Y05W25WR Endangered Animals: Causes and Protection

Part 1

How to Write

Informative – Informative article

An informative article engages a curious reader and builds their knowledge of a topic. It is written for a general or subject-area audience who wants to learn something interesting and genuinely understand it. The tone is engaging and authoritative — more accessible than a report, but still well-grounded and clear.

  • Ideas & content: Select information that is interesting and informative — facts that make the reader think as well as understand. Organise your material so it builds naturally from one idea to the next.
  • Structure & cohesion: Open with something that draws the reader in. Develop your main ideas in a logical order and close with a strong final point. Use linking language to hold the article together.
  • Voice & audience: Write with confidence and a sense of enthusiasm for the subject. Keep the tone clear and accessible — not overly academic, but not casual either.
  • Language choices: Use subject-specific vocabulary and explain any technical terms. Vary sentence length to keep the reader engaged. Write mainly in the present tense for facts.
  • Conventions: Spell all proper nouns and technical terms accurately. Use punctuation to pace the article and guide the reader.

Common pitfalls: Listing facts without shaping them into a clear narrative — decide what is most interesting and structure the article around that. Writing in a flat, list-like style throughout, which loses the reader’s interest.

Part 2

Your Task Plan for Today

The brief

Question: Write the article for the magazine. You have space for an introduction and three body paragraphs. Choose and arrange the facts that best explain the main causes of endangerment and give a sense of what is being done. Write in a way that is informative and genuinely engaging for your audience.

Stimulus: A wildlife conservation group is producing a student magazine. They want an informative article explaining why Australian animals are under threat and what is being done about it. The audience is students aged 10 to 12.

Task Analysis: Choose four or five facts that best explain why animals are endangered and what helps them. Organise them clearly. Write so that other students care about these animals and understand what can help them.

Quick Plan

Before you write, plan:

  • Why animals are in danger — habitat loss, introduced animals, climate change
  • Which animals — give one or two examples
  • What is being done — conservation programs, protected areas, breeding programs
  • Why it matters — why should students care?

Define the key concept

Open simply: ‘Many Australian animals are in danger of disappearing forever. Here is why and what we can do.’ Show that this is important.

Paragraph focus

Each paragraph has one idea. One about causes. One about examples. One about solutions. Keep them clear and separate.

Tone & voice

Write like you care about these animals. You do. Sound interested, not sad or scary. Help other students see why animals matter and what they can do.