Content Objective
One Health
There are three domains related to the concept of One Health. Those domains are environmental health, animal health, and human health. One Health states that these domains are interconnected and that an issue in one domain will impact the other two. These impacts can be beneficial or detrimental. For example, suppose the health of the environment was impacted by a rise in global temperature. The health of animals would also be impacted. One example is polar bears losing hunting grounds as ice melts. The health of humans could also suffer. People with respiratory or cardiac conditions could find those conditions exacerbated. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) feels that attending to the domains of One Health “has become more important in recent years. This is because many factors have changed interactions between people, animals, plants, and our environment.”1 Some of those factors include environmental issues like global warming and changes in land usage, human population growth, and the proximity of animals to humans which can lead to infectious diseases jumping from the former to the latter or vice versa.
What does One Health have to do with five-year-olds sitting on a kindergarten carpet? It is all about the interconnection of three domains and health. The pandemic, which is theorized to have started because of human proximity to bats which may have led to interspecies disease transmission, changed the complexion of my classroom. Due to social distancing recommendations (and mandates in some cases) my students were limited in their opportunities to learn critical socialization skills. While at the same time stress and trauma increased greatly within my students, their families, and communities. As a result, in the time since social distancing ceased, many of my students have struggled to successfully navigate the classroom community. I have noted an increase in challenges related to communication and forming connection between my students. These struggles impact mental health in our class. Social Emotional Learning (SEL) skills have suffered.
I propose that our classroom community, like One Health, has three interconnected domains. The mental health of students, the mental health of other members of our learning community (me for one, but also exploratory teachers, administrators, paraprofessionals, bus drivers, and anyone else that helps my students throughout the day), and the health of our classroom climate (which is pretty much the environment of our learning space). I’m going to call these interconnected domains kindergarten health or ‘K Health’.
I found inspiration for boosting our ‘K Health’ not in a textbook, nor through the CDC recommendations related to One Health, but through ancient indigenous wisdom; “In the Western tradition there is a recognized hierarchy of being, with, of course the human being on top- the pinnacle of evolution, the darling of creation- and the plants at the bottom. But in the Native way of knowing, human people are often referred to as ‘the younger brother’ of creation.’ We say that humans have the least experience with how to live and thus the most to learn- we must look to our teachers among the other species for guidance.”2 Interestingly, the “Western Tradition” has begun aligning to this ancient wisdom. Biomimicry is “the conscious emulation of life’s genius. Innovation inspired by nature.”3 To improve ‘K Health’, I should open my room and introduce my students to far wiser teachers than myself, the ‘older brothers and sisters of the world’, plants and animals.
Rituals
Rituals are an act or series of acts regularly repeated in a set precise manner. “Animals have incredibly sophisticated rituals that are related to all aspects of their lives. These rituals allow them to survive in a very complex world, to predict what will happen next, and to connect deeply with their families and communities.”4 Students in my kindergarten class learn a series of rituals, though we call them routines. These routines will allow them to succeed in a new a confusing world, to predict what will happen next, and to connect deeply with their teachers and classmates. Yet students often don’t understand the importance of these routines. Our routines pull us together as a classroom community. They help establish a culture based on respect through communication, cooperation, and connections to each other. By learning the rituals of animals (some our favorites, some we will be experiencing for the first time) we will develop an understanding that our own routines make our classroom community healthier. This will impact the mental wellness of individual members of the class, and all members of our community of young learners.
