-4
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Life Science: Organisms and environments
Grades 5-8
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Life Science: Populations and ecosystems; Diversity and adaptations of organisms
Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL)
McREL’s Content Knowledge: A Compendium of Standards and Benchmarks for K-12 Education
addresses 14 content areas. To view the standards and benchmarks, visit
http://www.mcrel.org/compendium/browse.asp.
This lesson plan addresses the following national standards:
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Life Science—Understands the relationships among organisms in their physical
environment
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Language Arts—Viewing: Uses viewing skills and strategies to understand and interpret
visual media; Writing: Gathers and uses information for research purposes
Support Materials
Develop custom worksheets, educational puzzles, online quizzes, and more with the free teaching tools
offered on the Discoveryschool.com Web site. Create and print support materials, or save them to a
Custom Classroom account for future use. To learn more, visit
•
http://school.discovery.com/teachingtools/teachingtools.html
Published by Discovery Education. © 2005. All rights reserved.