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Elephants. Never Forget. Teaching Guide and Lessons
- Jayson McCormick
- 2 years ago
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1 Elephants Never Forget Teaching Guide and Lessons Elementary Edition (Ages 8-10) In the past century, the number of elephants in the wild has declined by 50 per cent. Their disappearance could devastate ecosystems and have a lasting impact on the biodiversity of our planet. I hope this program will inspire and empower you to help protect elephants worldwide. - Leonardo DiCaprio, Actor & Activist
2 DECADE OF EDUCATIO N FOR SUSTAIN ABLE DEVELOP M ENT Learning Objectives The lessons in this program meet learning objectives in science, social studies, and language arts. Among other program goals, students will learn life science concepts, practice purposeful reading and comprehension strategies, and conduct role-play, public speaking and other activities that encourage understanding and presentation of various viewpoints and perspectives on an issue. Teaching Guide Contents Pages Informational Text: Page 10:... Glossary Pages Lessons & Worksheets Companion DVD The educational video runs for about 18 minutes and is appropriate for general youth audiences. The DVD also includes PDF documents of this guide plus many more program materials, an interactive poster, and much more! Online Resources IFAW s Animal Action education programs offers a wealth of free resources on themes related to animals and conservation. Find them online at: Animal Action Education Each year, IFAW launches a new thematic education program focusing on animals and the environment. Standards-based educational materials are locally adapted for free distribution in eight languages and 15+ countries, reaching more than 5,000,000 young people worldwide each year. For more information about IFAW and the Animal Action education program, or call The Animal Action Education program is supported by: Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation Foundation M Wallace Genetic Foundation International partners: US PARTNERSHIP Animal Action Education is a program of: How to Use This Program Elephants, Never Forget aims to educate students about wild elephants and their unique role in our shared world, including topics related to biodiversity and habitats, as well as some of the issues and challenges elephants face. Here s one possible approach to teaching this program: 1. Introduce Topic and Develop Content Knowledge Video (on DVD), Lesson Plan 1, Worksheet 1, Video Quiz A. Video Viewing View the video with your class to build background and tap into students prior knowledge about elephants. Students may use Worksheet 1 to build background around key vocabulary as they watch the video. Following the viewing, students may take the short Video Quiz and discuss what they have learned. B. Read Text Pages Use suggestions from Lesson 1 to prepare students to read the Text pages in this guide. During reading, students may also use Worksheet 1 to record information about key vocabulary. 2. Conduct Lesson Activities Teaching Guide: Text Pages, Lesson Plans and Worksheets Lesson 2 focuses on understanding concepts of habitat loss and building empathy for elephants; Lesson 3 presents activities to support the learning about biodiversity and the interactions between elephants and other species in their ecosystems; Lesson 4 and Worksheet 2 provide a narrative about an elephant rescue with various possible written, dramatic, and discussion-oriented activities; Lesson 5 guides students to categorise and compare threats to elephants with threats to other animal species to reflect topics described in the text; Lesson 6 and the News Article Handout guides students to communicate an argument taking account of different viewpoints, drawing upon on what they have learned through research and debate. More optional lessons are on the companion DVD, or online: ifaw.org.lessons 3. Extend Learning and Take Action Teaching Guide: Lessons. Plus: Interactive Poster Guide, Take Action for Elephants Leaflet, Elephants Crafts and Activities Pages Use the optional suggestions within the lessons as homework or extra projects to reinforce learning. There is also an Interactive Poster, perfect for whiteboard or individual student exploration. Younger students may enjoy some fun elephant crafts and learning activities on the Crafts, Activities and Coloring pages. Suggestions for individual and group action to raise awareness about elephant issues can be found in the supplemental Join the Herd: Take Action flyer. To access these resources online, visit: Ground Rules Activity Prior to discussions that may involve strong views or feelings, many teachers and students like to develop ground rules within their classrooms to promote positive listening, respect, and sensitivity to different points of view. Ask the class to pair up and answer the following question: How do people behave toward me that makes me feel confident and comfortable to talk with them about things that really matter to me? Ask the pairs to move into groups of six and share their ideas. Have them make a list of the behaviors that all six can understand and agree with. These may include: 1. They listen to me. 2. They don t laugh. 3. They don t shout out what I say to other people. Follow the footprints... Look for this symbol to lead you to additional lessons, activities & resources. Gather the whole class and ask each group to report their list one behavior at a time. Check for understanding and agreement with the whole class. Only write down those behaviors that everybody accepts and understands. Steer the group towards identifying clearly observable behaviors rather than broad concepts. Display the list as a means to encourage individuals to take responsibility for their actions within the group. IFAW 2011 Front cover images: IFAW/D. Willetts; Tom Munro/JBG Photo
3 Elephants Never Forget lephants are big really big. They are the largest land animals in the world. They are also clever and sensitive. Elephants have good memories they can remember their relatives for a long time. They care for their families and appear to show sadness when loved ones die. These animals are strong and gentle. They are also in danger. Today, many herds of wild elephants are fighting to survive. Many thousands of years ago, large elephantlike mammals called American mastodons and woolly mammoths roamed the earth. These ancient relatives of today s elephants are now extinct. Elephants in Africa About 10 feet tall at shoulder IFAW/J. Hrusa Males weigh up to 13,200 pounds IFAW/M. Booth Elephants in Asia 8 10 feet tall at shoulder Males weigh up to 11,000 pounds IFAW/J. Hrusa Today, there are two main groups of elephants African and Asian. They are easy to tell apart if you know what to look for. Scientists have also discovered that African elephants may include two different species forest elephants and savannah elephants. Savannah elephants are larger than forest elephants. Their ears are bigger and their tusks are more curved. All elephants are herbivores. They eat grasses, bark, twigs, leaves, and fruit. They can spend 18 hours each day eating. An adult elephant might eat more than 400 pounds of food in one day. They also need about gallons of water each day. They travel long distances to find it. manatee hyrax Huge ears cover shoulders Flat back with a dip in the middle Long tusks on both males and females Skin is more wrinkled and brownish-grey Flat crown of head with no dent in middle Large ears don t reach shoulders Rounded back Shorter tusks, only found on some males Skin is less wrinkled; grey to brown, with pink patches Crown of head has a dome shape with dent in middle Believe it or not, these animals are relatives of elephants! 3