Communication
There are many ways in which communication occurs in nature. Bees do the waggle dance to tell other hive members where to find honey. Gorillas pound their chests to show off their size and fighting ability to size up rivals and attract a mate. Flowers bloom brightly to attract attention from insects for purposes of pollination. Howler monkeys… howl to mark territory. Plants and animals do communicate though we often are not sure what they are saying. Likely, because we don’t have the opportunity to observe them too often. Nor do we generally make a lot of effort trying to communicate with plants or animals. However, there are a group of animals with whom we do communicate frequently, pets, specifically, dogs. We will focus on two ways in which dogs communicate. They use body language and vocalizations to draw attention or to express their emotions. Once you get to know them, the body language of a dog can tell you a lot about their feelings. A tail held stiff and high can signal that the dog is feeling aggressive. That same tail tuck down low between the hind legs indicates that the dog is feeling timid or unsure. And, of course, a wagging tail usually indicates a dog at ease and feeling happy. Much like the tail tells, so too do the ears reveal emotions in a dog. Ears perked up show that the animal is alert and maybe on the aggressive side. Ears laid back against the skull tell that the dog is scared. Despite what the painting Dogs Playing Poker by Cassius Marcellus Coolidge would have us believe, dogs would be lousy poker players; far too many tells. Dogs can also communicate through vocalizations. Vocalizations are sounds produced through an animal’s respiratory system. Essentially, suck in wind and blow it out in a manner that causes sound. Determining the meaning of canine vocalizations can be a little tricky. A barking dog may be calling an alert (perhaps for the delivery person approaching the front door), but it might also mean ‘pay attention to me, I want to play’. Growling often signals that trouble is on the way if you continue doing what you’re doing, because the dog isn’t happy about it. A whimpering dog is likely in pain. A whining dog is probably asking for something it wants. It can be difficult to determine what the dog wants, but if you’re opening a package of cheese, the whines become somewhat easier to puzzle out. Some animals also communicate in a third way by producing mechanical sounds. An example of a mechanical sound would be the gorilla who is thump, thump, thumping away at his chest. If you witness this act, you’ll want to vacate the area, because the gorilla is getting aggressive and may attack. To help my students improve their own communication skills, I will be bringing (through video, audio, and stories) animals as guest teachers. Following the suggestion of Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of Braiding Sweetgrass we will be learning from plant and animal educators who have been communicating with other members of their ecosystem since before Homo sapiens took their first steps. A goal for my students is to strengthen their own communication skills, while also improving our performance on classroom routines.
Guest Teachers on Body Language
Some of our classroom activities will be addressing SEL standards connected to communication specifically understanding body language. With the eye of a biomimic, I will look towards animals which excel at communicating warnings and their desires. Let us sit under the learning tree of skunks and flamingos.
There is a certain animal that will always elicit an “eww” from the kindergarten carpet. But this particular animal is amazing and can provide us a lesson about communication. Skunks are small mammals (roughly the size of a cat) that are related to weasels, badgers, and otters. There are 12 species of skunk and they are mostly found in North and South America.5 “Skunks are most active at night. They sleep in dens lined with leaves during the day. Their favorite foods include fruit and plants, plus insects, bird eggs, small rodents, and birds.”6 Yes, skunks are predatory animals. However, given their stature skunks are also possible prey in their own right. “Skunks have few predators—hungry coyotes, foxes, bobcats, and cougars, also large owls (which have little sense of smell).”7 Sharing an ecosystem with many predators requires the prey animal to have a plan. In the case of skunks, they pack a powerful chemical defense. These animals can produce a noxious spray in two glands at the base of their tail. “Skunk spray is a thiol, an organic compound with sulfur as a principal component. Sulfur has that classic rotten egg smell, and it’s what gives thiol its gag-inducing power. For detection purposes, thiols are added to otherwise smell-free natural gas, so that it will have a noticeable odor. In the case of skunk spray, the thiol is so potent that it can be smelled a half-mile away.” “Generally, the spray doesn’t cause much harm—maybe stinging in the eyes or temporary blindness, and nausea in humans—but it can definitely linger on fur or on a roadway, long after the skunk has made its escape or taken its last walkabout.”8 Skunks, however, use their spray only as a last resort. It would take a skunk over a week to refill its glands once it empties them in defense. Skunks try to communicate with any predator before unleashing the odor. Many animals use camouflage as a primary defense against predation. They try to hide and not be noticed. Skunks are the opposite. Black fur with brilliant white flares is meant to announce the animal’s presence. It is as if a skunk is shouting out “Hey! Skunk over here, right here” just by its coloration. This may seem a strange strategy of defense. But skunks are fairly abundant and generally, once a predator has experienced skunk spray, they would prefer to look elsewhere for a meal. In fact, researchers documented a case where a puma was run off its kill by an encroaching skunk. Pumas are nearly 100 times the size of skunks.9 As skunks are relatively common animals, many wild animals have a prior experience and know better than risk the spray. However, if a possible predator should make the skunk nervous, the skunk will use body language to announce a final warning. A skunk will begin the warning by facing the perceived or imagined danger. It will stomp its front feet on the ground, which is saying “you should back off”. If that message does not dissuade the threat, the skunk will raise it tail high and walk on its front legs toward the target. If the encroacher still does not respond the skunk will throw its body over its head and let loose the spray. Wild animals will recall this moment in the future when they cross paths with another skunk. Unfortunately, domesticated threats aren’t always so unwilling to engage with a skunk. Many a dog has received the spray, and likely a hose bath before being permitted back in the home. I can attest that my student can use a lesson in reading warning signs. Many is the time my lowering of my voice to a whisper, closing my proximity to a student, and unloading with my “teacher eyes” falls on oblivious eyes and ears. Had I the ability to walk on my hands of release the noxious thiol toward the inattentive, perhaps they would attend. Until I learn those tricks, I’m going to let the skunk teach them.
