by Sheila Schwartz
Humane education involves imparting facts, as well as sensitizing educators and students to the various social philosophies, attitudes and behaviors that humans exhibit towards other animals. An additional aim is to help students understand the ethical dilemmas generated by these different philosophies, in order that they may make informed judgments and take compassionate action. Topics typically include pets, wild or free-roaming animals, animals used in education and research, animals raised on farms, and the relationship between child abuse and animal abuse.
Grades K-2
Grades 3-6
Grades 7-12
Chimpanzees and me:
Read a book which depicts primate families, such as Chimpanzee Family by Jane Goodall. Discuss the similarities between the families of humans and other primates (e.g., caring for young for many years until they can succeed on their own; eating, resting and playing together; comforting one another; using tools). Who's who?
Discuss the different kinds of monkeys and apes, their names and distinguishing characteristics. Read a picture book about these primates, such asMonkeys and Apes by Kathryn Lumley, and have children practice naming the animals pictured. Let them test their knowledge by naming the monkeys and apes shown in drawings and photographs in other realistic books from the school library.
Preview library books carefully. Some may picture these intelligent primates alone in barren cages or performing tricks in a circus.
Question whether monkeys and apes are depicted in situations where their behavioral, social and physical needs are met.
A trip to the zoo:
Take a trip to visit the ape and monkey areas of a zoo. Arrange to be there at feeding time if possible. You may want to take along a book on monkey and apes in order to compare to the animals seen there. Take photographs of the animals and, later, have the children identify them. Note the animals' appearance, especially their tails or lack thereof. Also point out the physical environment, including features such as trees and structures to climb on. How do they live?
Look at books that show the foods that monkeys and apes eat, such as fruits, leaves, stems, bark, insects, birds and birds' eggs. Have children compare these to what humans eat. This can be tricky since there are some cultures who eat insects and some people who like the taste of cherry bark. Prepare a snack which apes and monkeys might eat. Find out where the animals sleep and how long they live.
Talking to apes: Discuss the use of sign language among humans and between humans and animals. Display materials from organizations such as Friends of Washoe and the Gorilla Foundation, and teach some of the sign language that apes at the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute have been taught to use. For example: "Come" or "give me" open hand, palm up, wrist or fingers beckoning; "Hug" or "love" forearms crossed across chest and upper arms, hands grasping arms; "Mine" open hand, palm against chest.
Monkey and ape habitat:
Turn part of the classroom into a monkey and ape habitat. Let the children design it, based on discussions of habitat and their observations at the zoo. Provide them with butcher paper, paints in earth tones, and leaves collected in the schoolyard or on a neighborhood walk in the fall (or students can draw leaves). Be sure the habitat contains representations of water (e.g., rivers, lakes) and food (e.g., fruit). Compare the created habitat to that seen in books and videos or at the zoo.
Big book: Design a big book about monkeys or apes. Children can draw pictures, color clip art and cut out pictures from magazines for illustration. Have students write or dictate a poem or a paragraph based on research findings. Be sure your book includes grade-appropriate information about the problems these animals face in the wild (habitat destruction, hunting and trapping, use as bushmeat) and in captivity (zoos which feature barred cages with concrete bottoms rather than natural-looking habitats, appropriate social groupings and activities to stimulate and challenge the animals).
Population predictions: Research and grath data on the ever-decreasing number of elephants through recorded history (reference: The Live Elephant Book or contact elephant protection organizations). Have students make predictions about elephant populations based on literature obtained from groups that are trying to save the elephant as well as from groups that think legal killing is necessary.
Family units: Have students research the structure of a typical elephant family unit in the wild. Who determines where the family will eat, drink and rest? Who helps care for elephant calves? How many elephants usually travel together? How many miles does an elephant family travel in one day? How long do elephants live?
Elephant communication: Have students research the different sounds elephants make (researcher Katherine Payne has distinguished barks, snorts, growls, roars, trumpets and rumbles). What percentage of elephant vocalizations, or "infrasounds," are too low for the human ear to detect? How do elephants change their postures and move their ears when greeting each other?
