Start with one sentence
Before anything else, write one sentence that tells your reader what the animal is, where it lives and what it is known for. Fill in the blanks: "The ___ is a ___ that lives in ___ and is best known for ___." For the cheetah, it could be: "The cheetah is a big cat that lives on the grasslands of Africa and is best known as the fastest runner on land."
Everything else in your report is there to show that your first sentence is true.
Collect five facts
Most reports need the same five facts, and every animal page has them: how long the animal is, how much it weighs, how fast it can go, how long it lives, and what it eats. The numbers come first, and the last one is a menu.
Some animals have a gap. If a page says "no checked number yet", write that in your report, or choose a different fact. An honest gap is better than a guess.
Say where each fact came from
A report is only as good as its facts, so tell your reader where each one came from. On Peabody, every number has a small mark next to it. Tap it, and you see the page it was read from and the day someone checked it. In your report you can write, "According to the National Zoo's page, ..." or "The Fish and Wildlife Service says ..."
If you used more than one place, list them at the end. Our guide, Where do the numbers come from?, shows how we find ours.
Add what surprised you
Facts are the bones of a report, but the part a reader remembers is the part that surprised you. Every animal page has a few "wow" facts. Pick the one that made you say "wow", say it in your own words, and then say why it surprised you.
Print the fact card
When you have chosen your animal, print its fact card. It is a small card with a picture and the facts, and it is free to print. Pin it to your report or your poster, and keep it in front of you while you write, so you check each fact against the card instead of your memory.
For Big readers: write the note, not just the number
A number without its note can be wrong. Words like "up to", "about" and "the most measured" change what a number means. A lizard measured with its tail is longer than one measured without. If a page says "in the wild", do not write the number as if it were true in a zoo. Copy the note along with the number, and your report will still be right even when another site says something different.
Finish with a short list of sources. Ask your teacher which form they like, but the basics are the name of the page, its address, and the day you read it. Peabody shows the day it was checked next to every number, and saying where a fact came from is the same habit scientists use.
Pick Big at the top to see the part for older readers.