Flamingos are amazing birds. They are also a favorite of young students, likely due to their size and coloration. The greater flamingo is the largest of these birds. Greater flamingos can grow to almost 60 inches in height and reach a maximum weight above 8 ½ pounds. Flamingos feed in shallow, high salinity waters where they scoop from the bottom crustaceans, mollusks, worms, crabs, and occasionally small fish. They will also ingest algae. The flamingo’s pink coloration comes from its diet, specifically carotenoid pigment found in the crustaceans. Flamingos are excellent at sharing their ‘dating profile’ through body language in the form of a ritualized courtship dance. The season of the dance varies based on location but the dance itself remains the same. Large numbers of the birds, both male and female, gather in the shallow waters forming a flamboyance (the term for a group of flamingos. Also, a term that I would anticipate kindergarteners loving). The dance is quite organized. Part of the ritual is preening, or the cleaning of feathers. The dance itself includes “synchronized wing-raising, and head flagging (raising necks and beaks) and turning their head from side to side.”10 The ritual generally lasts about five minutes. Throughout the dance, the flamingos will partner up. To try and determine how partners were chosen, scientists tracked the number of ‘dance moves’ and assigned scores based on number of moves and postures in between those moves. Pairs of flamingos tended to have closely matching scores in the study. Good dancers chose partners of similar dancing skills. Partners would mate and nest and stay together for one season. Come the next courtship ritual they would dance in search of new partners for the new season.11 Much information was communicated throughout the ritual. First, the richness of the pink coloration sends a visual message. Hence, the preening which puts the feathers in their best light. Presenting a deep hue of pink tells potential mates that this bird has access or can find very good feeding spots. Pink means, “I can find those crustaceans that we all seek”. The precision of the postures during the dance and the speed of transitioning from one move to the next shows proficiency in the dance. Flamingos highly proficient in the ritual are revealing that they possess the skills to adroitly gather food. In other words, “I can be a good provider”. Through the dance the flamingos are showcasing themselves and basically singing Lenny Kravitz “But what I really want to know is, are you gonna go my way”.12 Communicating something that they would like or need is not always a strength in kindergarten. Students very rarely ask for help when they are confused or unable to accomplish a task. Sometimes students aren’t even able to ask a friend to play with them on the playground. But perhaps learning about how the flamingos communicate will open up some new ideas throughout the class.
Guest Teachers on Vocalizations
Elephants are the largest land mammals on the planet. They are massive with a lengthy trunk used for producing vocalizations, greeting other elephants, grasping objects, and sucking up water for drinking or bathing. The large ears of elephants are also used for communicative purpose. Elephants have tusks which are used for lifting objects, for stripping bark off trees, for eating, and for defense. Elephants can be left tusked or right tusked, similar to handedness in people. As useful as they are, tusks are also the primary reason why so many members of the species fall to poachers. Poachers illegally hunt the elephants for their tusks which are made of ivory and valuable. Amazingly, some elephants have developed a genetic mutation which sees them born tuskless. In male elephants this mutation is lethal, but female elephants can survive the adaptation.13 The poaching of elephants can upset the entire ecosystem, as elephants are an ecosystem engineer. They ford paths through heavy forest which allows other animals to move about more freely. The footprints they leave behind, when filled with rainwater, can become a habitat for tadpoles and other organisms.14 Elephants are a keystone species which means that their entire ecosystem is dependent upon them. Without elephants their ecosystem would be altered substantially. Elephants are often the subject of kindergarten art. Children are enthralled by these giants and should be interested in learning about elephants communicating. Elephants do produce vocalization as a means of communication. One method in which they vocalize is known as rumbling. Rumbling is an infrasound; its frequency is so low that it is almost inaudible to human ears. This frequency exists at the very low end of the audible range of human hearing. Researchers who experienced the rumbling up close say they could “feel” the sound in their chests as the vibrations traveled through the air, similar to feeling the bass at a rock concert.15 Elephant rumbles communicate information about the producing animal such as its age, individuality, and arousal level. Other vocalizations are produced through the trunk. Elephants trumpet by forcing air out of their trunk, very much like a person pushing air through tightly pursed lips. Trumpeting sounds tend to signify great excitement, inspired by either fear or joy. Elephants use vocalizations to coordinate group activities. One example is similar to a teacher telling a class to line up. “A dominant individual initiates a departure by stepping away from the water and emitting a long, low-pitched rumble. In a coordinated, synchronized response, other individuals respond in a turn-taking manner, vocalizing one right after the other, with a small overlapping segment at the end of each call.”16 Through my lens of biomimicry, I am drawn to the “coordinated, synchronized response” bit of this process. 5- and 6-year-old humans making a line to depart a classroom for recess, generally lack coordination or synchronization. Score a point for the elephant teacher, this idea will impact the “line up” routine in my classroom (see Activities).
