Elephants and Their Young

Meridith Allison and Shelia Henk

Clinical Interviews

Clinical Interview 1, Clinical Interview 2

Clinical Interview 1: Pre-Kinder Interview

Planning the Interview:

Through this interview I hope to discover the extent of a pre-kindergarten student’s prior knowledge and experience with elephants. This information will provide me with the information I need to tailor an elephant unit for my students.

I expect to hear some accurate characteristics (live in zoo, are big, have trunks) as well as some misconceptions (where else do they live, what is trunk used for). My previous experience working with 4 year olds leads me to these expectations.

I hope to avoid steering the interviewee in the direction of my expectations by using open-ended questions and avoiding reactions that confirm or disconfirm answers.

Interview:

Interviewee is 4 year old head start student Robert.

Q: Robert, have you ever taken a trip to the zoo?

A: Yeah.  I went with my mom and my grandma and my sister. We saw lions and monkeys and a snake.

Q: Did you see any elephants at the zoo?

A: Oh yeah. We saw elephants too.

Q: Well I’m developing a unit with lots of fun activities on elephants, and I would love to for you to share with me what you know about elephants.

A: OK.

Q: What can you tell me about the elephants you saw at the zoo?

A: They were really big. And they had long noses. They were stinky. Big poop.

Q: I see. Anything else you noticed about the elephants at the zoo?

A: I liked them.

Q: So you saw elephants at the zoo, can you tell me where else elephants live?

A: I think they live on a farm too.

Q: I see. I want to talk a little bit more about the elephants you saw at the zoo. You said they had long noses. What do you think elephants use their long noses for?

A: For smelling. And fighting.

Q: What do you think elephants fight over?

A: Maybe their food.

Q: What kind of food do you think elephants like to eat?

A: They like peanuts. And they probably like chicken legs. My dogs fight sometimes over chicken bones. They like to eat them.

Q: Is there anything else you can share with me about elephants?

A: I saw on TV an elephant that was scared of a mouse.

Q: Well I’d like to thank you, Robert for sharing so much with me. Now is there anything in particular that you would like to find out about elephants?

A: How they got so big.

Q: Thanks so much Robert. I’ll make sure that in the unit we can learn all about elephants, including how they grow so big.

Analysis:

My interview with Robert revealed several findings. As I expected, he did have some correct ideas about elephants. He spoke about their large size and also identified their trunks, though he called them “long noses.” Robert also had some misconceptions about elephants. First, he incorrectly categorized elephants as farm animals. Prior to beginning the unit, a sorting activity with target pictures of wild/zoo and farm animals will help clear up this misconception. In addition, Robert demonstrated a less than thorough knowledge about what elephants use their trunks for. He did correctly identify smelling, but he also thought that trunks are used for fighting. Robert did not mention drinking, eating, or communication as primary functions of the trunk. The unit’s lessons on the trunk and the tusks will clarify misconceptions while building on students’ limited knowledge of elephant body parts. Finally, Robert’s creative answer to the question concerning what elephants eat demonstrates a lack of familiarity with the concept of herbivores and carnivores. The “Elephants up Close” activities will provide students with a foundation for such authentic, science based knowledge. Though not all of my students will share Robert’s zoo experience, I expect that most will likely possess both conceptions and established misconceptions about elephants. In adapting this unit for pre-kindergarten or kindergarten students, activities will strive to both clarify misunderstandings and build upon accurate, though limited prior knowledge.

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Clinical Interview 2: Second Grader Interview

Planning the Interview:

The purpose of the interview was to understand a seond-grader's knowledge about elephants and identify common misconceptions the student may have. I expected that the student will rely on personal experiences to answer the questions. I avoided steering the interview by not asking postivie or negative questions or rewarding the student for the right answer.

I interviewed Elijah, a second grader from North Austin, on November 6.  I started the interview by asking him about how he felt about science and then moved onto elephants.  From his answers Elijah shows he has many common misconceptions about elephants.

Interview:

Shelia: What do you think about science?
Elijah:  I like it.

Shelia:  Why?
Elijah: Because you get to do experiments.  Experiments are fun.

Shelia: Tell me more about experiments.
Elijah:  We did experiments with liquids.  (He shows me the class display about liquids).

