TURTLESThe secret patterns of their lives

A project by 5 and 6 year old children.Eton School, Mexico City.

Duration of the project, 8 weeks.

The Project Approach refers to a set of teaching strategies that enable teachers to guide students through in-depth studies of real-world topics.

Katz & Chard

For some cultures, turtles symbolize strength and appreciation

for the passage of time.

The patterns of their shells,their beauty,

their longevity,their life and...

...the children’s unique way of approaching them.

Carlos A. RamírezPedagogic Designer

Yvonne KoganEarly Childhood & ElementaryHead Principal

Lety ValeroPreschool Principal

Ivette AlkónTeacher

Project Planning Web

ProvocationUnexpected guests

Personal StoriesI remember...

QuestionsI wonder...

PredictionsI think...

Phase 1

Children brainstormed ideas about animals that hatch from eggs and about places where eggs can be found. Together with the teacher they decided to conduct a study of turtles.

Making a planning web helps teachers envisionthe potential of a topic for a project.Project Planning Web

Turtles

What is the anatomy of a turtle?

What dangers doturtles face?

What are the naturalhabitats of turtles?

What characteristicsdo turtles have?

How do peoplehelp turtles?

What do turtles do?

swim walk

hide

zoos

sanctuaries

tail

beak

mankind

predators

color

speedwater

sizegenderland

claws

neck

head

shellskin

limbs

eyes

!ippers

bask

dig

eat

mosquitoesfruits

shrimp

insects

vegetables

plants

lay eggs

patterns symmetry

scales

making productspets littering

picking eggs

seagulls

sharks

green

brown

slowfemale

seabeach

vets

zoologists

NGO

volunteers

pond

lake

river

desert

male

snakes

turtlesfor sale

bite

One day, one of our sta! members, brought her pet turtles to school. Students interacted with them, and immediately engaged in exploration.

A child’s natural curiosity driveshim to wonder about

fascinating aspects of life.

Unexpected guestsProvocation

went to the beach and had the opportunity to release baby turtles into the sea.”Alejandro

Children communicate their knowledge about the topic by sharing personal stories. They "nd personally meaningful connections that promote inquiry.

“I once...

Personal stories

“I have two turtles in my house, one belongs to my brother and the other one is mine.” Borja

As an extension of their wonderings,

children ask the most intriguing questions.

The answers to the highlighted questions are followed in this book.

Where do turtles live?What is inside a turtle and a turtle’s egg?How can we protect turtles?Why are they di!erent colors and shapes?How many eggs do turtles lay?Where do they lay their eggs?How big are their eggs?How do turtles breathe under the water?Do they have teeth? How do they eat their food?Do all the turtles swim?What is the shell for?How long do they live, and why do they die?How can we tell if the turtle is a male or female?Where do they sleep?Do they close their eyes when they sleep?Do they sleep during the day or at night?Which is the biggest turtle?

I wonder...

Questions

turtles lay their eggs in the ocean; then they #oat until they hatch.”

Emilia

Children make their own hypotheses. Their thoughts provide us with valuable insights about what they know and how they perceive the world.

“I think

Predictions

Where do they lay their eggs?

“Inside a turtle’s egg there isa yolk, and inside it you can see a

little baby turtle. I know it becausewhen I crack a chicken’s egg there is ayolk inside and in the middle there isa baby chick. If you take it and put in

a nest it will grow into a chicken.”

Karen

What is inside a turtle’s egg?

How many eggs do turtles lay?

“Turtles lay 10 eggs at one time.” Emiliano

“They lay 44 eggs at one time.” Isabella

“Turtles lay 60 eggs at one time.” Valeria

Galia: “Inside a turtle there is a heart because hearts contain life.”

Valentín: “That is not true, turtles don’t have hearts because they are animals, they are not like us.

Only people need hearts, because that is what makes us strong.”

Galia: “My model of a turtle needs a heartI know what shape hearts are...

now it has a heart.”

Showing understandingthrough inquiry & representations

Phase 2

Students were intrigued by the claws of the turtles. During the expert’s visit, they discovered that male turtles usually have longer claws than females.

A visit from an expert

How can we tell if the turtle is male or female?

Children visited the science lab wherethey welcomed an expert, who talkedabout turtles as pets and answeredsome of the students’ questions.

Observational drawings

By making close observations, children are able to represent their own view of

reality in a detailed and more accurate way.

Male turtles by Isabella and Valentin.

Field VisitDuring "eld visits students are able to get "rst-hand information and experiences.

The children visited the biology departmentof one of the most prestigious universities in Mexico. They were

able to interact with many di!erent types of turtles, take "eld notes,and talk to an expert who answered their questions.

“Don’t buy turtles or turtles’ eggs at the market.” Borja

How can we protect turtles?

Children took notes of what caughttheir attention during the "eld visit.

Field Notes

Taking notes A "eld visit gives students the opportunity to record information that they can take backto their classroom for discussion and further analysis.

Why are they di!erent colors and shapes?

“There were many di!erent turtles. I saw fourof them. They all had di!erent colors andwere of di!erent sizes.” Aastha

The experts explained that the size and color of turtles’ shells may vary due to many di!erent reasons, such as their habitat.

“I saw a turtle in a tank. It was big and di!erent.It had a soft shell and it was not green like the others. It was white.” Julia

Field sketchElisa

“I liked it when we sat in a circle on the grass and they put the turtles in the middle and told us things about them.”

DiegoChildren discuss their experiences

after a "eld visit and they can make drawings from memory to represent aspects

that caught their interest.

Drawings from memoryafter the visit

“This is Borja and that is Emiliano, I am here. We saw many di!erent turtles and two snakes on the grass!”

Emilio

RepresentationsAs a project develops, children are able to represent their understanding in di!erentways.

What is inside a turtle?

A model of the anatomy of a turtle

brain

lung heart

trachea

stomach

intestine

liver

What is inside a turtle’s egg?How does an egg become a turtle? Timeline of the hatching process

“Eggs have an embryo and a yolk inside them.”

“The turtle grows inside the shell.”

“When it is ready, the turtle breaks the egg.”

Sharing what we learned

Phase 3

This phase brings the project to a closewith a culminating event, where children share

the story of their project with membersof their community.

The content of this booklet was produced by Eton School in 2012. It is distributed strictly for academic and educational use only.

Copyright © 2012 Eton, S.C. All Right Reserved.