People often believe that wolves howl at the moon. While it is true that they do some of their vocalizations through howling, it sends a different message than “Hello, Moon”. Our pet dogs can trace their roots back to the wolves. So, it shouldn’t be surprising that the vocalizations of dogs and wolves are fairly similar. Wolves communicate through vocalizations of 4 different types; barking, whimpering, growling, and howling. Both domesticated canines and wolves bark. In both cases the bark can be used to warn of approaching danger. The wolves often combine barking with howling to show aggression when engaging in the defense of the pack. Wolves will also whimper. Whimpering could be a mother informing her pups that she is available for nursing. In a different situation, it could also signify submission to a more dominant wolf. Growling is also a vocalization of wolves. Unlike the whimper, the growl is a sign of dominance. A dominant wolf is likely hoping to elicit whimpering from a wolf of lower stature, through an intimidating growl. Much like barking, growling could also indicate the approach of a source of danger. However, despite these other forms of vocalization, howling is the iconic sound of the wolves. It is a very versatile form of communication. Howling can be heard over a long distance (up to 10 miles on the tundra, somewhat less through the woods). It is used to keep the pack together across some distance. The same howl can serve as a warning to other animals found across that distance. Howls can also be used in the defense of pups or a recent kill. Sometimes wolves howl together socially. This could occur should they need to locate each other, to rally the pack, or just possibly because it is fun. I can attest that anytime I mention the word wolf (which happens a fair bit when reading folk tales) a chorus of howls erupt from the students on my carpet. Kindergarteners love wolves. They will be highly interested to learn from these fascinating creatures. A lesson they could learn from these teachers is that listening carefully to how things are said, or at what tone things are said could provide hints to actual meanings of the vocalization.
Guest Teachers on Mechanical Sound
Rattlesnakes are ectotherms, which means they are cold blooded. For this reason, they count on the environment to stay warm. They can be found sunning themselves on rocks across most of North America and some locations in South America. There are around 30 species of rattlesnakes. Across the species they range from about a foot to up to 8 feet in length. Rattlesnakes are highly venomous and could easily kill a human if the bite is not treated quickly. But these reptiles would prefer to be left alone than to have an encounter with a human or other animal. The animals have a special adaptation that provides a warning to any animal (including humans) that are reaching an uncomfortable proximity. Rattlesnakes are known for the mechanical sound that they produce. The end of their tail is covered in interlocking scales that make a rattling sound when the muscles are contracted. This is designed to draw attention to the snake and offer an opportunity to move away, before a biting strike need occur. The classroom version of this mechanical sound would be the rhythmic hand clapping that is a ‘go-to strategy’ in many classes. The goal of the clapping is the same as the rattle, pay attention to me. Like in nature, occasionally students do not pay enough attention. Fortunately, instead of a bite full of venom, the students typically receive a withering ‘teacher stare’.
Guest Teachers on Communicating Greetings
At my elementary school our day begins with a morning meeting. These meetings consist of a greeting, a sharing, an activity, and a daily message. So, a greeting is what truly begins our day. Greeting rituals serve three purposes; they reinforce bonds or welcome a friend, they reduce tension and foster reconciliation, they can also express submission to a dominant individual which promotes cooperation and a peaceful coexistence.17 Additionally, “greeting rituals generate an air of positivity and connectivity within our communities”18 But greetings are not exclusively a human ritual. Many animals greet other members of their species (especially if they are part of their herd, troop, or pack) upon meeting. These greetings often include body language. Sometimes the non-verbal communication is paired with the production of vocalizations. Our animal experts on greetings will be elephants, two species of the great apes (gorillas and bonobos), and wolves.
