A Day in the Life of a Rhino
Learning Sequence
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Introduction
In this project, students will explore local wildlife, inspired by the rhino documentary. They’ll build knowledge through key vocabulary, texts, and discussion, then conduct a habitat survey to choose an animal or insect to research in depth.
Through sketches, diagrams, and research, they’ll develop scientific observation, critical thinking, and communication skills. Creating infographics and short documentaries builds digital literacy, storytelling, and creativity, while the film festival develops collaboration and global citizenship.
Focus on guiding students to see the connection between knowledge and action: understanding ecosystems, recognising threats, and finding ways to protect their chosen species.
Get ready for an exciting adventure as we step into the wild world of nature! This project is all about discovering the incredible animals and insects that live around us — from the smallest ant to the birds flying above our heads. Every creature has its own story, and you will be the explorers who uncover it.
First, you’ll watch a documentary to spark your curiosity and learn how real scientists and filmmakers study wildlife. Then it’s your turn to head outside and investigate your local environment. You’ll carry out a habitat survey, observe living things, and choose one creature that inspires you.
You’ll get to know your chosen animal or insect by sketching, researching, and recording fascinating facts. Using this knowledge, you’ll design an infographic to teach others about it. After that, you’ll plan and film a two-minute nature documentary, taking your audience on an adventure to meet your creature, discover its daily life, and understand the threats it faces.
We’ll end with a Nature Film Festival, sharing your documentaries with the school and raising money for a charity that protects the environment. Finally, your films will be uploaded to the Dear World Library, inspiring children everywhere.
Weekly Keywords
Introduce the keyword list for the week and remind students that these words will be important in building their understanding of the project. Choose from the following activities, repeating or extending them as needed:
Copy the words into a vocabulary book for reference.
Write each word into a sentence, underlining the keyword in red.
Arrange the words in alphabetical order.
Use dictionaries to define the words and record the meanings.
Represent each word with a drawing or symbol, then play a class guessing game.
Write a short paragraph using all the keywords.
Display the words on a classroom vocabulary wall.
Use a thesaurus to find synonyms and create a synonym list.
These words will help you in this week’s lesson. You may already know some of them, but practising will help you remember and use them correctly.
First, read through each word carefully. Then, try to write a simple definition in your own words. An example has been completed for you.
You can record these in your books, add a matching picture, or complete the task card provided.
Quote of the week - Jane Goodall
Introduce Jane Goodall as a pioneering primatologist and conservationist. Read the quote together and invite students to reflect on its meaning. Encourage them to link the idea of “individual efforts” to their own project work and how their small actions can combine to make a big impact.
Suggested activities:
Pair discussions about how one small action can help the planet
Written reflections or drawings showing how they can contribute
Sharing examples of collective action (school garden, recycling, fundraising)
Displaying responses on a “Wall of Change” in the classroom
This week we will look at an inspirational quote from a famous naturalist or environmentalist. These quotes will help us think deeply about nature and the important role we play in protecting it.
First, read the quote aloud together as a class. Then, talk with a partner or small group about what you think it means. Finally, write your own short response in your book. You can explain what the quote means to you, draw a picture to match, or give an example of how it connects to the world around you.
This Week’s Quote
“One individual cannot possibly make a difference, alone. It is individual efforts, collectively, that makes a noticeable difference – all the difference in the world.” – Jane Goodall
Read and Discuss - Weekly Comprehension
In this comprehension task, students build skills in reading for detail, note-taking, and summarising. Working in pairs or groups, they share ideas, practise speaking and listening, and define keywords to strengthen vocabulary.
Encourage them to highlight key points, sketch or note facts, and then attempt the comprehension questions. After checking answers, hold a short class discussion to compare responses. This develops critical thinking, collaboration, and awareness of conservation and endangered species.
Begin by reading the information on the rhino task card carefully with a partner, a group, or a friend. As you read, take some notes in your book to help you remember the details. You might want to write down key facts or even draw a quick sketch to show what you’ve learned.
Once you feel confident that you understand the information, move on to the comprehension questions. Work through them at your own pace, using your notes to help you.
When you have finished, check your answers against the answer sheet provided below.
Finally, come together with your partner or group for a short discussion about what you have learned. Think about why rhinos are important, the challenges they face, and how people can help protect them.
