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Half-Brother or Half Stanger?

In class we read the book Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel, where the Tomlin family adopts a chimp named Zan into their family to teach him sign language. In class we watched a documentary called Project Nim. It’s about a chimp who is raised by a human family, and taught sign language. Sound familiar? Kenneth Oppel got the idea for Half Brother from Nim’s story. The movie follows Nim’s life through a normal family, living in a mansion with students, a chimp house, a biomedical lab, and finally an animal sanctuary.

There are a lot of similarities between the book and the movie. In the book, Ben’s dad Richard and Zan didn’t get along; in the documentary Wer and Nim didn’t get along and Wer was the father in the original family too. As Nim got bigger and stronger, he became more trouble to take care of. In the book, Zan got bigger and the Tomlin family couldn’t keep him under control anymore and they had to send him away. In the book and movie, they made a point of the cattle prod used at the chimp houses and how scared all the chimps were of it. In the movie Herb left Nim with his doll just like Ben left Zan with his G.I Joe before he left. Both stories seemed to convey the same message of determination. Someone, book and movie, never gave up on trying to help Nim or Zan.

But there were many differences as well. Unlike the Tomlins with Zan, the original family who took care of Nim had enough money to take care of him on their own. The first family Nim was taken into weren’t scientific and Laura, a student at Cambridge University who worked with Nim, described how there were no log books or journals and that they didn’t care too much about teaching Nim language. In the movie, the original family wasn’t too big of a part in raising Nim, it was mostly the students. In the book, the Tomlin family was with Zan until the end. The movie showed more of an animal side to Nim, when Zan seemed mostly human in the books. Nim still acted like a chimp. He wanted to be the dominant male; he bit and played rough and he had a kid. Zan was very tame.

In the movie Nim drank alcohol and smoked joints, he did many not so good human things, but I guess it was the seventies. I thought the most disturbing parts were when Nim bit or attacked someone or when the chimps were being tested on. He bit every time he was angry and sometimes for no reason, and when he got lonely his anger took over him, he broke windows and killed a poodle.


cc licensed ( BY SD ) flickr photo shared by mollybob

Even though there were a lot of disturbing parts, there were happy parts in the movie too. I liked when Nim made up the sign for play (which was clapping), when he was hugging the cat, playing with Bill and Joyce (more students on the project), got to know Bob (who worked at the chimp house he was sent to), and when he could tell that the people in the first family were sad and tried to cheer them up. But my favourite part was definitely when Bob and Nim reunited after ten years and Nim signed play.

I thought it was interesting that chimps could tell if someone had a good heart, and if you had any dark spots, they could see them and wouldn’t like you very much. Also, I was shocked to hear that it was once the law that a medicine had to be tested on four chimps before it was released to the public. I never thought of how the government once supported animal testing.

In the movie Nim was moved from place to place. For a person, what he went through would be like moving to a different country every few years:a new place, new people, and a new language. Knowing that, how do you think Nim felt throughout his journey, especially when he moved from a mansion to a chimp house?

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A Smile Can Take You for Miles

It could be anytime, anywhere, with any person, right after a good joke maybe. I think laughing until you can’t breathe is awesome. Your stomach starts to hurt and your sides ache but you don’t stop giggling. There’s an amazing feeling you get when you just can’t wipe a big, stupid smile off your face. Sometimes you smile so long your muscles start to hurt. Nothing’s on your mind but how good it feels. Just laughing, smiling, being carefree. That’s awesome.



nubui

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Muskets, Cannons, and Kibble

It was Americans versus Canadians on Thursday when our class went to Robin Barker-James’ farm in Tillsonburg for an 1812 war re-enactment. Our grade 7/8 class from Ontario went up against a grade 8-10 class from Michigan. We re-enacted two battles and did musket, bayonet, and cannon training. Our side represented the British, British-Canadians, and their Native allies. The Americans, obviously, represented the Americans.