As referenced earlier, Elephants are very social animals. The females and the young animals form social groups called herds. Within these herds they share responsibilities like raising and watching over the calves. Elephants are also highly intelligent and considered by some researchers as among the most intelligent animals on the planet. Elephants have long memories. They can remember the location of watering holes even if they haven’t visited the site in as much as a year. They can also recognize members of their herd sometimes after years spent apart. They have also been known to utilize twigs as a sort of tool to shoo away insects.19 Combining this intellect with tightly woven social bonds has led to documented cases of adult female elephants forming a protective circle around the calves of the herd when threatened by lions or poachers. It may come as little surprise that these social giants engage in greeting rituals when members of the herd reunite. Author, Caitlin O’Connell began the introduction to her book, Wild Rituals, with a recounting of one such reunification. Two elephants, dubbed Knob Nose and Donut, approached each other from the opposite sides of a roadway. Upon noticing each other they raced forward to begin the greeting. The elephants faced each other across the distance with heads held high. They began vigorously flapping their ears to each other. Donut then raised her trunk and trumpeted a thunderous roar, which in this case was an exclamation of extreme joy. Following the bellowing vocalization, both animals rumbled softly. Donut then reached her trunk over to Knob Nose and touched the tip of her trunk against the side of the other’s mouth like a kiss. Knob Nose reciprocated. The elephants then moved side by side roaring and rumbling wildly. And then the greeting ended (at least that where the kindergarten version of the story will end). And then both animals exclaimed their utter joy at reuniting by fully releasing their bowels and bladders in the road. Kindergarten is in no way a place where I would wish to mention a voiding of bowels or bladders for fear of speaking it into existence. Dr. O’Connell also shared that she was familiar with these two elephants and that they were mostly always found in shared company. She speculated that their time apart prior to this greeting was likely less than an hour.20 For me the most interesting part of this greeting is the placing of trunk tips into mouths. I liken it to the fist bump that I generally greet former students with in passing through the halls at Wilbur Elementary. The elephants are extending their trunks into a vulnerable position, exposed to a potential bite. Similarly, a fist bump is exposing the receiver’s knuckles to a pounding should the “bumper” wish to deliver a hard strike. Assuming bites and vicious strikes are not delivered, trust between the two greeters is established. I will say that in my experience there are often multiple 5-year-olds that strike my fist (or the fists of peers) far harder than I would prefer. Perhaps taking a lesson from Knob Nose and Donut will enlighten them to the true purpose of the greeting.
Humans are primates. Our genetically closest animal relatives are also primates including monkeys and apes. Considering monkeys and apes, humans are much more similar to apes. Great apes are larger than monkeys, they have larger brains, they have opposable thumbs and prehensile digits. Also apes and humans don’t have tails, but monkeys do. Two of our closest relatives are gorillas and bonobos. Gorillas share 98.3% of their genes with humans.21 Bonobos share an astounding 98.7% of their genes with us.22 Gorillas and bonobos are both classified as endangered species. Mostly they are threatened by poaching and habitat loss. These animals also live in groups. They offer greetings to members of their groups that may seem familiar to us. This could be due to the similarities between these apes and humans. For example, gorillas have emotions. They can express sadness and even produce laughter. Sadly, because gorillas and humans share so much, gorillas are also susceptible to diseases associated with humans. The Ebola virus has ravaged gorilla populations. With regards to greetings, gorillas have been known to greet another gorilla to which they are bonded with hugs. This parallels human hugging closely as both animals relax into each other’s arms similar to a human hug. Bonobos are even a closer relation to humans. Bonobos share and show kindness. In studies, a bonobo was given a plate of fruit covered in a cream that the species likes very much. The bonobo with the food was given the choice of eating the food alone or inviting another bonobo to share. The friend was invited in. An even bigger display of kindness was shared when three bonobos were in close proximity. One of the three was a stranger to the bonobo with food. In a majority of test trials, the unknown bonobo was allowed access to the food before the familiar bonobo.23 As sharing is sometimes not a priority for some kindergarteners, the bonobos seem an excellent species to learn from and mimic. Amazingly, the bonobo greeting is a kiss. Though it should be noted that any mention of the word kiss in kindergarten will be followed by a course of ‘ewws’ that may rival the disgust expressed at the mention of a skunk.
