🐢 Mojave desert tortoise report template
Three versions, one page each. Print the one for your child’s grade. The facts come from the Mojave desert tortoise page, every number with its source.
Grades 1–2
My report: the mojave desert tortoise
Gopherus agassizii · Grades 1–2
| Length | 7.9 to 15 in (20 to 38 cm) |
|---|---|
| Height at the shoulder | 3.9 to 5.9 in (10 to 15 cm) |
| Weight | 7.9 to 15 lb (3.6 to 6.8 kg) |
| Top speed | not checked yet: look it up! |
| How long it lives | 50 to 80 years |
Read about it
The desert tortoise has a high, round shell and strong front legs for digging. It digs a burrow to stay cool. It eats desert plants and flowers.
It lives in:
It eats:
The coolest thing I learned:
Where my facts came from
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, species profile, fws.gov/species/desert-tortoise-gopherus-agassizii, checked 2026-10-30
Grades 3–4
My report: the mojave desert tortoise
Gopherus agassizii · Grades 3–4
| Length | 7.9 to 15 in (20 to 38 cm) |
|---|---|
| Height at the shoulder | 3.9 to 5.9 in (10 to 15 cm) |
| Weight | 7.9 to 15 lb (3.6 to 6.8 kg) |
| Top speed | not checked yet: look it up! |
| How long it lives | 50 to 80 years |
Read about it
Desert tortoises spend most of their lives in burrows they dig themselves, safe from the hot sun and the cold winter nights. Their flat front legs work like shovels. A tortoise gets water from the plants it eats and can store water in its body, so it can go a long time without a drink.
Where it lives (its habitat):
What it eats:
How its body helps it live there:
My favorite fact:
A question I still have:
Where my facts came from
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, species profile, fws.gov/species/desert-tortoise-gopherus-agassizii, checked 2026-10-30
Grades 5–6
My report: the mojave desert tortoise
Gopherus agassizii · Grades 5–6
| Length | 7.9 to 15 in (20 to 38 cm) |
|---|---|
| Height at the shoulder | 3.9 to 5.9 in (10 to 15 cm) |
| Weight | 7.9 to 15 lb (3.6 to 6.8 kg) |
| Top speed | not checked yet: look it up! |
| How long it lives | 50 to 80 years |
Read about it
In winter, desert tortoises rest deep in their burrows in a long, sleep-like state called brumation. After a rainstorm they come out to drink, and sometimes dig little basins to catch the water. Mojave desert tortoises are threatened, because roads, building and fires have changed the desert and a sickness can spread among them. People help by protecting wild land, building fences along roads so tortoises do not wander into traffic, and caring for rescued tortoises.
Habitat and range: where on Earth, and what the place is like:
Diet: what it eats, and what might eat it:
Adaptations: two ways its body or habits help it survive:
Is it in danger? Why or why not?:
Compare it with another animal you know:
Bibliography: write each source below as site, page title, date checked:
Where my facts came from
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, species profile, fws.gov/species/desert-tortoise-gopherus-agassizii, checked 2026-10-30