4 Big Is Just the Beginning Elephants bodies have many unusual and useful parts. Their trunk and tusks are great tools for eating, communicating, and other tasks. Elephants large ears and feet are useful too. In fact, most things about their bodies help them to survive. Besides having amazing bodies, elephants have amazing brains! One thing their brains help them do is work well together in groups. Elephants live in family groups of female elephants of all ages and young male elephants. Females stay with the same group for their whole lives. Males usually leave the group when they are between 12 and 17 years old. They live alone or together in small herds. Ears: The Asian elephant in this picture has big ears. And African elephants have even bigger ears! Elephants fan their ears to cool down. They also use them to hear faraway sounds, shoo insects, show feelings, and make themselves look bigger when facing enemies. Tusks: The tusks are overgrown teeth. Elephants use tusks to carry things, pull bark off trees, clear paths, dig for roots and water, fight enemies, and impress other elephants. Hair: Elephants have very little hair. IFAW/D. Willetts Elephants rest their trunks on each other s foreheads to show friendship. An older female elephant called a matriarch leads each group. She keeps the elephants safely together and helps them find food and water. She makes important decisions, such as when to charge and when to flee from danger. She also teaches other females about caring for their young. Elephants show their amazing memories by remembering relatives after years of being apart. When they meet, they sometimes turn in circles, flap their ears, and trumpet loudly. Elephants have emotions, and the females form strong relationships. They may celebrate births with trumpeting. They may take turns shading an injured calf. Elephants kiss or wrap trunks to show affection. They play games, such as throwing around objects. When an elephant dies, its relatives may bury it with leaves and Skin: Elephants can get sunburnt and suffer insect bites. To protect their skin, they roll in mud or give themselves dust showers. Also, water trapped in skin wrinkles cools down elephants. twigs. Even years after a death, elephants may visit the bones and mourn. Trunk: A trunk is a nose and an upper lip. This useful body part helps elephants smell, eat, scratch, greet friends, threaten enemies, and move or throw things. Elephants might use trunks as shower heads or as snorkels when they swim! Mouth: Elephants back teeth are the size of bricks. Feet: Their feet have thick padding. The padding softens elephants heavy tread. IFAW/R. Janes Tail: Elephants use their tails to shoo insects. A young elephant will sometimes follow its mother by grasping her tail with its trunk. 4 IFAW/Dusty Foot Productions
5 Elephants usually travel one behind the other, like this herd of elephants in Kenya s Tsavo National Park. IFAW has been helping to restore habitat and support wildlife rangers in this huge park. Key Roles of Elephants Scientists consider elephants to be keystone species. This means they have an important role in maintaining the biodiversity the wide variety of plant and animal species of their ecosystems. One way elephants help their ecosystems is by eating. As elephants in a forest eat, they create gaps in the vegetation. These gaps allow new plants to grow and create pathways for other animals. In West Africa, forest elephants are the only animals big enough to eat the branches of some large trees. They spread the seeds from these trees through their dung. The dung fertilizes the seeds as they grow into new plants. Many of these trees would disappear without the help of elephants. IFAW/R. Janes IFAW/D. Willetts Elephants that live on the savannah eat the sprouts of trees and shrubs. This keeps the plants from growing out of control and blocking sunlight. If sunlight did not reach the savannah s grasses, they would die. Antelopes and other animals that graze on the grasses would disappear. And the carnivores that depend on those grazers for food would disappear too. During the dry season, savannah elephants use their tusks to dig water holes that other animals can use. These water holes may be the only sources of water in the area. Long-Distance Communication Elephants communicate by grunting, whistling, snorting, bellowing, rumbling, trumpeting, and more. Some sounds elephants make are too low for humans to hear. But other elephants may hear these sounds from more than 5 miles away. These sounds help elephant groups communicate for weeks without ever getting close together. Elephants also communicate by stomping. These sounds may travel 20 miles or more through the ground. It s a Fact! An elephant trunk has tens of thousands of muscles. A whole human body has fewer than 650! Elephants can collect water in a special pouch in their throat. They can spray it later, when they get hot. Baby elephants suck their trunks, just as children suck their thumbs. The eating habits of this calf and other elephants help support forest biodiversity. To help elephants move between areas of protected habitat, IFAW recently protected a migration route in India used by more than 1,000 elephants. 5
6 Room to Roam African elephants used to roam through much of Africa. However, their range is now smaller because people are clearing more land for farming and living space. Today, elephants live in parts of 37 African countries. They live in protected parks and places with little human settlement. The range of Asian elephants has also shrunk. They now live in parts of 14 Asian countries, in forest, scrub, and grassland areas. ASIA AFRICA stimated historical E elephant range robable current range P of Asian elephants As elephants are being crowded out of their habitats, they are being left with small patches of disconnected land. This habitat fragmentation creates more conflicts between people and elephants. Roads and railways have cut off many of the old elephant migration routes. Or, the routes take herds through new farms and settlements. Herds have trouble getting to food and water. They also may not meet other elephant groups, so the elephants have fewer choices of mates. This is not healthy for the elephant population. Climate Change Climate change happens when gases in the air keep heat near the earth. This causes the earth to warm over time. Climate change can cause many problems, such as floods or droughts (long periods without rain). During a drought, there may not be enough water for animals and people. Protecting elephant habitats especially forests can limit the effects of climate change. Forests capture some of the gases that otherwise trap heat. Therefore, protecting elephant habitat may be helpful for all plants and animals even people. Shutterstock, Inc./TFoxFoto Because of these problems, conservation groups are working to protect elephants habitats and migration routes. They are also protecting strips of land that connect one patch of habitat to another. Elephants can move safely between areas of their habitat along these elephant corridors. 6 robable current range P of African elephants Source: IUCN (current ranges)
7 Elephants and Us Elephants are important to the history, lives and culture of people in Asia and Africa. They are gods in some religions. They are celebrated at festivals. They are included in weddings. For hundreds of years, people have used elephants as work animals for transportation and for lifting heavy objects. They have even been trained and used in wars. Today, tour guides use them to carry people and to frighten away predators. IFAW/L. Aidong China s last rain forest, Xishuangbanna (shee-shuang-bahnnah), has fewer than 300 elephants the last ones in China. Elephants in China face many challenges due to human activities. In 2003, IFAW began to help people find new ways to make money, so they wouldn t need to farm in elephants habitat. IFAW also helped teach people about elephant conservation. In recent years, problems between elephants and people have grown. Elephants have had to IFAW/R. Janes In India and other Asian countries, elephant keepers, called mahouts, train elephants to carry people and other loads. The elephants shown here help patrol for poachers. compete with people for space, food, and water. They sometimes wander into villages and fields, looking for food. Farmers drive elephants away to protect their farms, often killing or injuring elephants. People may also be killed by elephants during these clashes. Sometimes, people have turned to culling, or killing some elephants to control the elephant population. They may kill individual elephants or entire families. It is very disturbing to elephants that see the killings. They may become very sad, avoid other elephants, or act more aggressively. In some African countries, people can connect protected areas to make mega-parks where people and elephants don t meet. In ways such as this, people are working to stop conflicts between people and elephants before they happen. To the Rescue Jumbo Move An IFAW rescue and rehabilitation centre in Assam, India helps Asian elephant calves who are injured or orphaned before they are old enough to survive on their own. When a calf is found in trouble, rescuers first try to bring it back to its herd. If that isn t possible, the calves are raised at the centre until they are one to two years old. Then they are released into a protected wildlife reserve. As of 2011, 13 orphaned elephant calves had been released back to the wild. IFAW/R. Janes In Malawi, Africa, IFAW safely moved an entire herd of 83 elephants to prevent conflicts with people. The elephants are now roaming free in a protected wildlife reserve in another part of the country. This IFAW project shows that conflicts between humans and elephants don t have to end in violence. IFAW 7