Wolves are social animals so it should come with little surprise that they practice a greeting ritual. Before examining the ritual, I had to first explore the pack hierarchy system. The original studies conducted on wolves observed wolves in captivity. These wolves did not have a traditional pack. They were individuals tossed together in a Swiss zoo. These wolves had to determine and form their own pack hierarchy and their roles and identities within the pack. The leader of the pack was dubbed the “alpha”, the secondary wolf the “beta”, and on down the line to the “omega”, which was the lowest ranking wolf in the pack. In nature, packs come together more organically. Naturally, the head wolves are some of the older breeding pairs of wolves. Basically, they are the parents of the pack. In times of food scarcity, the lead wolves may be the only breeding pair in the pack. When food is more abundant other pairs of wolves may also breed. The breeding pair in charge is what used to be referred to as the “alphas”. The male leads the male wolves and the “alpha” female leads the female wolves. Even though the term “alpha” has fallen out of fashion, it is highly ingrained in the lexicon related to wolves that it is still used frequently. This term also lives in the general public’s knowledge of wolves.24 Actually the term “alpha male” has been taken and used to describe the most successful and powerful male in a group who also likes being in charge of others. This idea sullies what the leader of the pack is truly about. But for the simplicity of this piece, I will use the traditional terms for the wolves. The “alpha” wolf is not in the position because of a craving for power. Rather, it is in that position because of a responsibility to the pack. The “alpha” is the first wolf to scout out danger, it will put itself between a threat and the pack. When the pack gathers the “alpha” stands with head held high. When the “beta” approaches the “alpha” the “beta” lowers his head slightly below the “alpha’s” head. The “omega” will almost crawl on his belly to approach the “alpha” he may also lick the “alpha’s” mouth similar to how pups may ask for food. The degrees of head lowering do not signify fear. It is the ultimate sign of respect. This respect also strengthens the pack and keeps things peaceful and orderly.25 Humans also incorporate respect into our greetings. Though instead of belly-crawling we typically extend a handshake and say some pleasantries while making eye contact. In the classroom we do not aspire to have a pecking order. Though we do want to have respect between all members of the class community.
Cooperation
Some animals are great cooperators and other are not so proficient. As mentioned earlier, female elephants share the responsibility of protecting and raising calves. Wolves in the wild are in the category of great at cooperating. A pack of wolves will coordinate a hunt to run down prey. They will then eat the kill in an orderly fashion that aligns with pack hierarchy. Wolves have such a natural instinct for participating in a group that a study was developed to test their level of teamwork. The wolves of the study were trained to pull a rope to get a treat. However, there was a catch; each wolf had to pull a separate rope at the same time in order to receive the treat. The wolves were able to do this, demonstrating amazing levels of cooperation.26 Cooperation is also important in class. It helps establish and maintain a peaceful and productive classroom community. Yet, cooperation does not come easy to all students. Exploring videos of animals engaged in cooperative efforts will provide modeling that working as a team is an efficient way to succeed in a task.
Guest Teachers on Cooperation
Orcas, or killer whales, are a favorite animal of my students. In addition to being beautiful and graceful in the water they also excel at hunting. They often eat fish and squid, but a seal offers a grander meal, rich in fat and blubber. Seals are clever animals. It has been documented that seals climb aboard boats or onto an ice floe to get themselves out of the water when they detect predators in close proximity. Killer whales are also clever and use cooperation as a work around for the seal on the ice challenge. The group hunting technique is called "wave washing," and it works like this: After identifying their target sitting on a piece of pack ice, a group of killer whales swims a short distance away from it. Then they turn and swim in formation toward the ice floe, beating their tails to make a wave. The wave reaches the ice and splashes over the seal, washing it into the ocean, where it rapidly becomes lunch.27 It has also been documented that “wave washing” can break apart the ice floe which also ends rapidly in lunch. There is video showing this technique (which is easily located on YouTube by searching for “wave washing orca”). That level of coordination and cooperation should make an impact on my students with regards to teamwork on class tasks or routines. It seems appropriate to mention that should I neglect to hit pause on the video when the seal plops down in the water, the video could be impactful in an unintended way.
