Connie Reichelt, Big Sandy's 5th grade teacher, and her husband Mark travelled to Africa over Christmas Vacation. She taught science to her 5th-grade class from Africa. "At 12:05 pm in Big Sandy, it was 10 pm where I was, so I had created a platform that was called Where in the World is Mrs. Reichelt. So first, they had to figure out where I was, and then after doing that, I gave them video lessons every day with questions about the different animals I was interacting with. I gave them a list of the animals they could choose from to make a presentation of that animal to their family, and then they had to return and present it to the class.
They had to know its habitat. What kind of animal is a mammal, a reptile, an amphibian? How the animals adapted to their habitat. So, for example, to show you, the first one was, why can't we drink seawater? Because I was in Amsterdam, learning about the canals and everything, we've been studying water. So that was the first one that they had to do. While I was in Lake Nakuru, they had videos on wild giraffes and the white rhino. They watch these videos, which are all from National Geographic. And then I have questions about them. These were the assignments they had to do every day. That was how I still taught and still went to Africa.
We went to Kigali, Rwanda, and the Volcanos National Park, where the gorillas live. There's a movie called
Hotel Rwanda, about the Romania genocide, where the head of the hotel, St Louis people, and we stayed there. It was really interesting. We also went to the Genocide Museum, which was a very difficult thing but a really amazing learning experience. If I had been teaching high school, it would have been something I could have taught. (But not 5th graders) From there, we flew into Nairobi, where my niece, her husband, and two kids live. We went and stayed with them, and from there, we did outreaches. We went to the Nairobi National Park. went to Ambala Lake, Nakuru, and the Messiah Mark. They spent their 34th wedding anniversary hiking with gorillas,
In Rwanda, the people are trying to get rid of gorilla poaching. So they're now called the Guardians of the Gorillas, and they do everything. They've made it so that anyone who was a poacher now has a means of earning an income without killing the gorillas.
I asked the students what animals they studied. Kanin picked the African Wild Dog. Why did you choose that? "I have a dog at home that looks just like him. The most interesting fact about the wild dogs is that they kill 80% of the prey they hunt."
Mariah picked the Cheetah. She didn't say much, so I told her, "When I went to Africa, I got to take a cheetah on a walk. He's very cool. They purr loud, just like a cat." She smiled
Rome. "I did Vervet Monkey. They're cool."
Marcus did a report on a tiger. "Their stripes are their strength. It makes them faster."
Eli-"I did Gorillas. They're a cool animal. They're very intelligent."
Titus. "I picked a Gorilla. There are only 1000 of a certain number of gorillas left. They're endangered."
Janey also picked the African gorilla. When I asked her why she picked it, she said, "Because my brother acts like one. The most interesting fact is that they share 98% DNA with us."
Sienna picked the Cape Buffalo. "They play team defense, which is when the lions come, forming a circle."
Dorothea picked a cheetah. "The most interesting fact is their tails. The reason they have long tails is to stop when they turn quickly. They can stop so they can turn without sliding. They can stop themselves from sliding. They're very fast."
Ryat picked a zebra because "they look like a horsey."
Adonia Terry was giving her presentation while I was there. She picked a Serval Cat. They have large ears. The spots are cool. It looks like a Cheeto.
