Here comes the school year, so now what?

 

One of the few distinct lessons I can remember from my 7^th grade health teacher was about goal setting.  I can remember him comparing goals to shooting a bow and arrow at a target.  He stated simply, “you will never get the bull’s-eye if you don’t have a target.”  Makes sense to me.  If we don’t have a vision of how we are going to apply what we learned this summer in Thailand to our classes and our teaching, then we don’t have a chance of accomplishing it.  So, here is the vision that we are starting off the 2014-2015 year with for how we will apply what we learned this summer in Thailand. 

The Big Idea:  We want our student to choose a threatened or endangered keystone species to adopt and advocate for throughout the year.  At the end of the year, during their ecology unit, students will create a PR campaign using their research to develop a plan to protect and save their species from extinction.

Why:   One of the more profound things I heard Dr. Plotnick  http://earthwatch.org/scientific-research/our-scientists/joshua-plotnik   (the founder of Think Elephants International) http://thinkelephants.org/pages/who_we_are.html say was, “We are very likely to fail at saving wild Asian Elephants because we started too late.  I am still hopeful about our work though, because I feel that our model of using species specific science research to guide our conservation and education efforts has the ability to save many other species from the same fate.  Other species that are not even on our radar now, are going to benifit from this work.” 

Starting with the Science:  Our 7^th grade science students have a lot to learn about the living world.  We are planning on using what we learned on our expedition about elephants to teach about many of the basic principles of life science throughout the year.  We will teach the concept; then show how it applies to elephants, then our students will build a book about their species adding a page/section a unit, of how the information applies to their adopted species. 

What will be in their book?  (This is the dream before the year starts)

·         Introduction/about the author:  This will be a letter about the author (the student) explaining who they are, what species are they choosing to adopt and advocate for, and why did they choose it.  http://www.bagheera.com/inthewild/vanishing.htm

·         Eight Characteristics of life:  Students will create a section of their book explaining how their species meets each of the eight characteristics of life. 

·         Classification/taxonomy:  What is the scientific name of your animal and how is it classified all the way from Kingdom to Species.  They will need to explain how their species qualifies for each taxa level. 

·         Cells:  A detailed drawing of a somatic cell for animals and information about specialized cells present in their species.

·         Genetics:  How many chromosomes does the species have?  What are the main acquired and inherited traits observed in the species?  Presence of genetic disorders?  Is the population wild, captive or domesticated? 

·         Natural Selection/Species Variation:  Closest living relatives, ancient relatives.  How has this species changed over time and why?  How does it need to change to survive the current threats to its population? What are the different varieties of your species and where do they exist and why?

·         Human Body Systems and Tissues:  Compare and contrast a system of your choosing between humans and your species and a section on your species reproductive system.  Does the way they reproduce contribute to their endangered status? Why or why not?

·         Plants:  Why types of vegetation is your species dependent on for food or shelter?  Are any of these plants threatened or endangered?  If so, what needs to be done to keep the plant population healthy?

·         Trophic Levels and Food Webs:  The students will create detailed food web and trophic level diagrams for their species along with an explanation for the weak links in the system and the effects of loss of levels in the food web. 

 

Culminating Capstone Project:  As teachers, we will discuss how Think Elephants International is combining science, conservation and education in an effort to save Asian and African Elephants from extinction.  Students will then work to decide on how it would be best to protect their species.  They will then design and implement a public relations campaign.  Project can take on many forms including:

·         Facebook page with daily advocacy information shared https://www.facebook.com/#!/thinkelephants 

·         Pintrest board with links to all sorts of inspiring information about why protection is needed

http://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=Think%20Elephants%20International 

·         Conservation policy planning

http://www.elephantconservation.org/programs/asia-programs/

·         Proposal of legislation to protect land or purchase key habitat

http://www.amnh.org/explore/science-bulletins/bio/documentaries/wild-at-heart-the-plight-of-elephants-in-thailand/asian-elephants-threats-and-solutions

·         A blog http://thinkelephants.blogspot.com/

•   A website http://thinkelephants.org/pages/who_we_are.html

·         A children’s book http://www.ifaw.org/sites/default/files/education-publications/intl/aaw11_my_elephant_neighbour_guide_us.pdf

·         A lesson plan for younger kids (and teach it) http://thinkelephants.org/pages/teaching_kids.html

·         An app http://iberianature.com/wildworld/nature-and-wildlife-apps-for-iphone/

·         And probably lots more that I haven’t even thought of yet. 

So, this is where we are starting the year.  With a plan, a dream, and a leap.  I am sure some parts will go really well, and some not so great.  But, I know one thing, we will all learn a lot.  We will keep the blog up chronicling student work, adding useful links, assignments and what is working/not working. 

So What Did the Elephants Teach Us?

As soon as we were awarded the grant and decided to chronicle our journey and the teaching surrounding the experience, I knew the name of the blog needed to be Elephants Teaching Teachers. Now that we are back home, over jet lag, and I (Karon) have returned from my big family vacation I have started to reflect on the initial concept of elephants teaching us something.

One resounding concept or theme keeps coming back to me.  See, in order to teach or learn from an elephant, a researcher, mahout, or neighbor, must first understand how an elephant perceives the world around them.  This makes me think of our new students coming in, and reminds me that this is my first job as a teacher.  I need to figure out each student's learning style, their preferences for seating, who they work well with, and who is a distraction to them?  Do they feel more confident with their back to a wall, or up front so they don't have to watch the students in front of them?  Do loud noises scare or excite them?  What motivates them?  These are all questions that apply to people and elephants.

Another part of elephant research is to teach elephants the rules of the "game" without having a common language.  I must say I have found myself applying this lesson with my sons a lot this summer as one of my sons is hearing impaired, and thus, language is not an effective way to explain anything.  One common way the researchers teach elephants the rules is through positive rewards.  For clear ethical reasons, negative consequences are not used to tell an elephant they have made the wrong choice.  It is clear though that the elephant is curious about why a reward is not given when it makes a wrong choice, and it is pleased when it gets a reward for the right choice.  What I also saw was that this takes a long time, to teach a concept through positive rewards for correct choices, but there was no aggression either on the part of the elephant.

Through all of this I learned that each animal is as smart as it needs to be given its circumstances.  Every creature is driven by their desire to survive.  What an elephant needs to know is different than what an ant needs to know and even different from what a whale needs to know.  In addition, the skills of an Asian elephant are going to be different than the skills of an African grassland elephant.  Yes, elephants are smart, because their world demands it of them.  Yes, humans are great problem solvers and thinkers, because our world demands it of us.  My job as a teacher is to help discover each student's intelligence and relate it to the world around them.  My job is also to recognize that, although my students come from the same geographic region, their worlds are different, and thus the form of their intelligence will also be varied.  This is not good or bad, it is what creates a world filled with many gifts waiting to be discovered.