Where Do Gorillas Come From?
Category: Art of Conservation (AoC) | Date: Sep 22 2009 | By: Julie
During our first 2 years of conservation education classes, the AoC team would frequently hear students ask, “Where do gorillas come from?” The first time I heard the question was when a park service employee was visiting the class and sharing information about the forest, mountain gorillas, and his job duties. He was hesitant to give an answer or explanation. I thought, wow, what a shame people who work so closely with the endangered mountain gorillas do not feel comfortable discussing the evolution theories behind one of our closest relatives. This got the AoC team really thinking about how we could use this as a topic for a lesson. Thus began our own research on how, why, and when our great ape ancestor started evolving. Where did we start—with the formation of Planet Earth 4.5 billion years ago!
Julie asks the students questions. “When was Earth formed?” “Was the planet as we see it today?” “Are you the same as you were one year ago today or have you changed?” Photo by Molly Feltner.
We step outside to the schoolyard to begin our walk through time. First stop, the formation of Earth. Students hold props, such as papier mache dinosaurs and great ape masks, until the time is right to introduce them onto the scene of life. Photo by Molly Feltner.
Our safari has brought us up to 144 million years ago when the Earth is blooming with flowers and plant-eating dinosaurs like the stegosaurus are dominating the landscape. Photo by Molly Feltner.
Well into our story and getting closer to the appearance of the great apes, we learn that the present day location of the continents has not always been as it is.
I can safely say that universally all kids love dinosaurs! Our students had not heard of them before a few weeks ago when we were discussing the meaning of threatened, endangered, and extinct species. AoC volunteer Molly Feltner made this beauty of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Kids are crazy about it. Photo by Molly Feltner.
We have to travel a long evolutionary journey before we finally come upon the 5 great apes. It is easy to describe the obvious differences between monkeys and apes with the kids. They see golden monkeys nearby with their long, beautiful tails walking on all fours as well as occasionally seeing the mountain gorillas when they come out of the park to eat eucalyptus bark, without a tail and occasionally running on their two feet. Photo by Molly Feltner.
Using gorilla masks to help with our lesson, we stop a moment to talk about gorilla classification. Mountain Gorillas (Gorilla beringer beringer) are a sub-species of Eastern Gorillas (Gorilla beringer). Photo by Molly Feltner.
After gorillas we meet chimpanzees, bonobos, and finally the youngest of the hominids species, you and me, Homo sapiens. Photo by Molly Feltner.
More soon on evolution and “Where Do Gorillas Come From?”
Tags: children, education, endangered species, evolution, mountain gorillas
From Rwanda, Lion Week Day 4
Category: Art of Conservation (AoC) | Date: Sep 18 2009 | By: Julie
Watch this video….need I say more?
Video Day 4.
Tags: art, Baraza, education, Pride of Kenya, protect animals, rwanda, Stop Poisoning Wildlife
From Rwanda, Lion Week Day 3
Category: Art of Conservation (AoC) | Date: Sep 17 2009 | By: Julie
In addition to making lion masks for Lion Week, the children are learning how to draw lions.
In each class the children pass around photographs and drawings of lions to understand the anatomy of lions. Then AoC art teacher, Eric, demonstrates how to draw a properly proportioned male lion. After copying Eric’s model from the chalkboard, the kids get a chance to draw their own lion to illustrate the message to stop poisoning wildlife and protect lions.
Check out some of the kids work from the week so far below.
Photo 1.
Illustrations 1.
Photo 2.
Illustrations 2.
Photo 3.
Illustrations 3.
Photo 4.
Illustrations 4.
Photo 5.
Please see Wildlife Direct’s Protect Lions campaign at Baraza, Born Free, Stop Wildlife Poisoning, and Lion Guardians.
Photos courtesy of Molly Feltner 2009.
Tags: art, Baraza, education, Pride of Kenya, protect animals, rwanda, Stop Poisoning Wildlife
From Rwanda, Lion Week Day 2
Category: Art of Conservation (AoC) | Date: Sep 16 2009 | By: Julie
Paula and Alice, thanks for your comments from the Day 1 blog! Believe me, we were all laughing when we got back to the office and started downloading the video clips and photos, too. Thanks for letting us join you in your lion campaign. The beautiful fiberglass lions you are placing around Nairobi must surely be raising funds and awareness from around the world. Go Paula, Alice, and LIONS!
Day 2 of Lion Week and a whole new group of kids ready to learn about lions and lend support to people working hard to protect lions in Kenya and elsewhere.
We made our masks and now we want to send a message to the rest of the world…Stop Wildlife Poisoning!
Video from Day 2.
Above, student drawing efforts of an anatomically correct male lion. Do you sense a bit of a mountain gorilla in some of the pictures?
Please see Wildlife Direct’s Baraza, Born Free, Stop Wildlife Poisoning, and Lion Guardians to learn more about what they are doing to protect lions.
Tags: art, Baraza, education, Pride of Kenya, protect animals, rwanda, Stop Poisoning Wildlife
From Rwanda, Lion Week Day 1
Category: Art of Conservation (AoC) | Date: Sep 15 2009 | By: Julie
Art for Gorillas is roaring for help to protect lions.
Kids in Rwanda are making lion masks to send to children in Kenya where poisoning wildlife is a serious problem. Please see Wildlife Direct’s Baraza, Born Free, Stop Wildlife Poisoning, and Lion Guardians.
We are hoping to educate ourselves and young Africans about lions so that they value and protect them.
Please take a look at our class today - a very exciting class indeed!
Day 1 video.
