Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Food Chains

strange circle of life
ungainly walrus slays bear
grateful underdog


          This year I have been given a section of science to teach.  (I'm not a science teacher.)  I think I'm pulling it off well, though, as we have dug through owl pellets for bones and experimented with eating raw eggs.  Anyway, we watched a film about the circle of life today because we had been making mobiles that display various food chains.  It was eyeopening to see which kids rooted for the predators and which kids rooted for the prey.  Afterwards in a class discussion, some of my vegetarians said that they won't be mad when other people eat meat around them now because, "I guess meat's tasty to all animals!"  (I aim for accuracy, folks, but often accuracy takes the backseat in classroom discussions--i correct them on the big stuff.  For instance, recently one of the kids informed the class that Adam was white and Eve was black.  Hmmmmmm.....)  Another girl summed up the knowledge she had gained from the movie by yelling, "The circle of life sucks!"
          Long story short, the circle of life DOES suck.  And we are all predators and we are all prey.  For better or worse, we're the champions AND the underdogs.


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7 comments:

The Write Girl said...

Great haiku and interesting thoughts on the classroom. When I think of the circle of life, I flashback to the Lion King. But I agree the cirlce of life sucks.

Brian Miller said...

nice...pretty cool haiku....and a neat way of presenting the science lesson as well...we are predators and prey for sure...man tend to rock the top of the food chain but take away the tech and weapons could get a little scary...

hedgewitch said...

This is so true--and very well told. It's a trip being around kids because they are like little mirrors only with minds of their own. Enjoyed it.

Anonymous said...

Ok Mr./Mrs.(?) Circling the Cuckoo's nest, yuk! Owl pellets and raw eggs? Really? Man am I glad I didn't have you for zoology 101.... :) I agree in a way about us all being predators and prey, champions and underdogs at the same time.... Here we are living in the land of milk and honey and what is the only thing we try to do? (besides groveling through owl poop and eating raw bird larva) We try to figure out ways to get more milk and more honey... Too bad we can't teach them how to fix that... But owl poop and chicken larva is certainly a good start! Good job young teacher!

Dulçe ♥ said...

the champions AND the underdogs we are... so true.
Interesting post
:-)

ShonEjai said...

Wow! From one teacher to another this is just beautiful!

Carrie Van Horn said...

This is so true Templeton....I wanted to let you know that I have a little something for you over at my blog....you do not have to follow the rules of the award...i know you have a lot going on right now....i just want you to know that you are valued and admired in the blogger community!
:-)