Polar Bears eat whales?

Monday (14/06/2010)

a) Kids yoga.
• As a warm up and to welcome some kids back from their holiday. We did “mountain” pose which was standing up straight and focusing. Then, we did palm tree post. They stretched their hands upwards and bend their body to the left and to the right and repeatedly. We imagined strong wind blowing trees in the forest. Then, we did tree pose whereby standing on one leg and both arms stretched upwards. I tried disturbing them but half of the kids were quite focused! 
• Then, we lion pose whereby we sat like Japanese as Yun Xin mentioned. We slid both hands in between the legs and expressed ourselves lion lions roaring. Of course, they were good. Then, we did bear pose. They lied on their back, raised their both legs. They held to their feet using their palms, strongly and rolled left to right. Next, we did cobra pose. Not many could do this but Yun Wen and Rui Hen suggested ways to improvise the pose. Well done! Lie down with stomach on the floor. Lift our shouilders and chest up. The 2 arms behind the head just like a cobra…….sssssss!

b) Poem: Polar Bear, Polar Bear; Turn Around.
• We watched the flash clips from computer last Friday. Today, we revised the poem by reading the poster. Then, we read for the third time with actions.
“Polar bear, polar bear; turn around,
Polar Bear, polar bear; make no sound,
Polar bear, polar bear; reach up high,
Polar bear, polar bear; dance on your toes,
Polar bear, polar bear; show us your palms,
Polar bear, polar bear; hide your claws,
Polar Bear, polar bear; go to sleep,
Polar bear, polar bear; shut your eyes tightly,
Polar bear, polar bear; wake up,
Polar bear, polar bear; take a bow.”

c) More about Polar Bears.
• We recapped the first few pages as to guide those who were absent from school last week. The kids helped me with the explanation. The new information:
- Mother Polar Bears would stand up to see the distance between themselves and the ocean. They are now more than 3m tall. Sometimes, they would eat plants and fruits when they can’t find meat. Sick polar bears will also graze on herbal plants as medicine.
- Their cubs also stay with them for second winter. However, they would depart with their mother at 3 years old as they are now adults.
- Different Polar families respect one another. They would rub their cheeks or noses as we shake our hands to say “Hello”. They don’t fight. However, male Polar Bears do attack cubs and eat them when they get hungry and couldn’t find any food. Mother bears hibernate but male bears are active all year round.
- The cubs like wrestling as playing but they don’t harm each other. Their sense of smell is 7 times better than a dog’s.
- Other food include: seals, ribbon seals, dolphins that got trapped, the carcass of whales.
- After eating, their fur would be red with blood. They don’t bathe but they roll themselves on the snow so that they look white again. Shi Jie said this would protect themselves.
- Polar bears are actually not white but their hair which is colourless reflect the sunlight. Thus, Polar Bears looked white.
- Global warming is a critical issue. Polar Bears started hunting for humans’ garbage but they don’t attack humans unless we scared them first. Some Polars are seen swimming in the huge ocean with no ice poles to stop for a rest. They got so tired that they die.