8 The Trouble with Tusks Millions of wild elephants once roamed the continents of Africa and Asia. But scientists believe that there are only half as many elephants now as there were about 100 years ago. One of the biggest reasons for this is the killing of elephants for their ivory tusks. Ivory has been used by people for thousands of years. It is used to make piano keys, fancy chopsticks, and other luxury trinkets. But the only way to get ivory is from a dead elephant. The buying and selling of ivory was banned following a 1989 agreement among governments. But elephants are still illegally poached because many people still want to buy ivory, and there is not enough protected habitat. Also, in many poor countries, it is difficult to enforce the laws. Ivory and the Law In 1989, a treaty called the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) gave all wild elephants the highest level of protection. The buying and selling of ivory and other body parts from African and Asian elephants was banned. But a change in the agreement allowed ivory stockpiles to be sold a few times since then. The sellers said the ivory came from elephants that had died naturally, but many people think that the elephants had been killed. Conservationists say that If it is legal to sell any ivory, there s always the chance for poachers to smuggle illegal ivory and sell it. And it s impossible for people to tell the difference between legal and illegal ivory. Many people around the world believe that the ivory trade must be completely stopped for African and Asian elephants to survive. IFAW/D. Willetts Conservation organizations are working to protect elephants from poachers. They help enforce the ban on trading ivory and work to teach people not to buy ivory products of any kind. 8 Internet Trading The Internet has become an easy place for people to illegally trade wildlife and wildlife products. IFAW discovered that close to three-quarters of wildlife products offered online in 11 countries were real elephant ivory. As a result, the Internet auction site ebay banned the sale of ivory at the start of People can help save elephants by choosing not to buy ivory online or anywhere else. IFAW/D. Willetts In addition, scientists have a new way to help end elephant poaching. They are now able to examine ivory and figure out which living elephants are relatives of the elephants that were killed for the ivory. This research tells scientists where the ivory came from and where elephants were killed. This helps law enforcement officials and other people working to protect elephants to identify the places where a lot of poaching is taking place.
9 Saving Elephants If the ivory trade is allowed to grow and elephants habitats continue to shrink, then elephants will continue to be in serious danger. Conservation groups are working hard to save elephants. Governments, organizations, businesses, and communities must all work together to protect elephants and their habitats. Elephants are extremely important for conservation. Protecting elephants means that more plants and animals and more ecosystems will also be conserved. The extinction of elephants would be terrible for many other species. And it would be a tragic loss of one of the wisest and most beloved of all animals. This African elephant mother and calf roam at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro in Amboseli National Park, Kenya, where IFAW works with renowned elephant scientist Cynthia Moss. Moss has followed these elephants since Her findings have provided incredible insights into elephant society, intelligence, and ecology. IFAW also supports community conservation projects with local Masai groups and partners with the Kenya Wildlife Service on anti-poaching efforts. IFAW/C. Cullen 9
10 Glossary biodiversity: biological diversity; a measurement of variation in species, genes, and living communities in an area carnivores: meat-eating animals conservation: the protection or careful use of something, such as a species or a natural resource ecosystems: interacting communities of plants, animals, and the nonliving components of the environments in which these plants and animals live elephant corridors: pathways that elephants travel between habitat areas endangered species: species that are in great danger of dying out completely extinct: no longer living (as in a species that no longer lives on Earth) genetic diversity*: variety in the code for inherited traits of an entire species habitat fragmentation: the process of breaking up a habitat into smaller and more disconnected patches herbivores: animals that eat only plants keystone species: species that strongly affect the structure and function of an ecosystem, as a keystone in an arch affects its strength matriarch: the female leader of a family group migration: the movement of animals from one place to another poached: hunted and killed illegally range: the entire area where a type of wild animal lives rehabilitation: restoration to a state of health or normal activity after a period of difficulty savannah: a flat grassland without many trees smuggling: illegally moving goods into or out of a country species: a group of living things that are similar and can have babies stockpiles: large, stored-up supplies
11 Lesson 1: Building Knowledge - Video and Text Learning Outcomes: Students will tap into prior knowledge, make connections as they view a video and read an informational text about elephants, understand essential vocabulary related to elephants, and comprehend important information about elephants. Viewing/Reading: Younger Students Before/During Viewing the Video 1. Ask pairs of students to discuss things they know about elephants. Then ask each pair to share what they know with the group as you record their information on flipchart paper in the K column of a KWL chart. K Know W Wonder L Learned 2. Next, ask pairs what they wonder about elephants. Tell each pair to come up with at least one question and write it on a sticky note. Have the pairs share their question(s) with the class as they stick each one on the chart in the W column. 3. Show the video. After Viewing the Video 4. Independently or as a group, have your students take the Video Quiz. When they are finished, discuss what students learned about elephants. Use questions such as the following to stimulate discussion. How does an elephant use its trunk? How do elephants talk to each other? In what ways are elephants like people? What are ways that elephants help other animals? How do people both help and create dangers for elephants? 5. Ask students which questions on the KWL chart have been answered. Remove these sticky notes and have students help you write what they learned in the L column. Before/During Reading the Text 6. Preview the text, images and glossary with students. Discuss the meanings of some or all of the words. 7. Read the text aloud or ask students to read independently. Provide Worksheet 1 as an optional resource or homework. After Reading the Text 8. Use the question prompts above to discuss the written text. 9. With students, review the questions on the KWL chart to decide whether they have been answered. If any questions remain unanswered, help students think of Internet and print sources they could use to find answers. Viewing/Reading: Older/Advanced Students Before/During Viewing the Video 1. Allow students to connect to prior knowledge by discussing in pairs what they know about elephants. 2. Show the video. 3. Have students take the Video Quiz with partners or independently. 