Over the last several weeks the kindergarten children have been delving deep into how the evolution of man came about.
Ignited by this, the children wished to further investigate how various animals evolved. Theories about how life first took form in the water to whether chickens are dinosaurs flew about. We decided to get an overview of the animal world through a unit of study on animal classification. Through sorting of toy animals in class where the children looked for common features like feathers and beaks for birds to bumpy, scaly skin for reptiles, our days were filled with plausible conjectures and fascinating facts!
Last week the Kindergarten children visited the zoo to see several animals in these ‘groups’ that gave them a visual reference of how the animal world is organized. The children saw cobras and pythons coiled up in the sunny patch of their cages that made them exclaim, “..they like the sun ‘cause they are cold blooded!” Fascinated by the birds they saw, they noticed how several birds like the eagles and peacocks had “one eye on each side of their face, except for the owl who has two eyes looking straight like us!” The children were amazed by the callings of several monkeys namely the gibbons that were almost uncontrollable in their cages as they were served their breakfast of fruits and some vegetables. They swung about wildly in their cages, shouting and howling, what seemed like a need to expend pent up energy from the long night. It made some children realize that “the cage is too small. He looks sad.” This opened up a window to discuss the role of humans in the animal world.
The trip to the zoo served more than one purpose, the most important one being embarking these little minds on their journey to be socially responsible citizens of the world!
Ms. Tara Mehta
Kindergarten 2 Homeroom Teacher
NAS Jakarta - Nord Anglia School Jakarta
