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Exercise 2 of the Gombe 50 Activity Set

We began our endeavour to spread the word of Roots & Shoots by conducting a region wide social experiment in order to highlight to the agents some of the fundamental difficulties faced by Jane Goodall when she started campaigning on behalf of the Chimpanzees of the Gombe National Park.

In order to do this we constructed a Scarecrow and entered him in a competition whereby people had to vote on line for their favourite entry. Most of those displayed were from schools across the Highlands and we wanted to see if people would vote for our entry without any information being given about the group.

The results were as we suspected and proved in a …

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Highland & Island Facilitator Group
Parts 4-7
One of the biggest difficulties facing us, as has been pointed out before, is the difficulty that some of our agents have in putting themselves in the shoes of others. We therefore decided to attempt to recreate an atmosphere whereby they were the person paddling up the river to Gombe, pitching tent and experiencing all that Jane Goodall faced. We knew from past experience that if we did this in the form of a play/re-enactment of the event, they would be better able to participate, and thus it proved to be.

We turned an old packing case into a raft and having identified all that we would needed, set off up Lake Tanganyika in search of …

Read all of Jane’s Lost Diaries: Part 2 – Mission Update!!

Highland & Island Facilitator Group
Parts 1-3
Part 1 – People, Animals and the Environment at Home
We were very excited at the prospect of undertaking this project as earlier research had already alerted us to the fact that there were an amazing amount of similarities between our environment and that of the Gombe National Reserve.

Obviously there are considerable differences with regards to the temperature, and the type of vegetation and animal species within each environment, but in spite of this there was an awful lot that the children recognised as familiar.

We live within sight of the hills surrounding Loch Ness which at over 20 miles long, a mile wide and 700 feet deep is one of …

Read all of Jane’s Lost Diaries: Part 1 – Mission Update!!

To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Jane Goodall’s work in Gombe we organised our first overnight road trip. Plans were made and then remade, and finally our destination was agreed upon.

We were very lucky to be awarded funding to cover the cost of the journey by the Stratosphere Science Museum in Aberdeen; however, following discussion amongst the agents it was decided that it was an unnecessary expenditure of museum resources and we declined their kind offer.

To ensure an early start the agents gathered the night before our journey and for a while pandemonium reigned with bags, coats and goodness knows what paraphernalia being declared essential travel companions by an extremely excited group of kids who were finally persuaded to trudge …

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Dust Bowl Project:
People
People were affected in the 1930′s by the effects of giant Dust Bowls in much the same way as they are today in Kent, the only difference being the way in which the use of technology may help.

The agents looked at how people adapted then and now with specific interest being shown with regards appropriate accommodation and clothing and a fine time was had designing suitable attire. The agents then developed a poster entitled “What can we do?” to show the many ways in which individuals can help each other. They also looked at the differing means available to support large numbers of individuals with limited access to food and water, and we touched on the social implications …

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Dust Bowl Project:
Animal Factors
Carrying on from our investigations into how Dust Bowl conditions bring detrimental change to affected environments, the agents spent time looking at the consequences of such a change to Kent’s interdependent ecosystem.
Our aim was to demonstrate that the first signs of change to an environment can easily go unnoticed if we fail to take account of all the elements contained within a specific area, the destruction or demise of which, can often act as the catalyst for preventable catastrophe.
However, we are also aware that some of our agents struggle with issues, such as literalism, which can sometimes be a detrimental obstacle to appropriate learning experiences and as such, we are often forced to take a very …

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Dust Bowl Project:
Environmental Factors
Agents learnt how and why the American Dust Bowls emerged and then looked at the effects on the people involved.

Kent’s environmental change 80 yrs later was due to many of the same factors and the agents studied how scientists, farmers and environmentalists tackled the problem then and now. They carried out surveys to identify water usage in their homes and gardens and compared the results on the basis of the number of individuals living in each home and the facilities available. They also observed how much water was potentially being …

Read all of “And to think we had hailstones two weeks ago…”

One of the things which is slightly odd about our group is that all but one or two of the agents and adult helpers are on special diets, and it can certainly make for an interesting time when we all meet!

We want to encourage people not to see our needs as difficult or troublesome and the agents thought that the best way to do this would be to submit some of our favourite tea time recipies for you to try.
Cakes

3 eggs
160g gluten free self-raising flour
150g sunflour spread
150g sugar
Vanilla, preferably extract of pod

Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees C for cup cakes and muffins or 150 degrees C for a large cake. …

Read all of Something different from the Highlands and Islands Team!

I can’t begin to write this posting without first offering a huge Thank-You to everyone at Roots & Shoots for our Gold Award. It helps that we are family based and that the agents who are able bodied do not appear to perceive other agents’ difficulties as a barrier to certain experiences. I think one of the greatest assets of the group is their willingness to adapt and accommodate the array of strategies we employ.

One of the …

Read all of Hi from the thawing North! – Highlands Mission Update!

As I start to write this I can’t help but be reminded of the high hopes we had but a matter of weeks ago regarding our intended Ice Age Project, and how much closer we all now feel to those who have struggled to survive in such inhospitable conditions be they Human, Plant or Animal.

Unlike many of our fellow Roots & Shoots associates our activities are not confined to term time and as illness had delayed the start of our Ice Age Project we were all keen to get stuck in over the holiday period. Unfortunately, no doubt like many others, we were forced to set our plans aside in order to actually adapt our lives to living in what …

Read all of Hi from the frozen north . . . – Mission Update!