The best moments of the day for me were the ones in battle and in training. In training we learned marching and one of my favourite moments was when all of the British army and the Native allies marched up to the Americans for the first time shouting ‘left, left, left, right, left’. And we sounded like a team (we spent a while practising our marching so we better had looked like one too).

My second favourite moment was when we had our cannon training. I was on the third cannon and, unfortunately, we got out first. We had one cannon left on the Canadian side and I thought we were done for, but we pulled out from behind and hit the second American cannon. Then, it was one-on-one and it was a battle of who could load the cannons quicker, and our last cannon squad standing finally hit the last American cannon after two tries.

During training we learned how to bayonet fight, reload and fire our muskets (with kibble as bullets), and clean and reload the cannons (with tennis balls). To load and fire the musket we put three piece of kibble in the barrel, pretended to use a ram-rod to check if the weapon was safe to fire, and then flung it forward like a lacrosse stick to try and hit the target.

I think the big idea of the trip was for us to learn that the American side wasn’t much different from ours. We could’ve all been in the same class. The only thing that was different about us was that one side was wearing blue and the other was wearing red and green. We all ate together at lunch and everyone got along. The people fighting in 1812 lived right across from each other, some people in British North America used to live in America. It was relatives against relatives, neighbors versus neighbours. And I think it’s important for us to know that.

hdurnin

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Is it Right?

In our Idea Hive class we’re reading Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel. This book is about a family in Victoria, B.C. There are three people in the Thomlin family, Ben and his parents Richard and Sarah, they adopt a baby chimp named Zan into their family for research on teaching chimps sign language. Ben loves Zan like a brother, but his parents need to take drastic measures to make sure that Project Zan goes successfully, since it is a science experiment. Where we’re at in the book, Ben is conflicted as to if what they’re doing with Zan is right or wrong. Peter, someone who works for the family, describes Zan’s situation – being taking from the wild and brought up as a human – as a “kind of slavery”. I was asked what he meant by this and if I agreed.

When Peter said this, I think he meant that they aren’t letting Zan live the life he should be. I do agree with Peter that what they are doing with Zan is a kind of slavery. I think this because, like a slave, Zan isn’t free to do the things he pleases. In the wild, Zan would be free to move anywhere and do anything as he wanted. But unfortunately, in the Thomlin family, he’s on a strict schedule and has to be strapped into a chair for hours a day. He’s kept on a leash in public to keep him from running off, which restricts him to only so much space to roam in.


cc licensed ( BY NC ND ) flickr photo shared by Naeema Campbell

Also, Zan is being deprived of what should be his natural instincts. He has never seen another chimp, and as said in the book, “one chimp is no chimp”, meaning Zan can’t survive without interaction with other chimps. And he can’t even climb trees. He was terrified when Ben tried to introduce him to the idea, because they are purposefully domesticating him. The Thomlin family means the best for Zan, but is it really right?

How would you feel if you were asked to learn a new language and you were told you couldn’t speak yours any longer? That’s how I see what the family is inadvertently doing to Zan. Would you agree? And how would you feel if you were in that situation?

(Below is a video of Nim from project Nim, who learned sign language.)

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Half Brother

In class we’re reading Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel. We’re reading it over skype with our Idea Hive class in Snow Lake, Manitoba. Half Brother is about how Ben and his parents Sarah and Richard move from Toronto, Ontario to Victoria, British Columbia when they adopt a chimp. Ben’s dad is determined to teach Zan sign language, but Sarah and Ben begin to see him as a family member.