4. Give each student a copy of Worksheet 1. Read the terms and explain that they are important to elephants and the problems they face. Ask students to write in the second column how they think each term relates to elephants. (You may provide dictionaries for reference.) After Viewing the Video 5. Ask partners to discuss their answers to the Video Quiz and what they wrote in the second column of Worksheet 1. Have students write on their worksheets what they feel is the most important information. They may use the backs of their worksheets if needed. 6. As a group, discuss the video and the students responses to the Quiz and Worksheet 1. Ask students what they thought were the video s most important points and summarize these on a class chart. Before/During Reading the Text 7. Have students preview the text, images and glossary of terms. 8. Have students read the text independently or with partners, pairing strong readers with less-able readers. After Reading the Text 9. After reading, use these question prompts to help students consolidate understanding: How do elephants use their trunks? In what ways are elephants social animals? How do elephants help maintain biodiversity? How do elephants tusks help them survive but also put them in danger? How do people both help and harm elephants? Have students add the information from the reading to their worksheets and help you add to the class chart. What s Your View? Extend learning during pre- or post- video viewing and text reading by exploring perspectives with a lesson, What s Your View, from our Under One Sky program. Download online at: Bringing It Home: Invite your students to imagine and explore through colorful artwork, an essay, short story, poem, or another creative project the topic: A day in a world without elephants. Submit original student artwork to the Animal Action Art Contest. All the details and an entry form can be found at: 11
12 Elephants, Never Forget Worksheet 1: Viewing/Reading Guide Name Date: Directions: Use the boxes to fill in information about how each word relates to elephants. Word How is the word related to elephants? What I found out tusks trunk communicate matriarch poaching biodiversity keystone species Most Important Facts
13 Elephants, Never Forget Video Quiz Name Date: What have you learned from the film you just watched? Answer the questions below. 1. Which of the following is NOT related to today s elephants? a) a pig b) a manatee c) a woolly mammoth 2. Which adaptation helps elephants cool off on the African savannah? a) padded feet b) large ears c) long tusks 3. Elephant tusks are teeth. a) true b) false 4. How much might an African bull elephant weigh? a) as much as a young child b) as much as 6 children c) as much as 80 people 5. Which of the following is NOT something an elephant could do with its trunk alone? a) carry a tree trunk b) pick up a blade of grass c) drink water 6. Which of the following is a way that elephants help their habitats? a) Elephants create a huge amount of methane gas that cleans the air. b) Elephants produce a huge amount of dung that helps spread plants. c) Elephants make loud vibrations that knock down trees to make room for grass. 7. What best describes how elephants living near people get into conflict? a) When elephants get bored, they chase people, trample crops, and destroy villages. b) When elephants run out of plants, they eat other animals that people hunt for food. c) When elephants run out of space, they move into human areas and both people and elephants can get hurt. 8. What are three ways that elephants have been important to humans in history? 9. What are three threats to elephants today? 10. Why does the author write that it s important we don t forget elephants? Answers: 1. a; 2. b; 3. a; 4. c; 5. c; 6. b; 7. c; 8. Answers may include: for transportation, heavy lifting, war, and religion; 9. Answers may include: building roads and railways that break up migration routes, destruction of habitat, poaching for the sale of tusks/ivory, climate change effects, and conflicts between people and elephants over living space; 10. It s your decision!
14 Lesson 2: Understanding Habitat - Simulation & Role Play Learning Objectives: Students will be introduced to concepts of habitat loss and fragmentation by taking part in activities that help them empathise with elephants and use skills in persuasive writing and public speaking. Introducing the Text (all ages/abilities) 1. Read the text sections Big Is Just the Beginning, Room to Roam, and Climate Change aloud. 2. Read the questions below and write them on the board. Ask students to turn and talk to a partner about each question before they discuss it as a group. Model how to find answers in the text and how to infer from text clues. What reasons does the text give for loss or fragmentation of elephant habitat? (farming, settlement, climate change, disruptions due to road and railway building) How does habitat loss create problems for elephants? (changes access to food and water, increases conflicts with humans, isolates groups, limits mating choices, increases illness) What are some things people can do to help elephants habitat issues? (make elephant corridors, preserve habitat, use less paper so forests aren t cut down, use less energy to limit climate change effects, write to leaders, educate others) 3. Ask students to help you create a shared diagram on flipchart paper that lists/ illustrates the effects of habitat loss. One example of how your completed chart may look is pictured at right. Farming Fragmentation Elephants Eat Crops Less Food/ Space Blocks Migration Corridors Conflicts Increase Elephants Starve Isolates Groups Habitat Loss Simulation 1. Write the following scenario on the board: A local village has expanded the number of houses and the amount of farmland around it, which has meant a loss of 25 per cent of the elephants habitat. What does this mean for the elephants? 2. Ask students to measure the size of the classroom and record the area on the board. Then have students calculate how much area is lost if 25 per cent is removed. Record this. 3. Ask students to create habitat islands that are respectively 50 per cent and 25 per cent of the original total area. Help them mark these spaces on the floor with string or rope. 4. Assign about 75 per cent of the class to the bigger space and 25 per cent to the smaller space. Conduct regular class activities with students sitting in the reduced spaces. Tell them that the two groups cannot communicate. 5. Discuss with students how losing communication and 25 per cent of their classroom space affected them. How did sitting so close make them feel? Was it harder to go about normal activities? How might elephants feel about the loss of 25 per cent of their habitat? What might they do? 6. Mark off paths that students follow to resources such as reference books, lunch bags, or water fountains. Then close off these corridors. Have students attempt to go about their normal activities with their regular classroom routes blocked. Make comparisons to elephants cut off from water or a traditional migration route. Habitat Loss Role-Play 1. Write the following words on flash cards: mothers, babies, food, water, travelling, health, enemies, and communicating. 2. Assign partners and tell students they are elephants. Have each pair pick a card. Explain that each pair is going to discuss how the word on their card relates to them, as elephants, living in two different situations. One elephant is living in a wide, open area that has been unaffected by human settlement. The other elephant is living near a village that has been expanding into his/her habitat. 3. For younger/less-able students, you may need to model examples. Say: I picked the card for water. First, I am an elephant living in a wide, open space. I sometimes need to travel a long distance in search of water. There is a drought and I can t find enough water.... Next, I am an elephant living near people. The water is on the other side of the village. My herd tramped through the village to get to the water. The people got angry and killed some of my herd. 4. After students have discussed the word from the perspective of both elephants, have them create a dialogue, sharing the two elephants points of view. 14
