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Among the Orangutans

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Among the Orangutans can easily be incorporated into a unit on the rain forest or endangered species. If you come up with some good ideas you'd like to share, please e-mail me and I'll include the best ones on this page! Meanwhile, here are some classroom activities to get you started.

Language Arts:
Have students write poems using the key word list below. Stage a poetry reading in the in the classroom. Invite volunteers to read their poems. For added fun, you may wish to provide a microphone and design French berets for your poets to wear during the performance.

arboreal
cheek pads
data
Dayak
endangered
extinct
frugivore
great ape
habitat
Indonesia
leech 		long call
mysterious
naturalist
offspring
Orangutans
primate
rehabilitation
science
sign language
smuggle
throat pouch


Read aloud the Discoveries chapter starting on page 22. Ask students to imagine they are field scientists. Have them write a journal entry describing a day in the field. Present questions or situations such as: "Today the rainy season began. Your camp is too close the river...," or "Today you encountered poachers in the forest..."

Science:
Set up: Explain that individual orangutans are as unique as individual humans. Primatologists use their keen observation skills to distinguish one orangutan from another. You'll need the following material for this activity:

Paper
Pencil
Oranges (one per student)
Larger paper bags

Divide students into small groups. Give each student an orange and five minutes to discover what is unique about it. Then hand each group a bag and have them put the oranges inside and mix them up. Each student must identify his or her own orange.

Follow-up: Have students choose and orangutan from one of the photos in Among the Organutans. Ask them to write their orangutan's name on a piece of paper. Then ask them to surround the name with a web of physical characteristics such as size, hair color, hair style, gender, amount of pigmentation on the face, identifying marks, etc. Then ask the students to compare their orangutans in a full class discussion.


You can send me mail at: EveGal22@aol.com