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CARING FOR ORPHAN ELEPHANTS IS A BIG JOB!
MASTER TEACHER Helen Mebane
GRADES 6-8
OVERVIEW
Students will be introduced to all the survival skills which
orphaned baby elephants must be taught in order to be released safely in to the
wild. After viewing the video and completing the two activities, students
will learn how intelligent elephants are and how their body characteristics
enable these mammals to be successful.
ITV SERIES
Kratt's Creatures: 111 Elephants I-Educating Emily
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Students will be able to:
*determine what is needed to care for baby elephants
*describe why mud and dust baths are
important
*determine the advantages of their trunk uses
*describe the uses of their big ears
*explain the importance of their exercise
MATERIALS
(per groups of six)
one twin flat sheet
one student whose weight is as close as possible to 132 pounds
one 55 gallon plastic trashcan
six one gallon plastic containers
one waterhose
(per student)
Activity Sheet #3
VOCABULARY
orphan - a baby animal who does not have a mother or
father to care for them.
herbivores - animals which eat only plants.
PREVIEWING ACTIVITIES
Record on the board a discussion on what survival skills the
students think baby elephants need to be taught before being released into the
wild.
FOCUS FOR VIEWING
Say, "As part of our study of mammals, we will view a video
on the many things orphan elephants must be taught before they are released
in the wild." Three orphan elephants will be shown from Sheldrick
Wildlife Trust in Kenya. Emily, the oldest at 18 months was orphaned
because her mother was killed for her tusks. Mentee is 13 months old and
was separated from her mother when Mentee was stuck in a latrine pit. Iton
is only 3 months old and is the youngest. To give the students a specific
responsibility while viewing the video, say, "Let's look for the answer to
questions on your activity sheet #3. We will learn what the elephants do
in a 24 hour period."
VIEWING ACTIVITIES
Begin the tape where the Kratt's brothers (Chris is
wearing a green t-shirt and Martin is wearing a blue shirt) are with Emily
(elephant) under a tree. Martin says, "We have to teach Emily what
her mother would have taught her out in the wild." Pause the
tape after Chris says how many hours an elephants spends eating per day.
Discuss question number 1 on your activity sheet #3 and have students record
answer. (Elephants eat 16 hours per day while humans eat only 1 to 2 hours a
day.) Resume the tape.
Pause the tape after Chris explains that elephants are
herbivores. Emily is eating leaves from a tree. Elephants have to learn
which plants are good to eat and which are poisonous. Discuss question
number 2 on your activity sheet #3 and have students record answer. (Herbivores
are animals which only eat plants.) Resume the tape.
Pause the tape after Chris says elephants eat
everything from leaves to vines high up in the branches of the trees to grass
and roots low on the ground. Discuss question number 3 on your activity
sheet #3 and have students record answer. (Elephants eat leaves, vines, grass,
and roots.) Resume the tape.
Pause the tape after Martin explains why elephants
love mud baths. Elephants are playing in the mud hole. Discuss
question number 4 on your activity sheet #3 and have students record answer.
(Elephants need to take mud baths to cool down. They create as much heat
as 30 people. The mud helps keep their skin from cracking.) Resume
the tape.
Pause the tape after Chris explains why elephants need
to take dust baths. Elephants are playing in the dirt. Discuss
question number 5 your activity sheet #3 and have students record answer.
(Elephants take dust baths because the dust acts like an abrasive which helps in
getting rid of annoying bugs and ticks.) Resume the tape.
Pause the tape after Martin explains why elephants
need to drink so much water. Elephants are drinking water from the
water barrel. Discuss question number 6 on your activity sheet #3"
and have students record answer. (Adult elephants drink 53 gallons of
water a day which is 50 times more than humans.) Resume the tape.
Pause the tape after Chris explains how the trunk is
used to get water to their mouths. Discuss question number 7 on your
activity sheet #3 and have students record answer. (Elephants use a
combination of sucking up water from their nose and blowing the water into their
mouth.) Resume the tape.
Pause the tape after Chris answers the question of how
much water fits in the elephant's trunk, and Martin pours a bucket of water over
Chris's head. Discuss question number 8 on your activity sheet #3 and have
students record answer. (Elephants fit up to 3 gallons of water into their
trunks.) Resume the tape.
Pause the tape after Ttark (animated cartoon friend)
answers the question on the advantages elephants have in being able to use their
trunks to drink water. Discuss question number 9 on the activity sheet #3
and have students record answer. (Elephants carry the water from water hole to
mouth and do not have to bend down to get to the water where the enemy could
pounce on them.)
Fastforward the tape on the tapir segment and resume
the tape where you see a tree uprooted.
Pause the tape after Ttark explains how sensitive the
elephant's trunks are. Ttark says, "Do you realize elephants can use
their trunks to lift a tree from its roots?" Discuss question number
10 on your activity sheet #3 and have students record answer. (Elephants can
uproot trees, pick up a blade of grass, grab a baby elephant's tail and hold him
in line.) Resume the tape.
Fastforward the tape where Chris is blowing his nose. Resume
the tape where Martin is holding a bottle for Iton to drink.
Pause the tape after Martin explains why the baby's
trunk must be resting on him. Discuss question number 11 on your activity
sheet #3 and have students record answer. (Baby elephants must rest on
something that feels like its mother or it will not eat.) Resume
the tape.
Pause the tape after Al asks, "Are elephants
really afraid of mice or is it just a myth?" Discuss question number
12 on your activity sheet #3 and have students record answer. (Adult or
baby elephants are not afraid of mice.)
