1. Teacher Guide This lesson is designed to teach kids to ask a critical thinking question that you can’t just put into a search box to solve. To do that, we encourage them with smaller questions that search can help them answer. Make sure that you read the notes for each slide: they not only give you teaching tips but also provide answers and hints so you can help the kids if they are having trouble. Remember, you can always send feedback to the Bing in the Classroom team at BingInTheClassroom@Microsoft.com. You can learn more about the program at bing.com/classroom and follow the daily lessons on the Microsoft Educator Network. BingInTheClassroom@Microsoft.combing.com/classroomMicrosoft Educator Network Want to extend today’s lesson? Consider using Skype in the Classroom to arrange for your class to chat with another class in today’s location, take a Skype lesson on today’s topic, or invite a guest speaker to expand on today’s subject. And if you are using Windows 8, the panoramas in the MSN Travel App are great teaching tools. We have thousands of other education apps available on Windows here. Skype in the Classroom another class take a Skype lesson invite a guest speaker MSN Travel App here Nell Bang-Jensen is a teacher and theater artist living in Philadelphia, PA. Her passion for arts education has led her to a variety of roles including developing curriculum for Philadelphia Young Playwrights and teaching at numerous theaters and schools around the city. She works with playwrights from ages four to ninety on developing new work and is especially interested in alternative literacies and theater for social change. A graduate of Swarthmore College, she currently works in the Artistic Department of the Wilma Theater and, in addition to teaching, is a freelance actor and dramaturg. In 2011, Nell was named a Thomas J. Watson Fellow and spent her fellowship year traveling to seven countries studying how people get their names. This lesson is designed to teach the Common Core State Standard: Reading—Informational Text CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.3CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.3 Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.5CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.5 Describe the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in a text or part of a text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.9CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.9 Integrate information from two texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.

2. © Paul Souders/Aurora Photos Just as long necks are an advantage for some animals (like this African antelope), do you think a short neck could ever give an animal an advantage as well? Why or why not?

3. Though sometimes called “Waller’s gazelle” this African antelope is better known by the common name “gerenuk.” Unlike sturdy impalas, the gerenuk stands on spindly legs and sports a neck that looks like it’s preparing to audition for the role of a giraffe. (In fact, it’s also sometimes called the “giraffe-necked antelope.”) So why the long neck? It gives them the same advantage that giraffes have. The gerenuk can reach the leaves of acacias and other woody trees in the sparse forests of the African Horn and African Great Lakes region that make up its habitat. To eat from the high branches, a gerenuk stands on its hind legs, stretching up in a long vertical pose, nibbling greenery from the trees. Just as long necks are an advantage for some animals (like this African antelope), do you think a short neck could ever give an animal an advantage as well? Why or why not?

4. 1 Web Search What do animals (like the giraffe or this African antelope) do with their long necks? 2 Web Search Why have animals (like the giraffe or this African antelope) evolved to have long necks? 3 Web Search What is natural selection? 4 Web Search/Thi nking How does competition play a role in natural selection? If the leaves that giraffes can eat could be easily found high in the air and close to the ground, how might giraffes have evolved differently? 5 Web Search/Thi nking Some people believe giraffes’ long necks help them fight with each other. Can you think of an advantage that an animal with a shorter neck might have when it comes to avoiding predators? Just as long necks are an advantage for some animals (like this African antelope), do you think a short neck could ever give an animal an advantage as well? Why or why not?

5. 5 Minutes Just as long necks are an advantage for some animals (like this African antelope), do you think a short neck could ever give an animal an advantage as well? Why or why not?

6. 1 Web Search What do animals (like the giraffe or this African antelope) do with their long necks? 2 Web Search Why have animals (like the giraffe or this African antelope) evolved to have long necks? 3 Web Search What is natural selection? 4 Web Search/Thi nking How does competition play a role in natural selection? If the leaves that giraffes can eat could be easily found high in the air and close to the ground, how might giraffes have evolved differently? 5 Web Search/Thi nking Some people believe giraffes’ long necks help them fight with each other. Can you think of an advantage that an animal with a shorter neck might have when it comes to avoiding predators? Just as long necks are an advantage for some animals (like this African antelope), do you think a short neck could ever give an animal an advantage as well? Why or why not?

7. 1 Web Search What do animals (like the giraffe or this African antelope) do with their long necks? Just as long necks are an advantage for some animals (like this African antelope), do you think a short neck could ever give an animal an advantage as well? Why or why not?

8. 2 Web Search Why have animals (like the giraffe or this African antelope) evolved to have long necks? Just as long necks are an advantage for some animals (like this African antelope), do you think a short neck could ever give an animal an advantage as well? Why or why not?

9. 3 Web Search What is natural selection? Just as long necks are an advantage for some animals (like this African antelope), do you think a short neck could ever give an animal an advantage as well? Why or why not?

10. 4 Web Search/Thi nking How does competition play a role in natural selection? If the leaves that giraffes can eat could be easily found high in the air and close to the ground, how might giraffes have evolved differently? Just as long necks are an advantage for some animals (like this African antelope), do you think a short neck could ever give an animal an advantage as well? Why or why not?

11. 5 Web Search/Thi nking Some people believe giraffes’ long necks help them fight with each other. Can you think of an advantage that an animal with a shorter neck might have when it comes to avoiding predators? Just as long necks are an advantage for some animals (like this African antelope), do you think a short neck could ever give an animal an advantage as well? Why or why not?