Animation Guide for Educators
Buddhism Series
Episode 1 :
Life of Rice
Recognizing that faith leaders have been a driving force behind some of the most important and successful environmental movements, WWF-Malaysia partnered with Soka Gakkai Malaysia to produce an animation series called When We’re Friends (WWF) with Nature. Inspired by the teachings of Buddhism, the faith based animation series carries the message of, ‘It starts with one’ and uses the ‘Learn, Reflect, Empower’ approach which is aligned to WWF-Malaysia’s Education for Sustainable Development’s objective.
Think & put your brain to work!
Dig Deeper
Dig Deeper
Food
We cannot survive without food. The farmers work hard under the sun every day to produce food. We should show our appreciation to them by finishing our food.
Forest Clearance for Agriculture
Forest conversion involves the removal of natural forests to meet other land needs, such as plantations, agriculture, pasture for cattle settlements and mining. As a result, agriculture is widely believed to be one of the main causes of deforestation or forest clearance. The main purpose of agriculture is food production and the rising demand for rice, soy, palm oil, cocoa, and coffee are encouraging the expansion of plantations worldwide. Most of us unconsciously contribute to forest conversion in our daily consumption of the products. The higher the demands for the crops, the larger the area cleared for agricultural purposes.
Hence, if we do not finish our food on the table, we will waste the land and resources that are used to produce this food. The process of food production uses a lot of resources like water and fossil fuel. We can control the rate of forest conversion or forest clearance and save the biodiversity if we limit our demand for food. We can make a significant change for the environment with a little effort. So, why not we stop wasting food from now on?
External Link: Protect Paradise: An Animation about Palm Oil
Food Wasting
According to SWCorp Malaysia, Malaysians generate about 38,000 tonnes of waste daily, and almost half of them are food waste. The amount of avoidable food waste generated by Malaysians in just 18 days could fill up both of the Petronas Twin Towers. There are 3,000 tonnes of avoidable food that end up in the landfills daily that could feed around two million people. Food waste contributes 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and it is also the main contributor to deforestation and the depletion of global water sources. Therefore, an effective strategy to address the issue of food waste is required.
There are many ways to reduce our daily food wastage; shop smart and realistically, don't over-serve food when cooking, treat expiration and best before dates as guidelines and carry out composting. We should only take what we need, especially when we have buffets.
By reducing our daily food wastage, we can save our forest and slow down climate change. Let's start to change our eating lifestyles and influence the people around us!
External Link:
Composting
Composting is a natural process of recycling organic material like leaves and vegetable scraps into a dark substance rich in nutrients. Compost promotes soil microbes that help the plants grow. It energises the soil food web, enhances the ability of vegetables in preventing common diseases and may improve their flavour and nutrition too. It also helps the soil to retain moisture to grow healthy plants. Compost differs from fertiliser as it feeds the soil while fertiliser feeds the plants.
So, how should we begin with composting? First, combine green (vegetable scraps, eggshells, and fruits) and brown material (leaves and barks) together in a bin. Next, regularly sprinkle water over the pile until it has the consistency of a damp sponge. Then, stir it thoroughly when the center of the pile feels warm. Finally, the compost is fully cooked and ready to be fed to the garden when it no longer gives off heat and becomes dry, brown, and crumbly.
Let's start composting to reduce our food waste!
External Link: Composting for Kids
Prompt your audiences
Why?
-
What does being kind mean? Being considerate, helpful, thoughtful and nice to each other.
-
Have you ever seen someone being kind to someone else at school? Yes.
-
Has anyone been kind to you and how do you feel? Yes, I felt wonderful, happy and hopeful. I want to be kind to others too.
How?
-
Can you be kind to the environment? Yes.
-
How can you be kind to the environment? We should protect the forest and ocean instead of destroying and polluting them.
-
How can the environment be kind to us? The environment provides us with food and shelter. It also provides ecosystem service that is very important to our health and well-being.
What?
-
Which boy from the video would you like to be? The boy with more food; the boy with less food.
-
If you choose the boy with more food, explain why? The boy has more food; he won’t be hungry; he has more choices.
-
If you choose the boy with less food, explain why. The boy has healthier food instead of fast food.
Activities you may want to try
Discussion (What can we do in our daily lives in order to protect our environment?)
Title:
What can we do in our daily lives in order to protect our environment?
Objective:
To raise the awareness about what the children can do in their daily lives to protect the environment.
Description:
Divide 4-5 students in a group and let them to discuss what they can do in their daily lives to protect the environment. Then, draw or write out their points in a mahjong paper and present it.
Materials Needed:
Mahjong paper, marker pen
Expected Outcomes:
Students are able to write out their thinking.
Discussion (Draw out the environment that you like)
Title:
Draw out the environment that you like.
Objective:
To encourage them to take care of the environment just like what they draw.
Description:
Divide 4-5 students in a group and let them to discuss how a nice environment should look like and draw it out.
Materials Needed:
Mahjong paper, marker pen
Expected Outcomes:
Students are able to draw out their thinking.
Games (Hug A Tree)
Title:
Hug A Tree.
Objective:
To encourage the students to appreciate and love the trees.
Description:
In a forested area, pairs take turns being blindfolded, lead to a tree for touch and feel and then lead away. After removing the blindfold, the tree hugger tries to locate his/her tree.
Materials Needed:
Black cloth
Expected Outcomes:
Students start to appreciate the trees.
Games (Make a Leaf Collage)
Title:
Make a Leaf Collage.
Objective:
To let the students understand that there are different type of plants and species.
Description:
Every students need to collect fallen leaves as a mini class field trip or ask them to bring some in from home. Then, make a picture using only paper, different type of leaves, pens and glue.
Materials Needed:
Paper, leaves, pens, glue
Expected Outcomes:
Students are able to collect different type of leaves.
Work Group (Outdoor Scavenger Hunt)
Title:
Outdoor Scavenger Hunt
Objective:
To encourage the students observe the nature around them including the trees and start to appreciate them.
Description:
Divide 4-5 students in a group and organize a scavenger hunt for them. A scavenger hunt will get children thinking about the world around them and encourage them to pay attention to the different plants and animals that live in their environment.
Materials Needed:
Pen/Pencil, Scavenger Hunt Template
Expected Outcomes:
Students are able to observe the nature surrounding them.
External Link:
Work Group (Beautify Your School Environment)
Title:
Beautify Your School Environment.
Objective:
To encourage them to take care of their school environment and learn to create somethings from upcyclable materials.
Description:
Divide 4-5 students in a group and give them some upcyclable materials to decorate the school environment.
Materials Needed:
Upcyclable materials.
Expected Outcomes:
Students are able to create something from the upcyclable materials.
Discuss
Please start your discussion related to the animation series at the comments below. Do share with us your ideas or suggestions to make the teaching experience even better & for all to try it!