Record Your Answers
In this activity, students practise collaborative research, note-taking, and communication skills. Working in pairs or groups, they use the task card to extract key information about rhinoceroses, focusing on habitat, diet, behaviour, and threats.
Encourage them to discuss, compare notes, and record findings clearly. Sharing their answers with the class strengthens speaking and listening skills while deepening understanding of conservation. The task develops curiosity, critical thinking, and an appreciation for protecting endangered species.
Rhinoceroses are often thought of as huge, heavy animals that simply wander the jungle. But during this activity, we want you to uncover the hidden secrets that make these creatures so fascinating and important to their ecosystem.
Working with a partner or a small group of research friends, your task is to use the rhino task card provided and gather the most interesting facts about their habitat, diet, behaviour, and threats.
Once you have collected these details, record your answers on the task card opposite. Be ready to share your findings with your class and help others see why the rhinoceros is such a remarkable and important animal to protect.
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Biodiversity Survey – What Creatures Live Nearby?
This activity develops observation, recording, and classification skills. Guide students to select a location (home, school, park, garden) and spend up to one hour investigating. Encourage them to record all animals and insects spotted, including descriptions and sketches.
Remind students to explore carefully and safely, checking different microhabitats such as trees, grass, soil, or under logs. The focus is on building curiosity, attentiveness, and awareness of biodiversity in everyday environments while preparing for their chosen focus creature.
For this task, you will become a wildlife investigator. Your job is to choose a place to explore, such as your school grounds, your back garden, your walk home from school, or even a local park at the weekend with your family.
Spend up to one hour looking carefully for insects, birds, and animals. Record everything you see: write the names (or descriptions if you don’t know), make simple sketches, and note where you found them. Try to look closely — under leaves, in the grass, or high in the trees, but do not disturb them.
Keep your notes safe, because you will use them to choose one creature to study in more detail later on.
Make Your Choice – Which Creature Will You Focus On?
This activity develops decision-making, curiosity, and reflective thinking. Encourage students to review their survey results and select a creature that excites their interest. Guide them to justify their choice in writing, focusing on personal curiosity rather than complexity.
Support them if they cannot identify the exact name by allowing descriptive labels. The goal is to build ownership, motivation, and a sense of responsibility for researching and presenting their chosen creature.
Now that you have completed your survey, it’s time to choose the creature you want to study in more detail. Look back over your notes and think about which animal or insect stood out to you the most.
Ask yourself:
Which creature do I find most interesting or unusual?
Which one made me curious to learn more?
Which one would make a great subject for a mini documentary?
Once you’ve decided, record the name (or description) of your chosen creature in your book and explain in a few sentences why you chose it. This will be the focus of your project.
Getting to Know Your Creature – Create a Page of Detailed Sketches and Diagrams
This task develops observation, attention to detail, and scientific drawing skills. Encourage students to look closely at their chosen creature, using real-life observation where possible and reference images or books if needed.
Guide them to label key features clearly and include short notes to explain function or purpose. Focus on accuracy over artistic perfection. Suggested extension: add diagrams of the creature’s habitat, diet, or life cycle to deepen understanding.
It’s time to become an expert on your chosen creature. Open a fresh page in your book and create a collection of detailed sketches and diagrams.
Draw your creature from different angles, show important body parts, and add labels to explain what you see.
You might also include small diagrams of its habitat, food, or life cycle. Add short notes beside your drawings to record key facts you discover
Create a Resource All About Your Creature
This activity develops creativity, communication, and the ability to adapt knowledge for different audiences. Encourage students to choose a format that excites them, whether visual, artistic, or practical. Emphasise the purpose: to teach others and pass on what they’ve learned.
Suggested extensions include presenting resources to younger classes, sharing them at assemblies, or displaying them in the school. Focus on clarity of information, accuracy of facts, and audience engagement over artistic skill.
Now it’s time to share your knowledge in a creative way. You can choose from hundreds of possibilities: build a model, draw a diagram, paint a picture, make a poster, design a fact sheet, or create something completely original.
I have created a awareness poster about my butterfly but you can choose anything you wish. Remember the idea is to spread awareness about your chosen creature and then use it to share your new knowledge.
The goal is not just to show what you know or impress your teacher or friends, but to use your resource to teach someone else — maybe your grandma, a younger class, or even another school.
