Kohl’s Wild Theater Teacher Packet · -The bonobo, pronounced “Buh-NO-BO,” is a great ape most closely related to the chimpanzee. It is the least known of the great apes because

Kohl’s Wild Theater Teacher Packet

The Great Global Extravaganza

Photos by ZSM/Richard Brodzeller

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Table of Contents

What is Kohl’s Wild Theater? ............................................................. 1

General Overview of The Great Global Extravaganza ......................... 2

Animal Information ............................................................................ 3

Discussion Questions and Activities .................................................... 5

What is Kohl’s Wild Theater?

Kohl’s Wild Theater (KWT) is made possible by a partnership among Kohl's Cares, the

Milwaukee County Zoo, and the Zoological Society of Milwaukee. This program provides

conservation-themed theater performances using drama, songs, and puppetry to children and

their families both at the Milwaukee County Zoo and within our community. Since 2011, Kohl’s

Cares has committed $2.5 million to bring these performances to area schools.

The KWT outreach program, a division of the Zoological Society’s Conservation Education

Department, offers many different shows about a variety of topics. Our plays and musicals are

approximately 30-45 minutes long, performed by professional actors, and include stories about

animals and environmental conservation. KWT performances are very similar to attending a play

at a traditional theater, but there will be many times when the audience can be a part of the show

through group participation. There will not be time during the performance for the actors to go

over curriculum or to review information. After the performance, if time permits, the actors will

take a few minutes to answer questions from the audience. Please note, there are no live

animals in KWT shows.

Most of our performances are developed for an elementary school audience. Elements of our

shows are entertaining for adults and younger children, but the educational information presented

is targeted for grades 1-5. One performance offering is designed for middle school audiences.

For more information about all of our outreach shows, please visit www.wildtheater.org.

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The Great Global Extravaganza

Summary

This 30-minute performance includes a series of four short skits, each featuring a different

animal from around the globe. The four skits are:

- “What I Eat”: This musical duet features a bonobo, which is a rare great ape found in

only one African country. Bonobos (along with chimpanzees) are most genetically

similar to humans in the animal kingdom. This skit emphasizes the importance of healthy

eating habits and points out that a healthy bonobo diet of fresh fruits and green leaves is

also what is healthy for humans.

- “Ice is Nice” features a two-person, positive poem about how recycling at home can help

protect a polar bear’s ice in the Arctic. A simple explanation of the effects of climate

change is included in the skit. A volunteer from the audience is brought on stage to play

the polar bear.

- “Me and My Tree” is a song sung by an orangutan, which emphasizes the importance of

biodiversity in the rainforest and an animal’s needs for habitat, etc. Audiences learn that

a great way to help orangutans in the wild is to avoid the purchase of products with palm

oil.

- “The Penguin-lympics” is a skit about the competition penguins face when trying to catch

fish. As reported by a sportscaster, the penguin explains that humans need to buy and eat

sustainable seafood so that penguins can survive. For public festival performances,

sustainable seafood cards are available after the show. For school performances, all

teachers will receive one sustainable seafood card to show their students.

Target Age Range

Most appropriate for grades PreK-5 and families with children of all ages.

Theater Etiquette

Before the performance, please take a moment to review good theater etiquette with your

students. It is important that students are respectful to the actors during the show. It is a good

idea to remind students not to talk during the performance, but encourage them to participate

when directed to do so by the actors.

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Featured Animals

Bonobo (Pan paniscus):

- The bonobo, pronounced “Buh-NO-BO,” is a great

ape most closely related to the chimpanzee. It is the

least known of the great apes because it lives in a

remote rain-forest region within the Democratic

Republic of the Congo (Africa), and was only

identified as a species in 1933. - Genetic analysis indicates that bonobos and humans share approximately 98% of the

same genetic identity. - One special feature observed in bonobo society is the low level of aggression between

individual bonobos. Bonobos are less apt to engage in physical conflicts and

confrontations with other groups of bonobos. Their generally peaceful society is

attributed to the evolution of a highly complex social system. - Bonobos are currently endangered and it is unknown how many bonobos are left in the

wild. Wild populations have been reduced greatly by deforestation and human

encroachment. The Zoological Society is working to conserve bonobos in their home

country.

Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus):

- Polar bears are native to the Arctic Circle, including the countries

of Canada, Russia, Greenland, and others. - Polar bears primarily hunt seals from the ice as the seals surface for

air from underwater. During the warm summer months, polar bears

are opportunistic feeders, surviving on lean diets of berries,

lemmings, and birds.

- Polar bears are the largest land-based predators. Compared to other

bears, polar bears have an elongated body, longer skull and nose,

and larger feet that act much like snowshoes, dispersing weight

when walking on ice or snow. These features also help them to

swim efficiently.

- Polar bears are a vulnerable species due to climate change, pollution, conflicts with

shipping, and oil and gas exploration and development.

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Orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus):

- Orangutans are one of the four great apes, along with gorillas, chimpanzees, and

bonobos. They are the only great ape found in Asia. - Orangutans can only be found on the islands of Borneo and

Sumatra, which includes the countries of Indonesia and

Malaysia. They live in tropical rain forests and spend about

90% of their time in the trees. - Orangutans have been recorded to eat over 300 different types of

food – a wide variety of fruits, to vines, to insects. They prefer

to eat fruit, which makes up the majority of their diet. - The Malay word “orangutan” literally translates to “man of the

forest.”

- Orangutans are considered endangered. The greatest risk they

face is the loss of habitat due to rainforest being converted to

palm oil tree plantations. Orangutans also suffer from poaching

and sale to the illegal pet trade.

Humboldt Penguin (Spheniscus humboldti):

- Humboldt penguins are “warm weather” penguins found along

the Pacific coast of Chile and Peru in South America. Their

name comes from the “Humboldt Current” which runs from

Antarctica up the South American coast.

- They nest on islands and rocky coasts, burrowing holes into

large cliffs of guano.

- Humboldt penguins are currently threatened due to

unsustainable fishing, oil spills, and over-exploitation of their

nesting habitat.

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Post-Performance Discussion Questions: 1) In the skit, “What I Eat,” the person and the bonobo started by eating different things.

Think of all the different foods that we humans eat. Which foods are similar to the foods

that other animals eat? Which animals eat in a similar way as humans? Which animals eat

different foods? At the end of that skit, we learned that a bonobo’s diet of fruits and green

leaves is also good for humans. What other foods are great for people to eat?

2) In the skit, “Ice is Nice,” we learned that recycling at home can help protect a polar bear’s

ice. What other actions can we take at home to keep the air clean and healthy for people

and all animals?

3) In the skit, “Me and My Tree,” we learned about the importance of biological diversity in

the rainforest. What do you think life on our planet Earth would be like if there were no

rainforests?

4) In the skit, “The Penguin-lympics,” we learned about the importance of fish for penguins.

How many animals can you think of that eat fish? (Hint: Don’t forget land animals such as

grizzly bears and jaguars, or birds such as pelicans or bald eagles.)

Activities:

1) Play the Polar Bear Trek Board Game, which can be printed from this website:

http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/sites/default/files/polar_bear_trek.pdf

2) Take time to look at the labels in your pantry at home. Take note of which products have

palm oil in the ingredient list. The next time you get groceries, see if you can find a similar

product that doesn’t have palm oil and choose that one instead. As a class, see if you can

make a list of different products you find with or without palm oil.

3) Play a sustainable fishing game. Fill a large bucket or other container with water. Cut

different types of fish out of construction paper and laminate them. Place the fish in the

water and have your class fish them out. Once the fish are caught, students can use a

sustainable fishing guide to see if it is a fish they should eat or not. Sustainable fishing

guides for the Midwest can be found at

http://www.seafoodwatch.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/content/media/MBA_SeafoodWatch_Mi

dwestGuide.pdf.

Suggested websites:

- Polar Bears International: www.polarbearsinternational.org

- Orangutan Outreach: www.redapes.org

- International Penguin Conservation Work Group: www.penguins.cl/

- Ocean Conservancy: www.oceanconservancy.org

- The World Wildlife Fund: www.worldwildlife.org

- The Zoological Society of Milwaukee: www.zoosociety.org/conservation

For more information on Kohl’s Wild Theater, see our website at

wildtheater.org or email us at [email protected].