Questions / instructions:
Arrange the cards from 1-21 before giving them to the students. Show the instruction card while explaining the activity.
In this activity you are going to work with information for doing a project on mammals of the world. There is a lot of information and you won't have time to read it all. You will need to skim to find out what you need to know.
First you need to sort the information. Sort it into 4, 5, or 6 piles. You will need to think about this, remembering that the information is for a project on mammals of the world. You don't need to use all the information. Some may not be suitable and could go into one pile. You can start putting the cards into 4, 5, or 6 piles.
Place cards in a pile in the centre of the group. Don't give out the folders until the sorting part of the activity has been done.
Now that you have sorted the information into piles, check to see that you are happy with the way you have sorted them.
Allow time.
Now think of a suitable title which describes each pile of information, and tells why the cards belong together.
Allow time.
Now I'll write the names you have decided for each pile on the folders. We will start with this pile [point to a pile]. Tell me the name you have given this pile of cards and explain to me why you have sorted these cards into this pile. We will put this pile into the folder.
Put the pile of cards into the labelled folder.
Repeat for each pile.
At the end of the activity, record the numbers of the cards used on the front of the folder. Place the folders in the A4 envelope and put the school number on the envelope.
Put the cards in order ready to reuse.

Commentary:
Only 27% of teams identified that some of the pictures were not of mammals, and should be in a special reject pile. This was a significant factor in the overall ratings.