English Lesson: Save the Whooping Crane

A teacher in the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District is using the endangered whooping crane as a vehicle to teach English and environmental science to gifted students.

Students in Linda Lucero’s class drew cartoon strips that explain why the bird has dwindled in recent years and chronicle efforts to increase the crane population. They also wrote letters to local newspapers, urging voters and politicians to support the National Wildlife Federation and protect endangered species.

Lucero said the project sparked avid interest among her students, who are fourth- through sixth-graders throughout the district. She attributes the success of the project to the interdisciplinary approach that allowed students to be creative and, through letter writing, play a role in saving the environment.

“Habitats of various animals are being destroyed by land development on wetlands, rain forests and local forests,” wrote Willie Lopez, 10, of Wing Lane Elementary School in Valinda.

“Pesticides such as DDT . . . are carried from other countries to ours by migrating birds. . . . One solution is that . . . all the countries join together and discuss these environmental hazards,” Willie concluded.

Amber Romero, 11, a fifth-grader at Del Valle School in La Puente, noted that 87 bird species have become extinct in the last 300 years because of lost wetlands and rain forests. In her letter, Amber also urged people to recycle.

“I feel very uncomfortable with the way people throw away paper,” Amber said. “I hope the environment in the future is a clean city. Always recycle, just help the environment.”