Elephants in captivity: Research the ways in which the lives of elephants in circuses and zoos differ from those of their wild cousins. What problems are associated with chaining an elephant in one place for many hours (e.g. deadly foot infections, psychological problems)? How do elephants in the wild cool their bodies (with leaves and mud)? How do elephants in captivity protect their sensitive skin from the hot sun? Why do elephants in circuses sometimes sway or rock back and forth (stereotypic behaviour)? Visit the local zoo and evaluate how well it meets the physical, behavioral and social need of elephants.
Mapping territories: Have students use maps to chart the ranges of elephants. Where did large populations once live? Where do most elephants live today in the wild? What type of habitats are are conducive to elephants' survival? Language Arts Family traits: Read, talk and write about the zoological family Elephant and the larger group of 160 related species that have a proboscis or trunk. Have students write reports describing elephants' trunk, tusks, teeth, eating habits, how elephants help a sick or injured member of their family, elephant mourning of the dead, elephant babies and efforts to save the elephant.
Elephant art: A study of elephants lends itself to a wealth of art possibilities. Stick puppets can be made using elephant clip art. Dioramas can incorporate clay figures of elephants in different environments. Masks of elephants can be made for a classroom dramas or bulletin board displays. Encourage students to make the details of each elephant's ears slightly different. (The vein patterns in the ears and the shapes of the ear edges are as individual as human fingerprints.) Research and write reports on artwork created by elephants.
Pro and con: Have students read, report and debate on the wide
spectrum of beliefs and actions humans exhibit towards animals,
including animals raised for research or human consumption.
Students might use materials obtained from animal-welfare,
animal- rights and vegetarian organizations as well as circuses,
zoos, medical research facilities and intensive farms.
Telling their stories: Have students research an animal of their choice, and then write and share reports or stories (e.g., "A Day In the Life of . . .") that describe the animal's physical characteristics, life history, diet, social relationships, communication and behavior. Students' creative stories featuring animals as main characters can be the basis of dramatic presentations on topics such as humans' treatment of animals, ecological relationships in the wild, and the contrast between life in the wild and life in captivity.
Protection of species: Research the native geographical ranges of a threatened or endangered animal. Find out what protection measures, if any, have been legislated by the governments of the countries concerned and how effective these measures are.
Research and report on the cultural attitudes and economic forces that jeopardize the protection of species, including human encroachment on habitat and the lucrative illegal trade in live animals and animal parts.
Animals in art: Students can use a variety of media such as watercolors, charcoal and pastels to depict animals in the wild, in captivity, and on both free-range and intensive farms. Encourage them to interpret and communicate what might be the emotional state of the animals depicted. Students may wish to contact people and organizations involved in depicting these animals in art such as Tiso, an artist whose lithographs and paintings focus exclusively on monkeys and apes (http://members.aol.com/artprimate/ tiso.html). Sue Coe's art focuses on animal issues such as vivisection and intensive farming as well as other social issues (http://graphicwitness.org/coe).
Can they suffer? Discuss how we care for animals in our society and how we neglect them. Do all animals have the right to live without human interference? Excellent references for discussion of ethics are Zoe Weil's Animals In Society and Peter Singer's Animal Liberation in which he points to the capacity for suffering as the vital characteristic that gives a being the right to moral consideration.
Fair projects: Suggest science fair projects on any of the following investigations: * What are the physical and behavioral needs of farm animals (one or more breeds)? Are these needs met on farms in your region or country? What are the effects of factory farming, both on the animals and on humans? What are the attitudes of students in your school or adults in your community toward spaying and neutering of cats and dogs? What methods are used to treat illness in cats and dogs, such as vitamin therapy, acupuncture and homeopathic remedies? * When people (e.g., students in the school) are given information on a particular topic (vegetarianism, furs, animals raised on farms, spaying/neutering), does it change their attitudes and behaviour? Which cleaning agent is most useful for cleaning crude oil from the feathers of birds exposed to oil spills, and what are the consequences of these cleaning processes on these birds? How promising is the use of tissue cell culture as an alternative to experimentation on animals?
Sheila Schwartz is a retired elementary school teacher and the current chair of the United Federation of Teachers Humane Education Committee in New York City. More detailed humane education activities and links to related sites can be found on the Humane Education Committee's web site at http://www.uft.org/humane.œ