Animal Recount - Through the Eyes of an Animal
In this lesson, students step into the perspective of their chosen animal, imagining what it would be like to live as that creature for a full day. By researching its daily routines—feeding, movement, and dangers—they write a detailed recount in the first person.
This activity nurtures imagination and empathy, as children learn to see the world through another life form, while also strengthening key literacy skills in sequencing, descriptive writing, and reflective storytelling.
Now that you’ve chosen the animal you want to focus on, we’d like you to imagine what it would be like to live inside the body of that creature for 24 hours.
You’ll need to research:
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What time your animal wakes up.
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Where it hunts or looks for food.
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How it travels from place to place.
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What predators or dangers it must avoid during the day.
Using this information, write a detailed recount as if you are living the life of your chosen animal. Take a look at my example, A Day in the Life of a Rhinoceros, to guide you, and then use the task card to create your own version.
Who knows, you might even decide to expand it into a full narrative story!
Make a 2-Minute Documentary About Your Creature
This activity develops storytelling, digital literacy, and presentation skills. Support students to script a short introduction, organise their research into clear sections, and practise narration. Encourage creativity in filming: using real footage, drawings, models, or animations.
Remind them that clarity and structure matter more than technical perfection. Pair work can build confidence, while showing examples of short documentaries can provide inspiration. Focus on communication, accuracy, and raising awareness about conservation.
Think back to the rhino documentary we watched. Remember how it felt like a journey, full of excitement, problems to solve, and finally the big discovery? Your film should feel the same.
Plan your documentary as an adventure: build anticipation at the start, take your audience searching, and then reveal your creature with interesting facts and messages about protecting it.Here are soem things to include:
Introduce your animal or insect.
Take your audience on an adventure to discover it in its habitat.
Share interesting facts about how it lives.
Explain the threats it faces and how we can protect it.
Keep your film to around two minutes, and think about using clear narration, images, or video clips.
You can use a mobile device or iPad to capture your scenes. Simple edits can be made afterwards, and if you want to add titles, music, or special effects, try using Canva or another editing tool.
Hold a School Nature Film Night!
This activity develops event planning, presentation, and collaboration skills. Guide students in preparing their films for an audience and in organising the festival setup (program, posters, or refreshments). Encourage them to take ownership, from introducing films to raising funds for charity.
Highlight the importance of sharing their learning with a real audience to build confidence and global citizenship. Extension: invite local community members or younger classes to attend, increasing impact and awareness.
It’s time to celebrate your hard work. Together as a class, you will host a Nature Film Festival in your school. Each group will show their 2-minute documentary to an audience of students, teachers, and families.
You can sell tickets, popcorn, or snacks to raise money for an environmental charity of your choice. Remember: this is your chance to inspire others to care about nature while showing off your creativity and learning.
Use the poster template opposite to design your very own poster to attract parents a families to come along to see your show!
The more people come, the more they will know about nature and more money you can raise for charity!
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Upload Your Films to Upschool – Dear World Library
This task develops digital literacy, global citizenship, and a sense of agency. Support students with the technical steps of uploading their films and remind them of online safety guidelines.
Emphasise the power of sharing their voice with a worldwide audience and the value of contributing to collective knowledge. Encourage them to write a short description or reflection to accompany their film. Focus on pride, purpose, and connection beyond the classroom
Your films are not just for your school — they are for the world! Once your documentaries are finished, you will upload them to Upschool’s Dear World Library.
This is a global collection of student voices, ideas, and actions. By adding your film, you will inspire children, teachers, and families all over the world to learn about your creature and think about how they can help protect nature too.
If your school does not have a Dear World Library - Simply ask your teacher
Take the Quiz and Receive Your Certificate
This final step develops reflection, recall, and self-assessment skills. The quiz consolidates students’ knowledge of habitats, threats, and conservation while rewarding effort with certification. Encourage children to see the certificate as a symbol of their growth, not just a test result.
Consider revising key terms beforehand, supporting those who need extra help, and celebrating everyone’s achievement. Extension: invite students to share one key thing they’ve learned beyond the quiz to reinforce lasting understanding.
You have worked so hard and expanded your knowledge of the natural world — especially about the creatures that live around us and the importance of protecting them. To celebrate your learning, you will now complete a short quiz on the wonderful world of rhinos
If you achieve 80% or more, you will proudly receive your certificate. This is a way of recognizing all the effort, curiosity, and creativity you have shown throughout this project.