15 Lesson 3: Elephants & Ecosystem Connections Learning Objective: Students will understand the importance of elephants in their ecosystems, the interrelationships they have with plants and other animals, and the roles they play in maintaining biodiversity. Ecosystem Connections: Younger Students 1. Read the text section Key Roles of Elephants (from the Primary Edition) aloud to students as they follow along. 2. Help students begin to understand the roles of elephants in their ecosystems. The concepts of biodiversity and keystone species discussed in the text will be difficult for many students, so focus on the concrete jobs of elephants (write this phrase on the board). Highlight phrases from the text such as the following and have pairs of students discuss them and draw pictures to represent them. As elephants in a forest eat, they create gaps in the vegetation. These gaps allow new plants to grow and create pathways for other animals. They spread the seeds from these trees through their dung. The dung fertilises the seeds as they grow into new plants. During the dry season, savannah elephants use their tusks to dig water holes that other animals can use. 3. Have the pairs of students share their drawings with the larger group. Discuss as necessary. Then discuss the more complex cause-and-effect series from the text about savannah elephants eating trees and shrubs, encouraging grass growth, and in turn helping grazers and predators that eat grazers. As a group, map this series of relationships on the board. Then expand this cause-effect chain to a web by adding other side effects from grass growth, presence of grazers, and so on. Animal Classification and Relationships 1. As a class, brainstorm and list animals and insects that live on the African savannah with elephants. Some are: antelopes, ants, cheetahs, dung beetles, gazelles, hyenas, meerkats, raptors, rhinoceroses, and vultures. 2. Have students suggest ways to organise the animals on the list into categories for example, by ecological role or niche (producers, herbivores, carnivores, grass eaters, scavengers) or by taxonomic group (birds, insects, mammals). 3. Optional: Have each student research one animal and its relationship to elephants. Assign several students to each chosen animal. After they research individually, have students with the same animal discuss findings in small groups before reporting to the class. As a class, discuss why it is important to biodiversity that elephants survive on the grasslands. Ecosystem Connections: Advanced Students 1. Have students reread Key Roles of Elephants (from the Secondary Edition). 2. Write the question prompts below on the board. Place students in groups to discuss them. What is biodiversity? (biological diversity, a measurement of variation in species, genes, and ecological communities) How do forest elephants help maintain biodiversity in their habitat? (create gaps in vegetation that allow new plants to grow; spread seeds in dung which germinate and grow) How do savannah elephants affect grazing animals such as zebras and gazelles? How do they affect predators such as lions? How do they affect smaller animals such as birds and insects? (maintain grassland, which feeds grazers and in turn provides food for predators such as lions; create water holes for other animals to drink from) What would happen to animals in forests and grasslands if elephants were to disappear? (ecosystem would be altered; other species that depend on the ecosystem in its current form would die) 3. Have each group create an ecosystem relationships map on a large sheet of flipchart paper that shows the web of connections and interactions between elephants on one side and another animal that shares their habitat (such as the savannah animals listed above) on the other. You might start by having the groups research one or more of these animals on the Internet or from other sources. 4. Once the maps are complete, call the groups together for a class discussion and ask groups to share their visuals. Explore Your World: Eco-investigation Extend classroom learning by taking your students outside to discover animals, biodiversity and ecosystem connections close to home. IFAW s Eco-investigation Lesson and Worksheet is based on basic fieldwork techniques that introduce students to local biodiversity through visual identification during a guided study of an outside area you have identified, such as the school yard, a nearby park, meadow, or conservation area. The lesson also helps promote better understanding of the impact of human activities on animals and habitat. The Eco-investigation Lesson and Worksheet can be found on the companion DVD or online at: 15
16 Lesson 4: Responding to a Narrative Learning Objectives: Students will read about an elephant rescue and choose from a variety of response activities. Students will apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate the text. Introducing the Text (all ages/abilities) 1. Ask students to read the text on Worksheet 2 silently. For younger/less-able students, read the text aloud while they follow along. 2. To ensure understanding of the text, use these prompts: What does the fact that the elephants were at the farm suggest about their habitat? What do you know about the way the farmers felt about the elephants? Why did each baby elephant have its own caretaker? Why did the caretakers take the babies on walks together? 3. Allow students to choose from the list of activities on Worksheet 2 as a follow-up response to the text. Help lessable readers choose an activity that they can complete. Work with these students to help them complete the activity or have them work in pairs to complete it. Further discussion of the activities is included below. Rewrite the Story from an Elephant s Perspective Make sure students understand that the text s point of view is that of an outside observer telling the perspectives of all the participants: the elephants in the herd, the baby, and the workers. To rewrite the text, students need to focus on just the point of view of the baby. Model how they can do this through first-person narrative, allowing them the freedom to change the story at any point if it helps them to write creatively and in character. First person modeling: Suddenly, I heard loud noises and watched in dismay as the herd ran away. I cried out to tell them to come back and not leave me behind in the hole. I looked up and saw a human peering down at me. What was going to happen to me, I thought. Follow up on the writing exercise with a group discussion about how it felt to write from the perspective of the baby elephant. Ask students how it helped them understand the elephant s situation. Stage a Mock Rescue Have students read the story and then stage a similar story of an animal rescue. You might choose to split the class in half and have each prepare and perform their own interpretation for the other. Encourage them to change details about the story for dramatic effect, and to add the part of a narrator if they wish. If time allows, give them the option of writing a script or planning loosely and then improvising. For younger or less-able students, help to write a simple script that they can follow as they perform. After the activity, hold a class discussion on how the experience helped them understand the situation of stranded animals and animal rescuers. As an optional variation, have students take on the role of theatre critics or reviewers when they are not performing, encouraging them to take notes and later write up short reviews. Write a Mock Interview 1. Provide students with a model of an interview or remind them of interviews they may have seen on news programs with young people as hosts and reporters. 2. Have students think about the role of the carers at the rescue centre and what questions they would like to ask a carer. Ask them to record their questions and answers. 3. Students could then work with a partner to develop a role-play of an interview to present to the class. As an alternative to the role-play, have students write a mock thread in which one student writes interview questions, the other responds in writing, and then the first asks further questions for clarification. 4. Work with younger/less-able students to brainstorm a list of questions they could ask one of the carers. Write the questions on the board. Then ask students to respond to the questions orally as if they were carers. If necessary, model for students how you would answer one of the questions in the role of a carer. Write a Newspaper Article, Blog Entry, or Graphic Novel Provide models of newspaper articles or news-oriented blogs for students to use as references. Have students work in pairs (or model for less-able readers) to find the answers to the questions who/what, where, when, why, and how. Have students divide a sheet of paper into five sections and write one of the question words at the top of each column. Have them refer to the text about the baby elephant to answer the questions. Then tell readers to assume the role of a foreign reporter or blogger. Have them use their answers to rewrite the story as a news article or blog. Optional: As variations on the activity, consider having students present the story as a series of text messages or an Internet news feed that is posted as the story unfolds. Or have them recreate the story as a graphic novel. Provide models of whichever text types you have them attempt, and help them recognise the characteristics (such as a limit on number of characters) of the genre. 16
