Write an Animal Report

Many schools require students write reports on animals as a standard part of the curriculum. There are literally thousands of different types of animals that you can write about. Fortunately, writing a report about animals requires only a few simple guidelines.

Steps

Researching Your Animal

  1. Decide what animal you will write about. You'll be spending a lot of time thinking about the animal you select, so make sure you choose one that you will enjoy! If your teacher has given you a range of animals to choose from, pick one that you feel interested in.[1]
    • Choose an animal about which you can find a good deal of information.
    • Read as much about the animal as you can, either online or in books and other resources. Encyclopedias are a great resource for learning about animals.
  2. Research topics related to animal's name and appearance. Your report should include facts about your animal's name. Most animals have a Latin name in addition to a more common name. Sometimes an animal is known by one name in English, and other names in other languages. Include this information in your report.[2]
    • Describing what your animal looks like will be an important part of your report. You might want to know if your animal changes appearance over the course of its lifetime. Does the male look different than the female? If so, how?
    • Include details about how the animal's appearance might be an adaptation to its environment. For example, polar bears developed white fur because they live on glaciers. Now that glaciers are melting, the bears' camouflage is losing its effectiveness.
  3. Know animal's lifespan and breeding pattern. Knowing how long your animal tends to live under natural conditions will be good to include in your report. Whether the animal lives for hundreds of years (like a giant tortoise) or has a lifespan of only 24 hours (like the mayfly), this fact will be important to include.
    • Including information on the breeding habits of your animal will be part of showing your understanding. Does your animal have a mating season? If so, when is it?
    • Perhaps your animal reproduces by itself. Any information related to its breeding will be important to include in your report.[3]
  4. Identify animal's habitat and range. Where does your animal live? Does it move around a great deal during the course of its lifetime, or does it live in a limited range? It will help your reader to know more about your animal if you include this information in your report.[4]
    • Knowing where your animal lives might have implications for other parts of your report. For example, if your animal migrates annually from the Arctic tundra to South America, it probably requires water stops along the way. You might want to include any information about pollution in the ponds, lakes and rivers along its migration route.
    • Learning about the animal's home will help you understand the animal better.
  5. Learn about animal's diet. Is your animal a carnivore, or meat-eater? Does your animal only eat plants? Or does he eat a combination of foods, depending on what he can find.
    • Notice the way an animal's diet affects his habitat, and the other way around.
    • Is there anything surprising in the animal's diet? For instance, the Great Blue Whale is the largest mammal in the world, yet its diet is almost entirely comprised of tiny fish only 1-2 centimeters long.[5]
  6. Notice animal's behavior. What are some interesting patterns of behavior that you've learned about your animal? Does it have different behavior in different parts of its life? If your animal is most active at night, write about this. If it spends much of its life dormant (not moving), this is interesting to know.[6]
    • The behavior of your animal likely affects its habitat, living area, and eating patterns.
    • It's good to show adaptive reasons for the animal's behavior if they're known. Continue to read and research until you find as many of the answers to your questions as possible.
  7. Get to know your animal's enemies. What are your animal's predators? What animals eat or otherwise kill the animal you are researching? How have the animal's predators resulted in adaptations, such as camouflage or development of protective shells?[7]
    • A large predator in many animals' environment is mankind. Explore the ways that human activity affects your animal.
    • Is this animal in danger of extinction? If so, what has happened to make this the case?

Outlining Your Report

  1. Organize your research. By this time, you'll have gathered a lot of information about your animal. Make sure that it's all written legibly or typed so that you can read it. You'll have to make sure that you've connected the information you've gathered to the sources from which it came.[8]
    • You might use handwritten index cards to keep track of your information, or you can use computer apps or programs such as Evernote.
    • If you use index cards, you can easily sort them into topics.
    • If there are research facts that don't easily fit into topics, set them aside. When you're done, return to this pile. Carefully go through the stack, and see if there is anything that they have in common. If not, it's okay to have a topic you can label for yourself as "Etc."
  2. Decide what to focus on. Your report may be a generalized report that includes many different aspects about the animal. You can also write a more focused report, looking at particular aspects of your animal's life, habitat, breeding patterns, possible extinction, etc.[9]
    • Your teacher's assignment will likely supply more information on how to focus your paper.
    • No matter what sort of focus you bring to your report, it should begin with an introduction to your animal. The appearance and name should be in the introduction.
  3. Choose what sort of paper you will write. Think about the kind of class you're in. Are you writing your animal report for a general science class? If so, you may want to keep your report to an descriptive paper about your animal. If you're writing for a class in environmental science, you probably want to include more information about the threats to the animals' habitat or changes in environment. You may wish to write an analysis essay, a persuasive paper, or an argumentative essay.
    • For any style of writing, you'll need to include your research results. However, the research that you include may vary depending on the way in which you organize your paper.
    • Consider using a graphic organizer to help you.[10]
  4. Create an outline. Once you've completed your initial organization of research, you're ready to make an outline of your paper. All reports should include an introduction, followed by the report body, and closed with a brief summary and conclusion. Whether your animal report is 5-7 paragraphs (the standard length for learning report-writing) or 20 pages (an undergraduate thesis), this format should apply.
    • A topic outline doesn't have to be made up of complete sentences, but your intentions should be easily understandable.
    • Use your sorted research notes to help you write your outline. For example, if you have a topic called "Habitat" for your animal, make notes about the habitat location, environmental needs, environmental threats, and the way the animal interacts with its habitat for your outline.
  5. Have someone check your outline. Having a teacher, a parent, or a friend check your outline will often help you know if you've gone off track before you start the task of writing your report. If you need more information on how to make an outline, check with your teacher.[11]
    • You may wish to include your thesis sentence in your outline. A thesis sentence is like a topic sentence for your animal report. It sums up your idea about the full report.
    • Make sure that your proofreader can tell the purpose of your report. What were the words that the teacher used in her assignment? Make sure your report is on the right topic.
    • Does your outline include an introduction, a body, and a closing? This is a good time to check and make sure all your report's parts are present.

