Multi x Education
Animal x Education program @ Sus juku
Autumn program
Creating a scenery of wild animals eating the blessing from the nature
Oct 2012
I had a chance to go back to Japan to visit Sus juku. There I ran the autumn program for the students.
The first topic of the autumn program was the nature's blessings and the wild animals that eat them. In Japan the seasonal change is very clear and a lot of plants produce food in this season such as percimon (kaki fruit), chesnuts and mushrooms. The animals in the mountain also become very active in this season to feed on these food before the winter. In the above scene we made monkeys, bears and racoons as a few examples.
(=The wild animals that feed on the nature's blessings)
(=And we humans also live on nature's blessings too!)
(=Let's make it!)
After completing the scene, the students wrote down the title of the scene and it was hung on the wall.
I really enjoyed meeting the students and running the program for them.
Discussing the issues between humans and wildlife
Oct 2012
In the next lesson, I invited my close friend Ran Morita for the lesson. She is a vet student who has been involved in the issues between humans and wildlife, which was the second topic of the autumn program.
In these days wild animals do not have enough food in the mountains and often come down to human residential areas to steal food. The scene above illustrates some monkeys that steal food from the farm and people's garden. One monkey is about to go into the trap.
We have lead the discussion with the students how to solve such problems in a sustainable way. It might have been a heavy topic for primary school students, but it was very interesting how young children come up with some solutions that are unique but actually doable.
(=How would you feel if your vegies that you grew with care were eaten by animals?)
(=Let's find the ways to get along with the wild animals!)
※The above two Powerpoint slides were made by Ran Morita. Special thanks!