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Mystery Lesson 4
Mystery Lesson 4
Step 2: As a whole group, read the article Mystery of the Missing Giant Tortoise.
Step 3: Put class into groups of 4 and hand students materials: chart paper, clue strips in envelopes, glue stick,
markers, copy of the article
Step 4: Students will categorize the clues into groups, give the categories names, and glue them onto the chart
paper.
Step 5: Each group will create a hypothesis of what they think happened to Cecil
Step 6: All charts will be hung around the room; groups will conduct a museum walk in which they read other
groups posters and think how they are similar/different to their own ideas
Step 7: Class discussion of observations
Step 8: Provide the class with the rest of the article, Solution
Assessment:
Informal Observing, taking photos of charts, question/answer sessions
Formal Individual students will blog what he/she believes happened to Cecil citing from the resources
Technology integration: Video clip from National Geographic; projector/smart board; internet access;
kidblog.org; student devices
Differentiation: For the more advanced students, provide the students with fewer clues (take out the 5 clues
that are starred about diet and predators). Also, have them use context clues to define the suggested
vocabulary words to help with the meaning of the story. For the lower level students provide students with the
definitions of the suggested vocabulary words and provide them with a map of the Montagnas property. For the
ELL students, provide them with a map as well as the ELL version of the clues.
Resources/Materials
Article, They Mystery of the Missing Giant Tortoise
National Geographic website video Worlds Biggest Tortoise
Clue documents
Envelopes
Scissors
Projector/smart board
Chart/poster paper
Markers
Glue
Student devices w/internet access for kidblog.org
http://www.news-journalonline.com
By Dinah Voyles Pulver
Solution:
But on Monday, just as a Daytona Beach police officer arrived to investigate, Montagna was shocked to find
both tortoises in the pen together again.
It was not here, Montagna exclaimed. We had eight people searching for it.
Theres no way this tortoise could have been here yesterday without someone seeing it, he said.
Montagna suspects it was either a prank, or that whoever took the tortoise got nervous after he made it widely
known Sunday that he was furious over the tortoises disappearance.
I made a big stink yesterday, he explained.
Montagna bought the tortoises in local pet shops. According to several online guides to caring for the giant
tortoises, the fully grown tortoises can weigh more than 200 pounds and live between 50 and 150 years.
This wasnt the first time one of Montagnas tortoises went missing. He bought one 13 years ago and two more
10 years ago. About five years ago, while he lived in South Daytona, a deliveryman left a gate open and one
tortoise, Frack, escaped and was never seen again.
This time, Montagna was just glad for a happy ending.
CLUES
Tortoises such as Cecil have a top speed of around 0.3mph - around ten times slower
than the average human.
*The family has four dogs, three cats, chickens, ducks, horses and lambs on their land.
The giant dome-shaped tortoise has the longest lifespan of all vertebrates, 100-150
years.
*Tortoises are herbivores. They eat grasses, leaves of shrubs and ferns.
*Some predators of young tortoises are wild dogs, cats, rats, and pigs. Humans are
predators to adult tortoises.
*Scoots were found two days after the disappearance of Cecil 1 mile south of the
Montagnas property.
The Montagnas had tortoises in the past. About five years ago a deliveryman left a gate
open and one tortoise, Frack, escaped and was never seen again.
ELL CLUES
Cecil can go 0.3 miles in one hour
There is a stream
15 feet away
13 years before
Pavement
parking area
Enclosure
Stream