17 Elephants, Never Forget Worksheet 2: Elephant Rescue Name Date: Directions: Read the story. Choose a response activity. The Rescue In the middle of the night in India, a herd of elephants wandered out of the forest and into a farm looking for food. The elephants came to a deep, muddy ditch at the edge of the fields. Suddenly, a small baby elephant slid down into the ditch. She tried scrambling up the sides of the ditch to get out, but she wasn t strong enough or big enough to escape. She cried out in fear, calling to the other elephants for help. Her mother and the other elephants tried to help, but the ditch was too deep for them to reach her with their trunks. There was nothing they could do to help the baby, but they stayed nearby to keep her company. In the morning, farmers saw the elephants near their fields. They grabbed sticks and pots and rushed at the elephants, banging loudly on the pots to scare them away from their crops. The elephant herd was frightened by the noise and ran off, leaving the baby alone in the ditch. Then the farmers heard the cries of the baby elephant. They called for help from the Forest Department, which arrived with a bulldozer to dig away the dirt around the baby elephant. As the little elephant kicked and struggled, workers from the Forest Department finally were able to pull her out. When a vet checked the baby elephant, he found she was tired and thirsty and scared, but not badly hurt. The forest workers tried to find the herd and the baby s mother, but they were gone. The workers knew that the baby wouldn t be able to survive in the wild on her own, so they loaded her onto the back of their truck and drove her to the Wildlife Rescue Centre in Assam, India. At the rescue centre, the baby elephant had a carer who stayed with her all the time, feeding her several times a day. The carer even slept near her! The carers at the rescue centre took the babies they were caring for on walks together so they could learn how to find food and water in the wild. The baby elephant became part of a family of other baby elephants. When these elephants were older, they were all released back into the wild to live together as a herd. Choose an Activity Rewrite the story from the point of view of the baby elephant, telling what the baby elephant thinks and feels. Find out more about animal rescues and stage a mock rescue. Write an imaginary interview with a carer at the rescue centre. Then work with a partner to role-play the interview for the class. Write a newspaper article, blog entry, or graphic novel about the rescue of the baby elephant.
18 Lesson 5: Comparing Animals in Danger Learning Objectives: Students will research threats to various animals in the wild and make comparisons between them. They will gather, evaluate, and synthesise data from a variety of sources to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience. Comparing Animal Threats (all ages/abilities) 1. Place students in groups or pairs and ask them to list the threats to elephants, along with a short description of how each threat affects elephants and what is being done to protect elephants. Students can use the text to find and list the different problems elephants face. Remind them to also think back to the video. Then have students recall the main threats to elephants as a group. 2. Write the following research questions on the board: What are the most significant threats to [name of animal]? How does the threat affect the animal? What is being done to protect the animal? 3. Choose a set of threatened animals that students will explore in more detail. Like the elephant, the following animals face danger from poaching as well as other threats: tigers, whales, rhinoceroses, leopards, gazelles, leatherback turtles, birds of paradise, and scarlet macaws. Write the animal names on the board and decide how many students will research each. Then put the animal names in a hat and have students choose them until the slots for each animal are filled. 4. Ask the groups to consider where they will find information about their animal. IFAW has developed materials on tigers, whales, seals, and other animals that students can access on the IFAW website at 5. Allow time for groups to research their animals, take notes, and prepare an oral presentation. Ask students to present their information to the class on a chart or overhead transparency in the following format. Animal: Where animal is found: Threats How these affect the animal What is being done 6. Optional: As a variation on the activity, have students create the chart for display (and comparison), but allow students to make presentations in some non-standard form, such as a dramatic presentation of the threats to their animals. 7. After each presentation, discuss how the threats to the particular animal are similar to or different from those facing elephants and how they relate to the other animals presented by the different groups of students. For example, the elephant and the rhinoceros are under threat because of the poaching of the elephant s tusks and the rhino s horns. The leopard, tiger, and gazelle are poached for their skins, and the gazelle, like the rhino, is also poached for its horns. The tiger s body parts are also used in medicines. As a result of habitat destruction, animals like the leopard, tiger, and elephant come into conflict with humans. 8. Prompt students to think about the similarities between habitat-loss conflicts in Africa and Asia and issues caused by loss of habitat in other areas such as habitat loss bringing animals into contact with people in the UK. Also encourage students to think about how climate changes can create both threats and advantages to certain animals (such as increasing temperatures affecting krill food sources for whales or plant foods for grazing animals). 9. After students present and discuss the problems various animals face, have each group create a chart that compares the problems their chosen animal has with those of the elephant. A partial example follows. Threats Elephants Tigers Whales Poaching Habitat loss Conflict with humans Climate change Ivory from their tusks Human activities can crowd out elephants and lead to lack of food, access to traditional water holes. Fragmentation can lead to isolation of groups, less genetic variation, and more health problems. Hides, body parts for medicine Drift nets can block whale migration through entanglement. 18
19 Lesson 6: Who Needs it More? Learning Objectives: Students will learn that changes in the environment can have different effects on different organisms and the ways in which the physical environment is stressed by human activities. Students use reading skills and strategies to understand and communicate what they have learned from an informational text. 1. Begin by reviewing the concepts introduced in the Text pages Room to Roam & Elephants & Us. 2. Ask students if they know the definition of an animal s habitat. Record their observations on the chart paper, and then share this definition: An animal s habitat is the combination of resources (e.g., food, water) and environmental conditions (e.g., temperature) in an area that makes it possible for that species to survive and reproduce. You may also want to discuss relevant terms and definitions from the Glossary. 2. Discuss the four main elements of habitat: shelter, food, water, and space. 3. Ask students to imagine what they think would happen to a particular animal, such as an elephant, if just one of those elements is taken away. 4. Stress the interdependency of the four elements. It is no good, for example, if there is a lot of space, food, and shelter in an elephant s territory, but it can t get to its water hole because a big road is being built that splits the territory in half. 5. Distribute the Fictional Newspaper Handout: Road puts 1,000 elephants at risk. Explain that the article is fictional but is based on real events. 