When I think of honey (but spelled ‘hunny’) I think of the very portly Pooh Bear attempting to retrieve honey all by himself. He did not engage his friends in a cooperative effort, and while he did get a mouthful the experience wasn’t a raging success. There are however a pair of animals that team up to get their fill of honey in nature, and they are not even of the same species. The African honeyguide bird and the honey badger are these animals. The honeyguide leads the badger to a beehive, with a series of vocalizations. Upon reaching the hive, the badger pulls it apart and exposes the honey within. When the badger is full of honey, it moves along and the honeyguide moves in to eat its fill. Both species benefit from this symbiotic partnership.28
Connection
There are many examples of animals making connections together. Knob Nose and Donut the elephants obviously have a strong connection as evidenced by their reunification greeting. The male and female “alpha” wolves mate for life. The dancing greater flamingos form a connection that lasts a year and then they form new connections. Making connections and growing together as a class is at the heart of a strong classroom culture. Teachers can guide the formation of connections by engaging the class in sharing or by providing time for collaboration and having students do an assignment together. But there is another powerful vehicle for making connections: play. Caitlin O’Connell suggests that “Expending energy on play is actually very important to physical and social development and even to survival.”29 The survival bit of this statement is referring to animals. In fact, young animals frequently practice critical adult skills like hunting or hiding from predators, through play. And so do people. Through unstructured play children begin to develop social skills like turn taking and cooperation. Unstructured play is also an important part of fostering creativity. In the book Zoobiquity, authors Barbara Natterson-Horowitz and Kathryn Bowers share interesting connections between animal health and human health. Barbara Natterson-Horowitz is a cardiologist who concluded that animals suffer from many of the same diseases as humans. Though the animal and human diseases often have different names, they frequently present with the same symptoms. She began exploring how the animals are treated and looked for implications for the treatment of humans and vice versa. She also stated that in response to every search she made for a human disease, an equivalent disease was found in another animal species. I was inspired by this idea. Looking through the lens of a teacher I asked if dogs get attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The answer returned as “yes” but in dogs the disorder is hyperkinesis. Hyperkinesis must be diagnosed by a veterinarian because the symptoms can also look like hyperactivity or poor training. A piece of the treatment for either hyperkinesis or hyperactivity is exercise. Part of the challenge with these dogs is that they can be difficult to walk, which can lead to less exercise. This in turn elevates the symptoms.30 With Zoobiquity fresh in mind, I wondered if my students that are presenting ADHD symptoms in class may not be having increased difficulty due to our recess being limited to one 20-minute recess period across a full day school schedule. Perhaps this choice is something to explore. Could the mental health, the social skills, and the creativity of my students be improved by increasing the amount of unstructured play time that if available to them?
Guest Teacher on Forging Connection through Play
Children can connect strongly to The Lion King movie. I think part of the reason for this is that the protagonist, Simba, starts the story as a child. As a lion cub, Simba and his best friend Nala engage in play and children can relate. However, when I look at how Simba and Nala play and consider what lessons they are learning through their games I can see where the real-life inspiration for the sequences were found, with actual prides of lions in Africa. When my students watch, they only see friends playing. In a pride of lions “play is more than just a fun way to pass the time. It ignites innovation and exploration, and it promotes risk-taking and a flexible mindset for solving problems. Simba stalking Nala and then pouncing upon her only to have her innovate a response by rolling with the force of the pounce and ending up on top of him looked like play. While writing of play between real lion cubs, Caitlin O’Connell wrote “he stalked them again, making himself as flat as possible as he slunk across the top of the bunker. The tip of his tail swished back and forth in anticipation of the catch. Then he made a flying leap onto the backside of a sibling and pretended to bite his spine, near his backside.”31As I read these words. I can picture Simba leaping through the air at Nala and her creativity that resulted in pinning Simba to the ground. Both the fictional and actual cubs were playing and having fun. The other thing they were doing was practicing life skills that would help them feed themselves, and maybe their own cubs someday. Shortly after O’Connell’s observation, the mother of the cubs joined them in the play. She walked into the shallow waters nearby. An adventurous cub approached his mother. As he entered the water, she charged him with claws and teeth exposed. She sent him running with a swat to his bottom. The mother reentered the water and waited patiently. Soon the cub returned to the water. His mother charged at him much more aggressively this time. What happened to the play? It became a lesson. Although lions can cross a river if need be and many will follow prey into the shallows, they are not superior swimmers and often avoid water. The adventurous cub was receiving a lesson about the perils of water. “Play behaviors are, by nature, ritualized or exaggerated forms of routine behaviors that serve important adult skills, such as hunting, competing for a mate, or avoiding a predator.”32 The same serves true for human children. Play is a critical component of growing into a successful adult.
