Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Environmental Education Story Book "Ten Friends To Remember"
Environmental Education Story Book "Ten Friends To Remember"
.Introduction
.Green alert
.In the wild
.The empty paddy field
.The gentle giant
.The shy Loris
.The spotted encounter
.The call of the forest
.Smart and smelly
.The charming Snake
.Flying colours
.Acknowledgments
Introduction
Environmental education is one of the keystone areas in
conservation biology, as such it is essential to develop its
reach beyond specialised institutes and associations. Every
environmental education program has the ultimate goal of
reaching as many people has many people has possible.
Mainstreaming environmental practices is the key to achieve
a turnover in the accelerated degradation our planet is facing
in the present.
School in its broad sense, is one of the few, or even probably
the only transversal institution to every continent, religion,
culture or ethnic group. Furthermore, its responsibility to
educate children makes it the perfect vehicle for
environmental education activities.
English is one of the compulsory subjects in every Sri
Lankan primary school since year three. Learning a
language so different from their own mother tongue (either
Sinhala or Tamil) poses a series of challenges to young
children. There is therefore a need for non-conventional
ways of passing knowledge.
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Green alert
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You are right, replied the old tree, however that is not
the only reason to like the forest. The forest gives you food
to eat, water to drink and shade to rest under, it is also the
home of all the animals, plants and all the other living beings
you see. What other place can give you all this?
There was a moment of silence. Those words made Tim
think about the beautiful things he sees and learns in the
forest. He had lived for many years near the forest but he
had never thought about all the nice things the forest gave
him. Why are you talking to me? Why are you telling me
this? Tim said, without answering the trees question.
The forest is endangered Tim, said the old tree. For many
years mankind and nature lived side by side, but now the
times have changed and there seems to be no space left
for the forest anymore.
Tim was unhappy, how would they live without the forest?
Without the animals? Without the plants? So he asked the
tree, who is destroying the forest?
The old tree replied People are, even you Tim.
Tim could not believe it, he said I love the forest, I am not
destroying it!
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But the old tree just replied, I will show you Tim, the forest
itself will talk to you and you will see how humans destroy
the forest, tree by tree, bird by bird.
After those words the tree said no more. Tim continued to
talk to her but there was no reply. By this time, Tim
remembered the hide and seek game he was playing
before and thought his friends were probably worried about
him. Still wondering about the meaning of the trees words,
he decided it was time to return.
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In the wild
Past the blue ocean, in a small island, in a small village
lives a small boy. His name is Tim. He is ten years old. Tim
lives in a beautiful cottage with his family, his father, his
mother and his younger sister Molly.
On a sunny day, Tim was walking along a forest path. He
had spent the whole morning helping his father in the paddy
fields. The paddy fields are very important as they are the
place where rice is grown.
Walking down the path, Tim heard a noise just behind a
small bush. He slowly lifted some of its branches, only to
discover a small tortoise! It was a very beautiful animal,
but as soon as Tim picked it up the tortoise withdrew her
head and legs inside her shell. Without further delay, Tim
put her in his pocket.
Put me down! Tim was surprised. He did not know who
had said that. He looked around but could not find anyone.
I said, put me down! Tim was really confused and did not
dare to move at all. A few seconds passed before Tim
noticed the small tortoise furiously struggling to get out of
his pocket.
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All this Tim could see from his home garden. It was well
past bedtime however he remained well awake, counting
the stars in the sky. All of the sudden, he saw some
movement just beyond the back of his garden. Something
was moving up in the tree branches. Tim couldnt see what
animal it was, although it reminded him of some kind of
tailless monkey. At first he saw only
All this Tim could see from his home garden. It was well
past bedtime however he remained well awake, counting
the stars in the sky. All of the sudden, he saw some
movement just beyond the back of his garden. Something
was moving up in the tree branches. Tim couldnt see what
animal it was, although it reminded him of some kind of
tailless monkey. At first he saw only
The loris reply was quick. Well this was our home forest
and since the forest was here before any human I guess
you are the one which will have to go
Tim found himself on the downside of this discussion and
so decided to change subject. Why would I want to see
you cry? I love animals and I love the forest! Tim stated.
You are different from the majority of your kind said one
of the loris. Another loris added, Many humans try to catch
us because they think we are magical creatures. They use
our bones, skins and even our tears for their magical
practices.
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At first Tim felt very brave, and although there was little
light, he entered the forest in a very confident way. However
in just a few minutes he understood that in the dark humans
are strangers to the forest. Tim could barely see where he
put his feet. Still, he had to find his way through all the thorns,
fallen logs and termites nests that naturally exist in the
forest.
Even with all these setbacks, he managed to keep on
following the call that could still be distinctively heard.Tim
heard he was getting closer, but at the same time he was
also getting a little scared about all the shadows dancing
around him. Its just the wind and some trees he thought
to himself. Even so, he could help but to think some of the
old stories he had been told as a child about that forest.
