(From the Panda’s International Website)

The 6th grade language arts class at Albert Einstein Academy Elementary School were recently involved in a novel study of a book called The One and Only Ivan.

The production was part of the Science, Technology, Engineering Art and Math, or STEAM, program which focuses on hands-on project based learning curriculum.

The book is about a real gorilla named Ivan who was kept in a small mall enclosure for over 27 years and never went outside. Eventually, he was adopted by the Atlanta Zoo.

During their study of this novel, their teacher led them through a series of projects to answer a guiding question, “Do humans have a right to capture or cage wild or endangered animals?” Another guiding question that they explored is, “How humans can impact wild animals and their habitats?”

One of the projects was to create a music video.

For this project, the teacher asked the students to research organizations  that had similar goals to what they are portraying in their videos about the animals they have selected to focus on as the topic of their video.

The students believed that Pandas International matched their message. Part of our project-based curriculum is that students make meaningful pieces of work that are then shared out into the world so that they learn beyond the book and worksheet and can understand that they have a voice and can contribute to society in a meaningful way.