We begin with a discussion about lions and the threats they face - equating this keystone species to that of the endangered mountain gorilla which our students are familiar with - and visuals for students to see an animal they do not know too much about. Photo by Molly Feltner.
Students begin adding color and cut outs to their own lion masks. Photo by Molly Feltner.
With masks made and only slightly worn out from dancing around the classroom, we take a break for a group photo in the school yard. Photo by Molly Feltner.
For more about photographer and friend Molly Feltner, please click here.
Tags: art, Baraza, education, Pride of Kenya, protect animals, rwanda, Stop Poisoning Wildlife
The Virungas, Not Just for Gorillas
Category: Art of Conservation (AoC) | Date: Sep 10 2009 | By: Julie
Volcanoes National Park in the Northern Province of Rwanda holds many treasures - the most famous being the endangered mountain gorilla - but there’s no reason not to cheer for and educate ourselves about the golden monkeys who inhabit the montane forests of the Virungas as well!
Please enjoy the fabulous pictures created by our students during our lessons Animals Living in the Volcanoes National Park.
Picture #1, Golden Monkey (Cercopithecus mitis kandti)
Picture #2.
Picture #3.
Picture #4.
Picture #5.
I had the opportunity recently to visit golden monkeys with volunteer Danielle and photographer Michael Young. Michael took this photo of me.
Tags: art, children, conservation education, golden monkey, rwanda
Thank You Mary and Amy!
Category: Art of Conservation (AoC) | Date: Sep 09 2009 | By: Julie
Hi Mary and Amy.
Thank you to both of you for your generosity and contributions to Art of Conservation.
Mary, we are grateful for the September 8th donation of $165.00. These much needed funds will go directly to our conservation education classes which my team and I so firmly believe in and are passionate about. Wow, thanks!
Amy, it’s amazing to me how you mobilized your community to donate the huge amount of school and art supplies. Every thing you gathered and that Danielle brought with her is wonderful as well as practical for use here. This week we’ve been awarding prizes to the top boy and top girl who scored the highest on last week’s exam (Geography and Life Science) and the prizes consist of your donations. The look in the boy and girls eyes when they hear they scored the highest points and then receive all these goodies….is unbelievable!
Mary and Amy, you are touching many hearts and minds with your kindness. THANK YOU.
Tags: conservation education, contributions, rwanda, support
Volcanoes National Park’s King of Thieves, Part 2
Category: Art of Conservation (AoC) | Date: Sep 07 2009 | By: Julie
According to our students, the giant-pouched rat (Cricetomys emini) is the King of Thieves. Kid’s drawings in our previous post illustrate the rat carrying anything and everything and taking these found objects, pebbles, food, money and metallic trash back to their burrows. I get a sense that these nocturnal rodents don’t pose a serious threat to the local communities but perhaps a source of humor.
In recent weeks, we’ve been covering life science followed by our lesson Animals Living in Volcanoes National Park. This week we are teaching our students what animals need to survive and learning about classification. The giant-pouched rat starred as our animal inhabiting the nearby forest.
Innocent asks the students what the animals living in Volcanoes National Park need to survive. What type of food do they eat? Where and what is their source of water? What kind of shelter?
Eric introduces a system of organization for all organisms.
A student rests on top of the bench while pretending to be the giant-pouched rat. AoC teacher Fahad talks about the rat’s size in comparison to the height of a human being.
A student imitates a pilfering giant-pouched rat.
More thievery.
Imitation of a runaway rat.
Visuals are passed around the classroom.
Drawing the giant-pouched rat.
Stay tuned here for more great animal pictures.
Tags: animals, conservation education, Rodentia, rwanda, Volcanoes National Park
Volcanoes National Park’s King of Thieves, Part 1
Category: Art of Conservation (AoC) | Date: Sep 05 2009 | By: Julie
Tales and Pictures of the Giant-Pouched Rat by AoC students
Please correct me if I am wrong, but in trying to discern what species of rodentia may be found in and near Volcanoes National Park, the AoC team and I came up with Cricetomys emini (rainforests only) otherwise known as the Giant-pouched rat.
Cricetomys gambianus may also be readily found in the Northern Province of Rwanda.
Going with the former of the two, our lesson with the theme Animals Living in Volcanoes National Park, was quite humorous as our students shared their stories about the giant-pouched rat… the rat they know only too well.
The children exclaim, “The rats climb, dig, and in their homes you will find our money, clothes and radios!”
In a local Ugandan dialect, I am told by Mugabe who works at the AoC House, the rats are called Musomba byuma which translate into they will steal things made of metal.
“They enter our houses at night and nibble on our toes!” the kids continue with their stories.
When told that many people eat the rats, the kids appear astonished. They claim they do not eat them.
More rat news coming up and your comments on rodentia information is most welcome.
Tags: conservation education, Rodentia, rwanda, Volcanoes National Park
Rwandan Kids - Crazy about Mountain Gorillas
Category: Art of Conservation (AoC) | Date: Sep 02 2009 | By: Julie
Kicking off our section called Animals Living in Volcanoes National Park, we begin with MOUNTAIN GORILLAS.
To begin the lesson, visuals are passed around the classroom.
What forests do mountain gorillas inhabit?
AoC teachers, Fahad and Innocent, share mountain gorilla information.
AoC art teacher Eric is busy at the chalkboard with the drawing lesson of an anatomically correct mountain gorilla in relation to the average height of a human being.
Bristol paper, watercolor paper, pencil and watercolors used in today’s lesson.
Students turn in their mountain gorilla pictures and put away their materials.
Tags: children, conservation, education, mountain gorillas
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