Fastforward the tape through the hyrax segment, and
then Resume tape..
Pause the tape after it shows an elephant with perfect
long tusks. Martin says, "Hey, did you know that an adult elephant at
age 60 may have tusks which weigh 132 pounds each." Discuss question
number 13 on your activity sheet #3 and have students record answer.
(Elephant's tusks at age 60 may weigh 132 pounds each.)
Fastforward the tape where Chris is brushing his teeth
and you see the animated woolly mammoth. Resume the tape.
Pause the tape after Martin says why they must keep a
close eye on Mantee because she may catch a chill or pneumonia. Martin
explains when it gets too hot they rub coconut oil on the baby elephants.
Discuss question number 14 on your activity sheet #3 and have students record
answer. (Coconut oil keeps the baby's skin soft and doesn't allow it to
crack.) Resume the tape.
Pause the tape after it shows an adult elephant's ears
and Al asks if elephants have hyperhearing. Chris explains they do have
excellent hearing, but mainly the ears are used for cooling themselves off.
Discuss question 15 on your activity sheet #3 and have students record answer.
(Elephant's big ears are used to fan their veins which cools down the blood.
Fifteen percent of the body surface of an elephant is their ears so that cools
down a lot of blood.) Resume the tape.
Pause the tape after Al is next to her computer and
asks, "Do elephants have a good memory?" Chris explains,
"Elephants probably do forget some things but they remember where their
food and water holes are and they remember their mother very well."
Discuss question 16 on your activity sheet #3 and have students record answer.
(Elephants remember food and water holes and of course their mother.) Resume
the tape.
Pause the tape after Chris and Martin are walking with
the elephants. Chris explains how important walking is for the elephants.
Discuss question number 17 on your activity sheet #3 and have students record
answer. (Walking is important because it develops their muscle and
coordination, they get to explore their environment, and keeps their minds busy
since they are so intelligent.) Resume the tape.
Fastforward the tape to where Martin throws the
soccerball to Chris and the two giraffes are pushing on each other.
Resume the tape after the two brothers are playing
with Aton using the soccer ball and they explain why playing is so important.
Stop and eject the tape.
Discuss the question number 18 on your activity sheet #3 and
have students record answer. (Playing ball with the baby elephants is
important because it makes them feel happy.)
POST-VIEWING ACTIVITIES
Explain, "Now that you understand how much time and care is
given to baby elephants before they are released in the wild, let's do a couple
of activities which show how much energy it takes to be an elephant."
Activity #1.
Using the bathroom scale, find someone in the class which is the
closest to 132 pounds. Next, inform the teacher who the student is, go
outside on the grassy area of your campus, have the student lay on the sheet,
and with three students on each side of the sheet, carefully lift the student.
Now you know how much muscle power it takes to carry around just one tusk.
Activity #2
Students will compare the daily water consumption of an elephant
to humans. First, divide the class into two teams. Place the 55
gallon trashcan outside on a grassy area of your campus. Teammates
estimate how long it would take their team to fill the trashcan with 50 gallons
of water using one gallon containers (used, distilled water container).
Record their predictions. Connect the water hose and fill each container,
timing each team.
ACTION PLAN
Students write a letter to a carekeeper of elephants at a nearby
zoo requesting a behind the scenes field trip. Ask him/her questions about
the elephants diet, exercise, reproduction, life span, where their elephants
come from, and if they have parasites.
EXTENSION
Science
Students may obtain further information by visiting this
website:
http://web3.si.edu/organiza/museums/zoo/zooview/exhitbits/elehouse/afrusasn.h
Art
Create a 3-D model of an life-size adult African elephant using
clear plastic. Students make two sides of the elephant and duct tape the
halves together. Place a fan at the rear of the model and the
elephant fills in seconds. Students display their elephant model out in
the hallway for the student body to view. Using grease pencils, the
students may write the size of the elephant, diet, etc. on one side of
its body.
Math
In teams of three, students will research a part of the elephant
and will make a 3-D model using any material they wish. For example,
they would make the elephant's head with tusks, the front leg, or ears out of
clay, or paper, etc.
Language Arts
Students may research and write a one page report on how
elephants help the environment or how elephants serve people.
Social Studies
Elephants are classified as endangered species. Students
could research the internet and determine how many elephants are still dying
today because of people buying their tusks or ivory products illegally.
Students could determine on a world map where African and Asiatic elephants live
in the wild today.
Elephant Information
Activity Sheet #3
I. Questions: (Answer these questions to the best of your
ability.)
1. How many hours do elephants spend eating per day?
2. What are herbivores?
3. List 4 things which elephants eat.
4. Why do elephants need to take mud baths?
5. Why do elephants take dust baths?
6. How many gallons of water do adult elephants drink per
day?
7. How do elephants use their trunk to obtain water?
8. How many gallons of water can an elephant fit in its trunk?
9. What is the advantage for an elephant not having to bend
down to drink water?
10. List three things an elephant uses its trunk for.
11. Why must a baby elephant's trunk rest on something in
order to eat?
12. Are elephants really afraid of mice or it is just a myth?
13. At age 60, how much does one elephant's tusk weigh?
14. What does applying coconut oil on the baby's elephant
skin do?
15. Why does an elephant fan his ears for?
16. Do elephants really have a good memory?
17. How is walking beneficial for the baby elephants?
18. How is playing ball good for the baby elephants?
Updated: April 01, 2008
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