Mandarin Chinese Lesson: Giant Pandas
Lesson Plan
1 hour 30 minutesGrades9, 10, 11, 12World Languages, Chinese
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Written by Xiaomu Hu
About this lesson
In this lesson, students learn about the impact of climate change on the giant panda's habitat while practicing their interpretive language skills through an article, a video, and a game. Students make and present a poster to educate the community about giant pandas and climate change.
Inquire: Students discuss what they already know about giant pandas and examine a map that shows how the habitats of giant pandas have been changing.
Investigate: Students watch a video, read an article, and play a game to learn about giant pandas and the impact of climate change on their habitat.
Inspire: Students create posters to educate the community about steps that can be taken to protect giant pandas from extinction.
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Everything you need to teach it
- Teacher SlideshowOpen
- Student DocumentOpen
- Teacher Answer KeyOpen
- Game SlideshowOpen
- Vocabulary CardsOpen
Teaching tips
Suggestions
- This lesson can be taught in a unit about animals, climate, weather, or the environment.
- The Investigate and Inspire sections can be completed on separate days.
- The paper or digital poster activity can be spread out over several days.
- People around the world, especially children, love giant pandas, so the content is attractive to students.
- Students will feel empowered at the end of the lesson because they will feel there are actions they can take to better protect giant pandas.
Prerequisites
- This lesson is designed for students with 3 or more years of experience learning Mandarin.
- Students should be familiar with using authentic audio-visual materials or interacting with native speakers so they are used to native speakers’ speed and accent.
- Students should know how to form and answer questions.
Differentiation
- Depending on the students’ language level, teacher can choose if the slides should be in characters only or both characters and pinyin.
- The language in the article in the Investigate section can be simplified by the teacher or by using a generative artificial intelligence tool.
- More advanced students can extend the lesson by completing one of the ideas below:
- Students can divide into teams and debate: A lot of giant pandas now live at panda conservation centers instead of the wild; is this the right thing to do?
- Students can compare and contrast how giant pandas are protected in China and how endangered animals are protected in the United States.
- Materials in this lesson plan are written in simplified characters. If traditional characters are preferred, teachers can use this website to convert simplified characters to traditional.
From the scientist review
With the help of this lesson, students will gain knowledge about pandas, their habitats, and the effects of climate change on their population, and develop adaptive strategies in Mandarin to increase their resilience to future climate risk. After reviewing the lesson, it passed our credibility check for science.
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About the teacher writer
Xiaomu Hu
After getting a bachelor's degree in Computer Science and a Master's degree in Education, I started to work for a private K-12 school in Baltimore, Maryland. I love teaching, and I also enjoy running!