6. Have students read the article individually, in pairs or read aloud the article as a class. 7. Afterwards, ask students to describe what is happening to the elephants habitat. What are the pros and cons of building the road? Record these in a T-chart: Pros Cons 6. Draw students attention to the word fragmentation in the article. Explain that fragmentation is caused when large areas of habitat are broken up, in part, by human activity. 7. Divide the class into four groups. Give each group one of the following scenarios: Geese who each year build their nest in the same spot can t do so any longer when a new skate park is built by their pond. Bears lose access to their fishing ground when a new dam is built. Polar bears have to swim farther and farther distances to find food and shelter because of melting ice caps. Farmers spray their fields with insecticide to prevent their crops from being eaten. 8. Invite the groups to discuss their scenarios and challenge them to come up with a brief, three-minute skit illustrating the situation. 9. Have the groups perform the skits for the entire class. 10. Discuss how each scenario is a form of fragmentation. Which element(s) of habitat (food, water, shelter, or space) are affected in each scenario? What was the human activity that prompted the fragmentation? Are any of these scenarios good? Why or why not? As homework or an extension lesson, invite small groups of students to research another endangered species or a species in your own region that has experienced habitat fragmentation. Then ask them to create a poster based on their research, including: how the fragmentation occurred, what elements of habitat were affected, and how the species has reacted. Display the posters in the hallway so the whole school can learn from your students research. IFAW s Animal Action education program provides many different teaching guides, lessons and other materials to help your primary and secondary students achieve science, civics, geography and language arts objectives while building knowledge and understanding about animals and our shared environment. Visit our website: to download FREE education resources on a variety of themes, including: Born to Be Wild Under One Sky Beneath the Waves To the Rescue Making Waves Saving the Majestic Tiger Why Animals Matter Protecting the Marine Environment Emergency Relief for Animals For Seals 19
20 Student worksheet Reproducible Gazette SOUTH INDIA An IFAW publication September 2011 in India. They are suffering greatly from poaching, habitat loss, and fragmentation. We must work with the government to protect this piece of land now. It is crucial that something is done to help these elephants. Anand Kumar, conservationist Road puts 1,000 elephants at risk New highway could cut through important wildlife habitat in southern India The lives of more than 1,000 wild elephants are at risk from a road that could cut through their habitat in Southern India. Wildlife groups believe that the road will cut through a corridor of land linking two wildlife reserves. The road will stop the elephants moving safely between the protected areas for foraging and breeding. Almost half of wildlife corridors in India already have highways passing through them. It is crucial that something is done to help these elephants, said elephant expert Anand Kumar. Today, there are only 25,000 wild Asian elephants remaining IFAW IFAW The corridor between the two reserves is a narrow strip of land currently owned by local people. The land is not only used by elephants, but by animals such as leopards and tigers. Government officials say the new highway would help connect villages to the north and south of the reserves. However, a road cutting through the forest could threaten the ability of elephants to move safely between the protected areas, and it could also result in collisions between vehicles and animals straying onto or crossing the roadway. Local villagers are divided in their views of the proposed road. Some want it built to help their area grow and allow them to reach nearby towns more easily. Others are concerned that the road will split the corridor and that elephants may stray into local villages and fields looking for food. The elephants could destroy crops and endanger their families. If the road is given the go-ahead by the government, work could begin within the next 18 months. In the meantime, said Kumar, We will be working to come up with solutions that not only protect the elephants habitat, but that will help local people and the government too.
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Close up of my first sculpey master. 8,5in swimbait for pike. Just some final sanding left.
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made the best pot pie!! Wow for the first time not even counting the last time. last night I made a turkey pot pie with frozen mixed veggies and made the sauce from scratch...mmm yummy the whole family enjoyed it! im a proud mommy, even knowing my daughter can be picky about meat but she ate it!!
About Sadiena
Birth: March 21
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is it really necessary to work so many jobs to make ends meet? Or is it necessary to put our trust in the bible and pull off one job?
which is better for you...stay at home full time mom and work from home or get out and meet new people at different jobs


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C17H19NO3. Morphine, a very powerful drug, will help those in a hospital feel little to nothing during an operation. Its usage comes at the cost of addiction, though, and often withdrawl can lead you into depression. This only makes you want something to ease the pain of depression. Can I even explain to you how desperate people are? Sometimes when we can't reach a state of euphoria, we persuade ourselves there is no point being alive without those feelings. We feel numb.
Helise woke up on the ground, scattering her eyes along the ceiling and noticing the one flimsy lamp hanging loosely from the center. She began to sit up and caught a glimpse of the wall in front of her before rubbing her eyes and seeing the aged green walls surrounding her.
"Where am I?" she said still half asleep under her breath. She looked around the room to check for cameras or a way out, but sadly it was just a closed room. She stood up feeling nauseous and collapsed to the ground as if she was hit in the back by an arrow. Helise breathed heavily on the cold linoleum floor, watching the moisture form and disappear with every inhale and exhale. She heard a sound like a latch being locked behind her. She slowly rolled over and pushed herself from the floor to see what it was. It was a metal door, and it had been locked from the other side. She heard another click and turned around again.
That wasn't there before, she skeptically thought to herself. She crawled over to it, struggling and slipping on the moisture from her breath on the floor. She pushed it open, feeling a cloud of fog touch her exposed ankles. A breeze gently threw her hair behind her shoulders like a delicate hand. Helise struggled to see in front of her with her large grey eyes that remained in a state of attempted focus. She took a step forward, drawing in a breath of fog that felt like a wet scarf being jerked into her lungs. She coughed and stumbled forward into thinner air. She looked around at her surroundings and became puzzled. It looked like her neighborhood in Sacramento. There was the Safeway across the street next to the Laundromat with the Thrifty's a block away. She stepped onto the street and felt that the pavement was dry and warm. Cars were scattered everywhere like a broken plate on the ground.
"Hello?" she called out. There was no reply.
"Can anybody hear me?" there was a rustle in the trees yet no wind.
"Please… I'm afraid…" she confessed, looking at her feet. To the right of her was a hill that went upwards at a steep angle and disappeared into a line of mist. To her left there was a juncture with two paths. She kept debating on what to do: Go up into the unknown or down into another split decision? She stared at her feet. They were cold and bare, and the street wasn't warming them. She took one step forward with her right foot and froze. She heard the sound of a river. "Funny," she said, "this part of the city is nowhere near the river. I must be hearing things."