Writing Your Report

  1. Write a rough draft of your report. Your first draft, or "rough draft" of your final report is not meant to be perfect. Just do the best you can at including all the information you found about your animal when doing your research. Write one sentence at a time, and follow your outline.[12]
    • Make sure your paper is the right length. If you're supposed to turn in a 10-page paper, your rough draft should be about that long.
    • Keep your notes organized as you write. Make sure that you note all sources.
  2. Check your spelling. When your draft is complete, go back through and check your spelling. If you have spellcheck on your computer, turn this on and check all words that are highlighted as "misspelled".[13]
    • Notice that your word may need to be added to your word program's dictionary if it doesn't recognize it. Sometimes words that appear misspelled to your computer are actually spelled correctly.
    • Look for habitually misspelled words. Everyone has certain words that she regularly misspells. If you know your own habits, you'll be more likely to avoid repeating your errors.
  3. Correct your grammar. Your computer's spellcheck doesn't check for grammar or parts of speech. When words have multiple spellings, such as they're, their or there, you'll need to identify the correct word by grammatical context.[14]
    • Read your paper aloud. You'll often notice out-of-place words or typos when reading aloud.
    • Make sure you've left enough time to carefully go through your paper before turning it in.
  4. Write your final version. Writing your final draft means going back and rewriting the rough draft of your paper, making all the changes in spelling and grammar that you've noticed. Follow the rules of good writing. Use active verbs, and don't make your sentences too long.[15]
    • Watch for fragment sentences, run-on sentences, and other common errors of writing.
    • Remember the tip of reading out loud. If you're not sure if a sentence is good or not, read it out loud. Your ear may be able to tell you what your eye can't.
    • Take a break as you need to.
  5. Include your sources and references. Your sources and references will all be available from your research notes. Don't forget to transfer these references to your final paper. Giving credit to your research sources is an important part of completing your animal report.[16]
    • If you are at a university, your teacher may want you to use a certain kind of citation, such as Chicago or MLA format. Make sure you know what's expected from your teacher.
    • If you aren't expected to use any particular format, just make sure that you're including the author's name, the title of the source you are using, and the date it was published.
  6. Proofread your final report. Once you've completed the writing, take a break to rest your eyes. Then, return and proofread to make sure that you've written the best paper you can write.[17]
    • Have you included the basics? Is your name on the report? If your teacher requires page numbers, are they included? Is your report legible?
    • Try to avoid proofreading at the very last minute before you must turn in your paper. Leave yourself time to make corrections if necessary.
    • Have a friend or your parent read it for you, if you have time. Sometimes another person will see errors you've missed.

Tips

  • Be creative. Don't be afraid to think outside of the box.
  • Ask your teacher questions as you work. She'll be able to help you.

Warnings

  • Be careful not to copy sentences straight from your reading. This is plagiarizing, and it's against the law.
  • Make sure you're following your teacher's directions for writing your report. This article provides only general directions. Individual assignments may vary.

Related Articles

References

  1. ↑ http://www.enchantedlearning.com/report/animal/
  2. ↑ http://www.enchantedlearning.com/report/animal/
  3. ↑ http://www.enchantedlearning.com/report/animal/
  4. ↑ http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/3268
  5. ↑ http://www.whalefacts.org/what-do-blue-whales-eat/
  6. ↑ http://www.enchantedlearning.com/report/animal/
  7. ↑ http://www.enchantedlearning.com/report/animal/
  8. ↑ http://beyondpenguins.ehe.osu.edu/issue/polar-plants/organizing-research-reports
  9. ↑ http://beyondpenguins.ehe.osu.edu/issue/polar-plants/organizing-research-reports
  10. ↑ http://www.enchantedlearning.com/graphicorganizers/animalrpt/
  11. ↑ http://www.umuc.edu/writingcenter/writingresources/prewriting_outlining.cfm
  12. ↑ http://www.enchantedlearning.com/report/animal/
  13. ↑ http://www.enchantedlearning.com/report/animal/
  14. ↑ https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/561/1/
  15. ↑ https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/561/02/
  16. ↑ https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/561/1/
  17. ↑ https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/561/04/
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