Shelia:  Let’s talk about animals.  How about elephants?  What do you know about elephants?
Elijah:  Well, they are large and grey.  They have trunks and are at the circus.  Umm.  They poop a lot! (Laughs).  Umm, they like to eat peanuts.  Oh, and they are scared of mice…like in Dumbo (Laughs).
Shelia:  Have you seen an elephant?
Elijah, Ya, I saw one at the circus.
Shelia: What where they doing?
Elijah:  Well, they were doing tricks.  Some were kind of dancing and some, you know, were walking on the back feet.  You could ride them at the circus, but I didn’t get too.
Elijah stated several misconceptions about elephants that are perpetuated by cartoons and circus appearances.  Elijah seemed to focus on instances where he personally saw elephants, such as at the circus.  He seems to have little knowledge (or forgets) that elephants live in the wild, not just in captivity, by discussing peanuts and tricks.  He also discusses the common misconception that elephants are scared of mice.  This is not true.  Elephants and Their Young addresses this misconception by stating that elephants are not afraid of mice and the fact that mice and rats have been put into elephant enclosures at zoos with no reactions from the elephants.  Elijah appears to have received most of his knowledge of elephants from his experience at the circus and by watch the movie Dumbo.

Shelia: How do elephants find food?
Elijah: Their trainers give it to them.
Shelia: What about in the wild?
Elijah: Uhh, I guess they sniff it out.
Shelia: Do they only look for food with their eyes?
Elijah: Ya.
Again, Elijah realize on his first hand experiences with elephants at the circus. He understands that elephants do locate their food through smell, but he does not understand how this coincides with touching food with their trunks.  I hadn’t planned on asking about elephants’ use of sight to locate food until I realized that Elijah had little knowledge of wild elephants. He believes that elephants use sight as a way to locate food, when elephants have very poor eye sight and rely more on smell and touch.

Shelia: What do elephants use their tusks for?
Elijah: They use them to kill other animals.  (Elijah does a clashing motion with his hands).  Oh, and for protection.
Shelia: Are tusks teeth?
Elijah: No. (He looks confused).  They are horns.  (Laughs).
Elijah identifies that tusks are used for protection, but he fails to identify that elephants also use their tusks for digging and foraging for food.  Elephants strip bark from trees using their tusks.  Elephants tusks are also use to show-off towards other elephant rivals.  Tusks as a source of protection would be the expected answer from a young child, as the other uses of tusks require a more in-depth understanding of elephants.  Elijah also had the common misconception that elephants’ tusks are horns, but they are actually teeth.

Shelia: How does a mother elephant take care of her calf?
Elijah:  She feeds it and keeps it warm.  She protects it.
Elijah has a good understanding that elephants are very attentive towards their young.  I am unsure if Elijah has an understanding of mother/calf relationships because he read or learned about it or if was from Dumbo.

Shelia: How do elephants keep themselves cool?  How do they protect their skin from the sun?
Elijah: They spray themselves with water from their trunk.
It is true that elephants spray themselves with water to keep themselves cool, but Elijah does not mention that elephants use mud to cool themselves and to protect their skin from the sun.

Shelia:  You said elephants use water.  Are they good swimmers?
Elijah: Not really.  They are kind of big.
Despite elephants size, they are extremely good swimmers.  Elephants have been known to swim for long distances.

Shelia: How do elephants communicate?
Elijah: They make noises…with their trunks.
Elijah answered with probably the most common answer.  Elephants communicate in other ways, such as with low grumbles that a human cannot hear, with feet stomps, and with other body language.  Elijah is telling me what his personal experiences with elephants are.  At the circus he probably saw elephants making trumpeting noises. 

Shelia: What do you think an elephants predator is? 
Elijah: Uhh, a lion
Shelia: Why?
Elijah: (Thinks a moment with his finger to his mouth.  Smiles).  Lion is king of the jungle.  (Laughs). 
Shelia: What about humans?
Elijah: (Shrugs)
Again, Elijah is relying on what he sees in the media.  Lions may be a threat to smaller and weak elephants, but an elephant’s major predator is humans.  Elijah does not yet understand about elephant hunting or conservation issues.

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