Big Cats & Wild Dogs by Rhonda Klevansky and Dr. Jen Green

Ever wonder what, exactly, is the difference between a leopard and a jaguar? Or a puma and a cheetah? Where do they live? What do they eat? How fast do they run? All of these questions and more are answered in this amazing book of facts about large cats and wild dogs. Filled with many color photographs and plenty of accompanying text, the first half is dedicated to the world of carniverous canines and the second half is all about wolves and other wild dogs. Both subjects are very popular with our students, making the book a perfect choice for supplementing inquiry projects. Also use it as a follow-up to answer the many questions students will be asking after viewing David Attenborough’s Life of Mammals: Meat Eaters.

Klevansky, Rhonda and Dr. Jen Green. Big Cats & Wild Dogs. London: Anness Publishing, 2004.

The Life of Mammals hosted by David Attenborough

Who doesn’t enjoy watching real, vivid, and up-close footage of animals in the wild? David Attenborough, veteran wild-life expert, hosts and narrates each segment on this DVD collection of four discs, roughly 500 total minutes of mammals. Each disc is further broken down into chapters of mammal-types, making it ideal for showing short bits to a class at a time. By far, most popular with students I have watched it with is the Meat Eaters chapter, where lions and tigers and other big beasts hunt their prey with breakneck speed and ferocity, but students are also riveted to the screen while watching the less obvious chapters on Chisellers (squirrels, marmots, beavers, etc.), Opportunists (hyenas, prairie doges, etc.), Return to the Water (whales, dolphins, seals, etc.) and the others. Like teens everywhere, presumably, our students are fascinated by animals, especially wild ones roaming in places where they have never been. This collection is a perfect tool for beginning research and inquiry projects because students naturally ask many questions while watching it. These questions, which are authentic and organic, make their research all the more valuable. ELA teachers may also use this collection for writing prompts, both creative and non-fiction.