The stories talked about forest demons that attack anyone
who dares to enter the forest between dusk and dawn. Tim
never believed those stories, even as a child, however for
some reason he could not help to feel a little scared.
And then he saw it. A large shadow moving slowly towards
him. He immediately noticed the small horns and the large
ears. It was surely a demon.
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Tim ran as fast as his legs could carry him and the forest
allowed. He couldnt even think of a place to run to, so he
just went straight ahead.
The sun had already appeared fully on the horizon but the
dense forest did not allow much light in. In his run to escape
the forest demon Tim trips over a tree root, and falls hitting
his head on a log. Then everything went blank.
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At first Tim could not see any bird defending it, but as soon
as he tried to get up, a brownish hen resembling a bird
started pecking his aching head. She was so well
camouflaged that even when standing near him, Tim could
not see her.
Tim woke up some minutes later, with the sun on his face
and still struggling to understand what had happened to
him. He opened one eye and then the other. There was
now much more light reaching the forest floor, and Tim found
himself laying in the ground with his head still aching. He
was also very surprised to find right next to him a nest,
containing three eggs.
Get out of here you brute, think you can just jump on top of
my eggs?
Uhhm, where am I? Who are you? Tim asked still trying
to figure out what had happened to him.
You seem a little confused replied the bird. You are in
the forest, and for some reason you almost landed on my
nest!
Yes, the forest Tim recalled. Pieces of his memory began
coming back to him. Suddenly he looked back and instantly
asked in a scared way, Did you see any demons?
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After wishing the junglefowl the best of luck for the eggs,
Tim left in a hurry. He was already near home when he
encountered the horned creature he once thought to be a
demon. Tim couldnt stop laughing, it was just a cow that
had wondered into the forest!
The sun was already high in the sky and Tim returned home
with a big smile on his face.
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This is not proper food! Tim began. It may carry all kinds
of diseases. It may be a hazard for your health as well as
for the health of any humans around.
I had no idea of such problems, although now that I come
to think of it we have been having a great deal more health
problems since we came to rely on what you call garbage
the macaque began. However, if that is the case, why dont
humans dispose their garbage in a safe way? Why do they
just leave it lying around like this, near their homes?
Tim had to agree with that remark. Without a garbage
management plan the health of humans and other animals
would be affected. It was in fact the responsibility of humans
to make sure that all garbage it disposed properly, so that
animals like macaques wouldnt be able to feed on
dumpsters.
With the dust bin empty Tim returned to his house thinking
how much he learned about humans and their environment
in such a short encounter.
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. The
charming Snake
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F l ying colour
s
colours
Past the blue ocean, in a small island, in a small village
lives a small boy. His name is Tim. He is ten years old. Tim
lives in a beautiful cottage with his family, his father, his
mother and his younger sister Molly.
Summer had arrived and so had Tims school holidays.
However, at the last moment Tims teacher had assigned
a special homework. They were to write about their home
gardens. Even the students who did not have one, would
have to imagine, and write about what their home garden
would be like if they had one.
For Tim this was an easy task. The days had been sunny
and with the occasional rains his home garden was
blooming with colour. There was so much to write about in
Tims garden, the flowers, the birds, the sun or even the
colours.
From Tims bedroom window he could see, many flowers
of different shapes, colours and sizes as well as dozens of
insects flying around from flower to flower. He could see
the working bees, the hovering wasps, the bright
dragonflies, the jumping crickets and his favorite insect
the colourful butterflies.
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Acknowledgments
The author would like to acknowledge the seemingly infinite
patience and skill of artists Mr. Asanka De Zoysa and Mr.
Samantha Kumara without whom this publication would
have lost most of its magic.
The author would also like to acknowledge the most
valuable language revision of Miss Roxanne Brown and
last but certainly not least thank Ms. Sudarshani Fernando
and Mr. Sujeewa Jasinghe for the time wasted in
successive draft readings.
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The CES was established in January 1998 by a group of interdisciplinary researchers whose aim was to create a Institute for
participatory eco-cultural development in Sri Lanka through research, education, awareness and community development. Registered as a Non-governmental Environmental Research Institute
Registration No: 6/6/17/1/47
CES is concerned with issues pertaining to the present eco-cultural
status of Sri Lanka and advocates sustainable measures to suit
the local environment and cultures. Collaborative undertakings
with other eco-culture friendly institutes will create an extensive
network to promote awareness and foster eco-cultural
development in Sri Lanka.
The majority of CES members are presently involved in various
consultancy and research-oriented activities for Government and
Non-governmental concerns as well as universities.
Objectives
Conduct eco-cultural studies
Conduct eco-cultural education, awareness and training
programmes
Establish and maintain an exhibition centre Promote environment
friendly local industries to assist village communities
Promote eco-cultural tourism in
Sri Lanka