Hannah & Marna compare the snapping turtle enclosure to its natural habitat they’d researched.

Shortly after arriving, most of 2R were looking at a pair of baboons, grooming each other in their cage when the activity in the neighbouring cage caught our attention. Several students had noticed that the large male chimpanzee was clapping his hands, and would clap back at them when they clapped. They became excited with clapping and soon began hooting and calling out at him. As we all watched, the chimpanzee seemed to get very agitated and worked up. He dashed to the large metal door at the back of his cage and began pounding on it aggressively, louder and louder and faster and faster. After a minute of this he turned and ran towards us at the front of his cage, jumping and throwing his body up at the plexiglass wall that separated us with a bang.

Chimpanzee at Nogeyama Zoo from YIS 2R.

The students were shocked and we slipped around the corner to confer quickly on what had just happened. Students had a range of reactions.

Lars thought that perhaps he was excited by all of our red field trip t-shirts.

Taiki thought he was excited to see us.

Marna and Ellenah suggested that maybe he was embarrassed by knowing that we were talking about him and sort of teasing him, without knowing exactly what we meant.

Other students suggested that he was angered by all the noise we were making and that his pounding on the door showed that he wanted to get out.

As we stood, huddled, discussing, the chimp continued banging loudly and let out a series of howls.

One student suggested that we may want to go back and watch him very quietly to see if it made a difference in his reactions. Without discussion, we all took on this idea and slowly slipped back in front of his enclosure.

Standing quietly in front we experienced a very different interaction. The chimpanzee sat quietly like us. Watching us, with his head bobbing side to side. For almost a minute this continued in silence.

The foot of the Moon Bear in the Nogeyama Zoo.

The next morning, we spoke about how powerful the moment had been for many of us. We decided to use a Visible Thinking routine called Step Inside: Perceive, Know About, Care About to try to better understand our experience. Several students took turns improvising in the role of the chimp, exploring what he perceived, knew about and cared about as a way to try to understand his point of view. A very powerful experience for many of us.

Marna improvises in the role of a chimp at the zoo from YIS 2R on Vimeo.

Sojiro improvises in the role of a chimp. from YIS 2R on Vimeo.

Lisa improvises in the role of a chimp from YIS 2R on Vimeo.

What a great day!

Elementary Sports Day: K-2 on PhotoPeach

In partners, they had a simple instruction: “Look for interactions between species in their habitat”. Students have been very interested in insects, as well as our growing tadpoles, so there’s a lot to inquire into right nearby!

A day later, after a quick orientation to Keynote slideshow-making, students worked with their partners to select the three images they thought best showed species interactions. They then presented these to the rest of the class.

Students made many interesting comments regarding each other’s presentations. Much focus was on the use of language. Students spoke about wanting to be clear whether what we wrote about the interactions we observed was our interpretation or a fact. Many suggestions included adding language like “I think that… ” or “Maybe” to our descriptions on the slides.

Have a look at our observations of species interactions!

After a couple days of research, students began considering ways they could share the results of their inquiry. As luck would have it, we visited the fifth grade exhibition and saw the way they organized themselves to share their learning. That became our blueprint and on Friday we had a mini communication exhibition of our own. Each student displayed and presented their insights in a way they considered would best communicate their learning. From posters and dioramas, to a model telegraph and videos about how a fax machine works and how to talk to your dog, everyone had a chance to share.

Enjoy a couple photos and videos of our learning!

Fax from YIS 2R on Vimeo.

How To Talk To Your Dog from YIS 2R on Vimeo.

A big thanks to Kirra, Ryuta, and Kayleigh for leading us!

Lars-spring break from YIS Academics on Vimeo.

Joowon-spring break from YIS Academics on Vimeo.

2R Gymnastics 2013 from Kate Buehler on Vimeo.

In this short video, the students of 2R answer the question:

What are some ways you’ve changed as a reader this year?

How I’ve Changed As A Reader from YIS 2R on Vimeo.