During the reading, I made a text-to-text connection. In the story Half Brother, Ben learns he has to stick up to people, like his strict father, to get what he wants. This reminds me of how in the movie Krissa Maxwell Stands Strong, Krissa was being bullied. She kept letting people pick on her for weeks. But by the end of the movie, she finally stood up for herself and told the bully to stop, even though she was scared. It was just like how Ben and Sarah stood up to his father by helping Peter get hired.


cc licensed ( BY NC ) flickr photo shared by TomConger

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Santa Spelled my Name Wrong

My parents had a funny way of making me believe that Santa Claus was real. They never used the same wrapping paper to wrap gifts from them and gifts from Santa. They always used to wrap gifts from Santa in newspaper and write our names on the boxes in big block letters. My parents were so good at fooling me, that I believed in Santa, maybe a little too long. On Christmas morning, I woke up and hopped out of bed. I instantly sprinted to the Christmas tree and found a plethora of newspaper wrapped gifts. Of course, I dived under the tree and searched relentlessly for a gift that had my name in big block letters. I found five boxes with MEGAN and one with KORI. One present! I was furious. And when a six year old is angry, they get their parents. I stormed into my Mom and Dad’s room and woke them up, dragging them to see what Santa had done. My parents calmly showed me four other gifts with different names on them. CORI. “Santa just spelled your name wrong!”

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How to Adopt a Polar Bear

You might recognize them from the Canadian two dollar coin, they are big, strong and white all over, that’s right, they are polar bears! Lately, because of global warming, the ice over the Hudson Bay isn’t strong enough in Churchill. The polar bears depend on the ice to hunt their prey, seals. Without the ice, polar bears are scavenging up all the food they can manage to find. The oceans aren’t nearly as frozen as they usually would be, polar bears have resorted to going into town, which is a serious danger to people and the bears. Polar bears that have been causing too much trouble have even been air lifted to a holding facility called the Polar Bear Jail.

I created a Glogster to summarize my research.

The reason I’m writing a blog about polar bears is because our class recently decided to help with the polar bear cause. It started when our teacher assigned us a geography project on the polar bear problem.In early October, our work with polar bears was watching the Tundra Connections videos, broadcast live form Churchill, Manitoba, the polar bear capital of the world. They talked about the problems facing the polar bears and how we could help. Later, while we were looking for information on polar bears when we discovered the adopt a polar bear page. After joking around for a little while, decided that our class could actually adopt a polar bear. Our goal was set at $250. With a class of thirty-one kids, everyone would have to bring in eight dollars to reach our goal. The fundraising began.
In just a few days, all the students did something to contribute. Any amount brought in was enough. Mrs. Durnin even gave people odd jobs around the school to raise more money. Finally, it came to the last day. Our final amount was $293. Of course we had to celebrate. Our teacher bought us all white coke (every case is a donation to polar bears) and white iced jelly donuts from Tim Hortons. We skyped we Andy McKiel, a teacher who had been working in Churchill on the Tundra Buggy, observing the polar bears.
For me this experience was amazing. It’s awesome knowing that if we work together and hard enough, that we can accomplish anything. I hope that our contribution to the polar bears will help them research and help their species. Researching and writing about the polar bears and Churchill was so exciting and interesting. But they still need help, and you can give to them. For example, by turning off the lights or using less unnecessary energy, you can help save the polar bears and our planet. I can’t wait until our next class project.
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Ten Marks and a Train Ticket