Guest Teachers on Interdependence (It Happens to One It Impacts All)
“The relationships between trees and fish shows just how complicated ecosystems can be. Tree growth can be almost completely dependent on these flashes of silver, especially in areas where the soil is low in nutrients. Fish and rivers, it turns out, play an important role in nutrient distribution.”33 Picture if you will the Northwest coast of North America. A river runs through a forest of Sitka spruce trees. This river empties into the Pacific Ocean. But much farther upstream is a special location: the spawning grounds of salmon. It is the place where the fish hatch before making their way out to the sea. For two to four years the fish feed in the ocean growing large and fat. Then they make their way back up the river on a final return to the place of their birth. On the trip, some salmon are taken by bears. The predators eat their fill and leave behind bits and pieces of the fish for the scavengers. Birds, and smaller mammals snatch up those bits and spread them throughout the forest as they make off with their finds. Fish that die after spawning often end up in bits spread through the forest too. The bits of fish spread throughout the trees provide nitrogen, fertilizer for the plants including the Sitka spruce. Those Sitka receiving the gift of nitrogen from the fish grow up to three times faster than Sitka not benefitting from the extra fertilization. In return, the large healthy Sitka lining the banks of the river means more leaves falling into the waters and more leaves shading the river. This leads to additional fish and other organisms. Because of this interdependence between salmon and spruce the entire ecosystem flourishes. Imagine what happened when people came in and dammed the river. The salmon could not make their way back to the spawning grounds. The bears and scavengers do not drop fish bits throughout the woods. The growth of the trees slows. The amount of leave and shade around the water diminished. So do the numbers of fish and other organisms. When one species is impacted by habitat change, others can also be impacted. Fortunately, in this case. The dams were removed, people transplanted salmon eggs into the spawning ground. Those eggs eventually hatched and started their way to the ocean. And that started the ecosystem towards recovery. This can relate to the classroom. If a student is suffering from poor mental health due to trauma, or any other stressors it could upset the tone of the entire culture in the room. How do we break down the traumatic “dams” that are impacting mental health? Empathy and a willingness to surround the child with routines that offer support, and the comfort of knowing what’s next, and being part of and accepted by something that is bigger than oneself. Students can be the Sitka and salmon in the river that is a healthy classroom.
Guest Teachers on Diversity Makes Us Stronger
Once upon a time there were three sisters. But these sisters were not little girls or grown women. These sisters were vegetables. And even though all three of the sisters were a different species of plant, they were far stronger because of their differences. But before we meet the sisters let’s look at modern farming and monocultures. Imagine looking across a field and seeing row after row of wheat stretching into the distance. All at the same stage of growth, all due for harvest at the same time. All the same row after row. That is a monoculture which means the growth and cultivation of a single species of plant on a piece of agricultural land. That is big business farming. But that is also a big risk. Wheat (as any plant) has specific strengths and weaknesses. Aphids are insects and pests that can ruin wheat. If all you grow is wheat and aphids find it in large numbers, the entire crop could be destroyed. Suppose the farm is in the middle of an extremely high heat wave or a drought. All of that wheat could easily be destroyed. Monocultures run the risk of dying all together for reasons that are not controlled by the farmer. Monocultures are fragile and lack strength.34 Imagine a kindergarten carpet filled with all students who are excellent at math but need support and help at reading. This group of students would be excellent in math class. Unless they had to read a word problem then none of them could offer help to their classmates. Imagine a full carpet of kids that had all the same ideas. That would make for a very bad turn and talk or noticed and wonder. Back to the sisters. Indigenous people ranging from Montana to Mexico know the three sisters. Even more impressive they understand the natures of the sisters. The first sister is corn, the second beans, and the third sister is squash. When these three seeds are planted together in a mound of earth something special happens. Each of these sisters has unique abilities that the others cannot do. Corn for instance grows early and when it grows it grows tall and straight and strong. Beans form vines that curl and climb. Even more unique, beans can pull nitrogen from the air and use is to produce usable nutrients. Squash is also special. The leaves on squash are very wide and low to the ground. These leaves also grow bristles which make them unfavorable to caterpillars that enjoy eating crops. The specialness that happens when they are planted together goes like this; The corn plant sprouts first giving it a head start on the growing. When the bean sprouts, it unfurls leaves and begins to twirl vines around the corn stalk. As the bean climbs higher and higher up the stalk it draws nitrogen from the air and depositing the usable nutrients into the soils. These extra nutrients feed the corn and the squash. The wide, low leaves of the squash cover the ground. This ground cover blocks the sun and helps keep the earth below moist and full of water to aid the corn and beans. The bristles on those squash leaves discourage insects from nibbling on any of the sisters. Combinations of different crop growing together are called polycultures and they are much less risky than any monoculture. Because of the unique gifts of the sisters, they are stronger than they could ever have been if grown in isolation or in a monoculture. The lesson we can take from the three sisters is that when the students on the carpet have different viewpoints, ideas, skills, strengths and needs, our class is stronger. If our carpet was a monoculture, we would be fragile, not strong like the sisters. The things that make each of us unique are the things we should celebrate because uniqueness makes our classroom culture shine.
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