Category: Free Inquiry

Pets were only allowed in schools when some kid brought their pet to show and tell, but now classrooms are having classroom pets! I have heard of teachers having classroom pets such as guinea pigs, rabbits, frogs, geckos or fish. Teachers have even had animals like ducklings or butterflies in order to show students their how to care and tend to an animal that is growing. Some teachers have introduced animals into the classroom to help students with anxiety and boost moods such as having a dog in the classroom.

I was volunteering in a Grade 1 classroom in Victoria and the teacher brought her dog into her classroom. She told me her students took a real liking to her dog and sought out the dog when students needed some quiet time to sit and pet the dog. Of the students in the classroom who had behavioral needs, they bonded well with the dog and became calmer in the dogs presence. The dog was never a distraction to the students but became a part of the classroom community. Thus I have seen the benefits of having a class pet.

It will be interesting if this trend increases due to the positive impacts it has on students. When one takes care of an animal it teaches responsibility, nurturing and empathy to the person. Thus these skills are important to nurture in children as it influences their personality and well being.

There are tons of YouTube videos to check out if you are considering in getting a class pet. Such as: what pet to get, how to take care of various pets in the classroom, how therapy dogs benefit the class and all! ALSO if you want to start off small and thinking a pet is too much for a class. Why not get a classroom plant?

Remember there are things to consider when getting a classroom pet: where is the pet from ? Do not leave the pet alone in the school, especially if it is a mammal. Consider the safety of the animal while in the classroom. and allergies and other student health risks.

Resources:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=classroom+pets

One of my favorite places to walk around is Beacon Hill Park In Victoria. I love the trees, the flowers and especially all the animals within the park. Over the years I have collected a bunch of pictures and videos from in the park thus I thought it would be great to share some of my pictures and videos of the local animals that are in the park. This can be a activity for students as well. Students can explore and take photos of the local animals around where they live and play!

With inspiration from Joanna Lake and her mood raters that she does with her class. I created my own with some funny animal pictures!

All pictures were downloaded from Unsplash.com

I love this video of Flamingos for Planet Earth! The Flamingos dancing from side to side as a group is priceless. I truly love watching shows like Planet Earth because I enjoy learning about animals and facts about them. These Flamingos are Andean Flamingos and are found high in the Andes Mountains of South America. Yet, Flamingos live all around the world from South America to Africa and small parts of Asia and Europe. Flamingos live in and around salt or alkaline bodies of water, thus their habitat is characterized by “lack of vegetation”. Since Flamingos live around extreme environments like salt or alkaline lakes the algae and shrimp brine is what they are left to eat in the area. Algae and shrimp brine have an abundant of carotenoids. Carotenoids builds up in the Flamingos body and gives their feathers the pink hue.

I found out all of this information after watching this clip from Planet Earth and being interested about Flamingos! Thus this could turn into a fun activity for students.

Students would find a fun video of an animal, not a pet that lives in a house but a animal that lives in nature or the ocean. The student would take that video and find out fun facts about the animal and where the animal lives. With the help of Google Earth they can locate the area of where the animal lives and explore that area. Students can take a screenshot of the area they are exploring and where the animal lives.

For example I chose the Andean Flamingo lives in the Andes mountains therefore students could locate where the Andes are see what the geographical space looks like.

What does the Andes look like?

Here is a Photo of a Andean Flamingo in its habitat!

Where are the Atacama Salt Salts?

This allows students to make connections and understand the habitats of various animals by using Google Earth to go directly to those locations around the world.

Resources:

https://seaworld.org/animals/all-about/flamingos/habitat/

https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/news/why-are-flamingos-pink-and-other-flamingo-facts#:~:text=Flamingos%20get%20their%20pink%20color%20from%20their%20food.&text=Carotenoids%20give%20carrots%20their%20orange,pigments%20%E2%80%94%20turning%20its%20feathers%20pink.

https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/facts/flamingo

This video was captured in the Canadian Rockies, bears coming out of hibernation and scratching that winter long itch. Well not actually, the bear is scratching their backs on the tree because it is a form of communication. Bears can communicate via their scent that is rubbed on the tree. This signals signs of virility and about their overall health to potential mates.

For students you can show this video to them and get them discuss what they see the bear doing. Is the bear dancing, scratching its back or something else? It would be great to see younger students imagination as to what the bear is doing and why. As a teacher you can make connections to the English Language Arts curriculum such as writing a story about what the bear is doing in order to spark their creativity. Or get students to pick a song the bear should be dancing to, or choose their favorite song that they dance to and why they enjoy it. This could also be a jump off point for students to find videos of other animals behaving in silly ways and discover why they are actually acting in that way. Either way this video sure is adorable and can to utilized in many ways into the classroom for young and older students. lastly, as a teacher you can expand on the Science curriculum and learn about bears, such as what they eat, how they survive and the various types of bears.

Teachers can introduce and teach their students about The Great Bear Rainforest that we our honored to live close to. The Great Bear Rainforest has an abundant of wildlife including the rare Spirit Bear. The Kitasoo/Xai’Xais Nation has a beautiful origin story of the Spirit Bear along with their initiative to protect the Spirit Bear. I have attached the link here:

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/wildlife-watch-hunting-great-bear-rainforest-spirit-bear

In conclusion, just through viewing the video from Planet Earth II myself I began to dive into more information on bears, their habitats and ways to protect bears here in British Columbia. Thus the use of these videos in classrooms could hopefully spark that same kind of interest in students as well!

Resources:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070909221303.htm

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0247964

What are we actually viewing in the video: 

One may view the video and assume that the coyote and badger are friends but it is more of a partnership to find food sources. The relationship between the Coyote and the Badger is a type of symbiotic relationship. A symbiotic relationship is a relationship or interaction between two different organisms where the  relationship can be mutualism, commensalism, predation, parasitism and competition. The coyote and badger have a mutual symbiotic relationship because both the coyote and the badger benefit from their relationship. The coyote and the badger hunt together. As the badger drives small animals out of the ground and the coyote uses their speed to catch the animal as it comes out of the ground. 

Questions to get students started:

What do you observe about the coyote and badger? 

What do you think they are doing together?

What behaviors would make you think that?

Why would you assume they were friends and not enemies?- what behaviors depict that they are friends?

If it has been established that the coyote and the badger are hunting together you can ask students:

Why do you think they are hunting together?

Why is it important to work together instead of against each other?

-On a broader note, this video can get students to think about how humans live together in a society through mutual relationships.

Other Symbiotic Relationships:

Clownfish and Anemone

Colombian Lesserblack Tarantula And Dotted Humming Frog

Crocodile and Plover Bird

Post 1: Where did my idea come from..

Everyone enjoys adorable animal videos! Most people will stop in their tracks to be in awe of some adorable animal, I mean I stop in the streets to look at someone’s dog or a random cat because it makes me happy. I saw this video of a baby elephant chasing birds, while chasing the birds and seemingly playing, the elephant falls down and gets up and runs to its mother to be comforted. It’s a pretty adorable video! You can recognize those behaviors in the elephant to that of a human child and begin to empathize with the baby elephant finding comfort in its mother after falling. And that is when I thought – could one begin to teach empathy and other social emotional behaviors through viewing animal videos? Or incorporate adorable animal videos into other teachable moments? 

Thus I want to find ways to incorporate cute animal videos into the classroom and create meaningful lessons for students. I will attempt to make lesson plans incorporating various cute animal videos that can be used in specific subjects or fun activities for students!