Imagine sitting around the table with your family, looking at them and eating in silence, knowing that it would be your last meal together as a family. That’s a scenario that Benno shares with his children and grandchildren when they turn nine and lived through himself. In our class we read the book Ten Marks and a Train Ticket (Benno’s Escape to Freedom) by Susy Goldstein, Gina Hamilton, and Wendy Share. It’s an amazing story about two Jewish boys that escape from Nazi Germany in 1939. It’s a true story. I loved the book and encourage anyone to read it. It may be a sad story but it’s also very encouraging and has a strong message against anti-semetism and racism of all kinds.
You can see a quick summary  of the story on this timeline I made, using Timetoast. 
Graphics: Page #34
In this section Heinz and Benno board a train to another border to Holland after being turned away at a previous border. After boarding the train, a guard began checking the compartments. Afraid that they would be caught and sent home or punished, Heinz and Benno hid under a train seat in the compartment. This image stood out to me because I could really visualize the scene because of how Benno so clearly explained what was happening and how he felt. I could really connect with how the boys might have felt as they listened to the guards’ boots stomp past them.
Quotation- ”After Kristallnacht, life was very unsafe for Jewish children in Berlin. I could often hear Hitler Youth laugh and shout “Kill the Jews” as I walked home. I dreaded the end of the school day and would run as fast as I could to get away from the name-calling and threats. I had already come home with a bruised face and black eye. While walking through the streets I was constantly scared that someone would throw a stone at me or beat me.”
Before I read the book Ten Marks and a Train Ticket I didn’t even know what the Kindertransport was. It turns out that the Kindertansport save over 1000 children, including Heinz and Benno. I probably would’ve never known about it if I hadn’t read Benno’s story. I was surprised to find out just how terribly the Jewish people were treated in Nazi Germany before they were taken to concentration camps. It terrified me to read about hoe Benno and other Jewish people in Germany were treated by their friends and Hitler Youth.
How would you feel if your family had a story like Benno’s? If you lived in Nazi Germany and weren’t Jewish, what would you do?
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Tired Yet?

Tired Yet?

This fall our class went running. Our first month of gym was mostly taken up by our daily runs. Mrs. Durnin met up with some teachers who liked running as much as her. They came up with the idea to record daily running improvements in their students. That’s why we started running. And trust me , it wasn’t easy. Our goal for our daily runs was to make it to 2 kilometers, and after nine days of running we got there. During gym my distance in difference from the first day to the last improved by 300%.

Michael Lokner

There are improvements that I made in my cross-country running this fall. I learned how to keep a steady pace this fall. At the beginning of the fall my pace was shorter because I ran faster during the laps (3:28/km). As the project progressed I improved by running at a steady pace for my laps (4:40- 4:58/km).

There are goals I have made this year to improve my physical fitness. This year I have made a goal to walk and run daily. I plan to go on daily walks to the back of our field. My goal is to walk for fifteen minutes a day, on the path behind my house which is about 750 meters (0.75 km). I hope that this will improve my health and fitness.

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Diving Back into the Hive

Hello and welcome to the Idea Hive. Everyone is ready for another exciting year of collaboration between Mr. Fisher’s class in Snow Lake, Manitoba and Mrs. Durnin’s class in Wingham, Ontario, and that includes me. Our classrooms are 2 700 kilometers apart and we work together as one class over the Internet. We decided to complete another interest survey so that we could get to know each other better. We all looked through the survey answers and are now writing blog posts about things we found out about each other. Some questions and answers were hilarious. I loved getting to know some of the new hive members.

rjleaman

Something that I have in common with everyone in the hive is that I have a wish. Whether it’s for money, something cool they’ve always wanted, even the ends to global warming or world peace we all have wishes. Something that I have in common with most people is that I have fears, or something that creeps me out. People like Logan, Kole and Wesley from Snow Lake and Alyssa, Eddy and I from Wingham have different things that we don’t like. Although some of our fears are a little strange, things like goats, puppets, or dolls.

agrilifetoday

Something that a few people have in common with me is that we play the recorder. Cameron, Angel and I all play the recorder, even though I’m a bit rusty. Some things that are unique to me is my fear of goats, my love of steak and rice, and that I like to watch the show True Blood. I really don’t understand why no one else thinks goats are creepy, with those beady eyes, horns and the creepy sound they make. I shiver just thinking about them. The person from Snow Lake that I have the most in common with is Logan. We both have one dog, like four-wheeling and want to travel some of the world. Who wouldn’t love to travel the world? And four-wheeling is awesome, obviously.

shellygrrl

It definitely sounds like we’re going to have another fun and exciting year. I love getting to know the people in Snow Lake better. I wonder what it is like living in a mining town? I wonder if you have to be really careful around the old mines or if there’s any interesting stories about them?