She rose her left foot up and put it back down fast, feeling splashes of liquid settle on to her ankles and legs while a pool of a thick, warm liquid formed and enveloped the sole of her foot. She felt a shock of utter disgust shoot through her body as tears formed in her eyes and started to slowly roll down her pale cheeks. She knew what was at her foot, but she fought with her curiosity to try not to look. She struggled with this for a few seconds, but finally looked down forcing her neck to fold over to see the blood. A single stream of warm flowing blood came running down the steep street towards her. It was diluted from the steam, coming down from the air to collide with the running fluid.
She jolted backwards in a panic, whimpering under her breath. Helise looked up and saw the fog breaking up its density as a body came rolling down the hill. It pressed the blood on the ground like a steamroller and made a path as wide as the body itself. The corpse came to a stop on its stomach two feet in front of Helise. She gagged as she kicked the back of his lifeless head and heard a crack in his neck. With hesitation, she flipped the heavy body over using her foot like a spatula from under his shoulder.
The man was missing the skin off of his face, more or less any detail or profile to say he ever had one in the first place, and the flesh above his heart was cleanly cut as if an operation had been done prior to his expulsion from the top of the hill. His neck was cut deep into the jugular, and his trachea was exposed and looked like it was dry, exposed to the air for some time. His fingers had no nails, and the skin was peeled off in a tapered fashion, getting thinner at the tips. His entire body was exposed, and his organs seemed to have never existed, but a great amount of skin was stretched from his pelvis to his rib cage, where it even sunk in towards his lungs a little.
Helise hyperventilated and felt her stomach start to churn. She grabbed her own face and kept her jaw up to keep from screaming too loudly. She figured that, although mutilated, this man was still up the hill and would hear her if she screamed. She started to fall forwards, about to faint, and caught herself with her hands and elbows, scraping them harshly. Her hands hit the puddle violently, causing a huge splatter of blood to go all over her shirt and arms. She pushed herself up and backed away. Finding a stance to keep herself standing, she began stroking her hair and mumbling to herself. The blood ran rapidly, and more rushed through the streets and slapped up against the body of this man as if he were a dam. It eventually flowed over him, and crashed down near Helise.
She raised her arms in front of her and watched her tears dilute the blood on her stained palms and forearms. She tried stepping forward on her left foot and fell backwards due to the rush of the blood from the street. She fell back and closed her eyes expecting a wave of red liquid to envelop her body. She tightened her lips and plugged her nose so that the blood would not enter her lungs. Her body hit hard floor and her exposed skin slapped down causing an echo around her. Her back hit hard and knocked the wind out of her. She gasped for air like she had just come up from suffocating under heavy water and looked around. "Green walls," she said, "Linoleum floor." There was no blood. Not on her, not on the floor, and not pouring from the street. She was back inside where she had started. She looked around the room and saw a note lying on a table near her, one that looked eerily familiar and alarming. She closed her eyes, then opened them abruptly, but the note was still there. She tried it again.
The note remained in its place and did not change, but when she had her eyes closed the room was inverted in colors. She stood up and cautiously walked over to it. She felt a stabbing pain on her spine the moment when she picked up the note, like a thick, dull needle. It did not bother her to a point of serious pain, so she decided to ignore it for now. She closed her eyes as she began to whisper out loud what the note said and slowly made out the words. "Helise," she started, "I want you to know that you are the most pathetic, disgusting…" she groped her back with her clutched hand and noticed that the more she read, the more pain she felt. There was a faint grinding noise, a machine that didn't quite work, that operated as she read the note.
She continued, "Completely worthless human there is." She tried to stop the pain and hoped that it would go away if she were to open her eyes, but she found the task was impossible. Why can't I open my eyes? she thought, panicking. She noticed a shadow manifested in the left corner of her vision. She ignored it and kept reading, "Nobody… wanted… you. You… are… a… mistake." At this point, every word felt like a knife plunging endlessly into her back. This figure jolted, and ran behind her with ungainly legs. She tried to turn, but her entire body was paralyzed, only her eyes and mouth could move. The machine noises came closer. "You are a waste of… air, space… and ma-matter." She coughed up thick blood that looked black, thick and dead. there was a heavy breath down her neck. The figure came into her vision, placing its tall body below the letter. It crouched down and its head pointed towards her. She looked at it. Its top right half was missing, as well as the sockets that would hold its eyes. Its neck was full of holes, and its skin was a maroon crimson. Her back felt torn and broken, with a painful amount of weight pushing down her shoulders.
"With love…" she tried to breathe, and felt a lack of a heartbeat. The machine noises came from the figure who now was touching the paper, cutting its skin on it and letting a dark green fluid fall onto the paper and Helise's hands. Her pupils tightened and shook at the signature.
Her last breath made out the name, "Helise." She fell to the floor and felt a numbing sensation as she hit the ground. She found that she could now force her eyes open. The noise, the letter, the pain, the thing, they were all gone. She swallowed, or at least tried to. She was hungry, thirsty, tired, and cold. There was a very high-pitched ringing that moved around the room. Helise slowly scooted her body to a corner and began to cry, feeling her stomach rumble in pain each time she inhaled. She heard a door open. There was a shadow that was alone, unfolding and stretching from a shape of dark mass. It took the silhouette of a human and walked in front of her. She tried to talk to it. She hadn't even finished saying "Excuse me" before it vanished before her. The door opened again, this time with three silhouettes coming forth. They made noises that sounded like a prerecorded tape of children laughing.
"Can you…" she said as they disappeared. The door flung open once more, releasing three dozen or so dark figures into the room. Helise stood up, tired of being ignored and tried to touch one of the figures' shoulders. It morphed into a pile of dust that took the stance it was last in. She pushed it over and made a cloud of dust spread onto the floor of the room. Frustrated, she ran around the room and bumped or hit every moving thing in the room. Eventually she found that she had done this to all the figures and looked them over when she was done. She jogged briskly around the room and pushed them all over, creating a dust bowl of air much too thick to inhale. She coughed and wheezed in the thick opaque air and fell backwards, feeling all tension fall off of her as she was dragged down with it.
"Ma'am, are you all right? Please answer me!" the officer said lifting her from the bathtub. Helise coughed up the bloody water from the tub. She raised her arms in front of her face and saw the rows of cuts on her arms. The water had diluted the running blood that still pumped from her veins throughout her wrists. She looked over to the table in front of her, with the note still on it right where she left it. Her entire body dripped bloody water onto the carpet as three ambulance workers helped her into the vehicle. There were about fifteen people crowding the street as the sirens went off and Helise drifted off again to the sound of the wheels pounding the street.
"Dear Witnesses, These are my final words. I feel useless. I'm a waste of air, space, and matter. I'm pathetic and disgusting. Everybody thinks I'm completely worthless anyways. I am worthless. I am a mistake.
Forever, with love, Helise F. Menderson"


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