On Wednesday, January 16, Grade 1 visited Acres, an animal concerns organization here in Singapore. We learned lots about what animals need to live, be healthy, and stay safe.
Before leaving for the trip, we read I Was Walking Down the Road by Sarah E. Barchas. The story is about a little girl who collects animals as she finds them and puts them in cages. At the end of the story she decides to let them all go free. We discussed the issue of putting wild animals in cages:
Before leaving for the trip, we read I Was Walking Down the Road by Sarah E. Barchas. The story is about a little girl who collects animals as she finds them and puts them in cages. At the end of the story she decides to let them all go free. We discussed the issue of putting wild animals in cages:
- "Animals need to be free." (Jakob)
- "Animals don't belong in a cage." (Miri)
- "Some animals like guinea pigs and hamsters are okay to put in a cage because they aren't wild animals. They're pets." (Jack B.)
- "It's not okay to put a butterfly in a cage because then it won't have a place to lay eggs." (Chloe)
- "Same with snakes." (Scarlett)
- "If you put an animal in a cage it can't eat its own food." (Hana M.)
- "It's like taking someone away from his family." (Bailey)
- "Or like taking something away from its home." (Jakob)
After the trip we discussed what we had learned about animal protection in relation to one of our lines of inquiry: "The things that can affect life cycles". Through the sharing of personal stories and experiences, we decided on a few key points:
- Animals can get sick or break parts of their body like a wing.
- Sometimes people capture animals and take them away from their habitat.
- People destroy habitats by doing things like chopping trees.
- Animals can hunt and eat other animals. The special word for this is 'predators'.