"Why" Animal Stories!

At the end of every workshop, I like to have the students work on a big project including everybody's work that all the students can take home and enjoy for years to come.  This term, my students created "Why Animal" stories.  We ignored science and got creative!  We wrote stories on why an animal is the way it is today.

First we brainstormed as a class interesting features of certain animals.  When each student claimed their animal topic, we had a lesson in story mapping.  It is important to organize your thoughts and sketch a picture of the story you have in your mind before you get started.  There are many ways to structure a story map, but ours went like this:

Setting:
(Where)
(When)

Characters:
(Major)
(Minor)

Problem/Goal:

Solution/End:

 Mood:

How We View Major Characters:

(This last one was important, as my goal was to have the students truly delve into their characters' development.  Would they change throughout the story?  Would they be likable characters?  Do we pity them?  Cheer for them?  These are all ideas I wanted my students to explore.)

As I'm sure you can guess, the stories turned out brilliantly!  It was hard to pick just a few, but here are some amazing stories on how animals became the way they are today!  Sit back, enjoy, and be entertained!

Why Bats Hang Upside-Down

By Melissa, 6th grade

      It was mid-July in the animal kingdom, but it was already swelteringly hot, not to mention humid. The animals could not help but squabble in the heat about feathered fans and welcoming water holes. Very few trees were scattered across the African Savannah, and branch space was something to fight for. The green foliage provided shade and darkness, away from the harsh light and temperatures that forced thermometers to bust their tops.

        Under the branches lurked the Earth’s first great predators: lions, sometimes cheetahs. No small creature dared venture to the shady ground for fear of being eaten. They did, however, seek the high, stable branches that were well above the big creatures’ reach. Unfortunately, there were far too many tree-dwellers and far too little space on the branches. Birds and bats rivaled each other and were in constant battle. They both wanted to secure their bony claws onto the wood and perch upright, and have room for their whole species to do so.

      Finally, one day, they were ready to decide the more powerful species for once and for all. The winner would earn ultimate glory- and a palace of trees.

      They decided to have a wrestling match atop the high branches, assuring the loser would crash land in the eager lions’ mouths and become dinner. The stakes were high, and representatives attempted confidence despite their twitchy features.  In the end, it came down to a determined bat nicknamed Batty (the frustrating weather had really affected her composure), and a nervous bird by the name of Robin. 

     The match was about to begin.

      With the all-too-tempting African sunset in the background, and the threat of mosquitoes in the shade of the trees, Robin was considering flying off and surrendering to safety. Robin scratched his beak and considered his options. If he flew off to save himself from the lions, he would be determined a sore loser and placed in the Animal Kingdom Hall of Shame. If the lions snatched him and ate him, well, he wouldn’t fare too much better. “Positive thoughts,” he said to himself under his breath. “Think positive.”

      Although the Earth was fairly new and psychic ideas weren’t heard of yet, Batty knew exactly what Robin was thinking. She saw her advantage and ran with it. Batty bared her little teeth at Robin. Smiling at her fellow bats, she flew in circles around Robin, taunting him. Robin cringed in her snarky delight, which only edged her on. She smirked--and the bats cheered.

       The King of Birds and the King of Bats agreed on a suitable branch. They instructed Batty and Robin to first wish each other good luck and shake claws.  They hovered over the branch until the King of Bats shouted, “GO!” They landed, and the fight began.

       Thoughts of panic rushed through Robin’s little brain. Finally, out of pure desperation, he unfolded his wing and struck Batty, even though she was clearly not ready yet. She fell off balance, teetering and tottering all too slowly... The animal kingdom seemed to move in slow motion as Batty descended. Cheering and booing and the faint screeches of hyenas in the distance ceased with a droning silence. With sudden emotion, Robin realized he could never live up to the guilt of killing Batty. He flew down as fast as a rocket, trying to save her.

      But he was far too late. The lions had their mouths wide open, their horrid teeth on display. Batty was falling to her fate. The King of Lions snapped his jaw at her--and missed.

       Somehow she gained rebalance. She hovered, resembling a helicopter, onto the nearest branch. She squeaked in joy, then faltered. She was so tired that she promptly fainted, and did a half-somersault so that she was hanging by her claws.

      Upside-down.

      The King of Lions again attempted in vain to seize Batty. She was just out of reach, hanging by her claws, seemingly peaceful despite the situation.

       The animals screeched with the suspense of the recovery. They hollered, hooted, and hissed for more. In the midst of it all, Batty awoke and announced her surrender, and that Robin should begin his victory speech. With a touch of dignity, she added that hanging upside-down was quite comfortable, and that she recommended it to her fellow bats.

       “Firstly,” Robin chirped, “I would like to thank all my supporters for this win. I would also like to thank that little voice inside of me that insisted ‘think positive!’” Fellow birds chirped and cheered, but bats booed and bared their teeth.

       “Secondly, Batty has seemed to enjoy herself hanging upside-down on the branch. This is the solution on the silver platter. Bats can practice this form of rest without disturbing birds! So, for every bird that perches right-side-up on a branch, a bat will be seen hanging upside-down! That way, the trees will provide space for all animals in the Animal Kingdom!” This time, Robin had won both the birds’ and the bats’ approval. They chirped and squeaked with joy, and in general, made a lot of noise hard to decipher.

       “And thirdly, my chicks have been left untended for this whole fiasco, so I must leave to go feed them. Goodbye, and a final thank you.”

      Bats evolved to be quite a species, much rarer than birds. They never forgot Batty’s courage, and always fought to survive no matter what the costs. Bats were quite honorable and never forgot their promise to always hang upside-down, even when birds weren’t there to see them. And this is why, even today, bats hang upside-down.

 

Why Rabbits Have Short Tails

By Crystal, 4th grade

         In the ancient times, Swishy the Rabbit was very proud of her namesake, the long and swishy tail that she had. In fact, the other forest animals, including Mango the wild golden retriever, thought that she was too proud of it.

      Swishy had a personal grudge against Mango, and she would always show off her tail to the other animals and say, “Look at my tail. Don’t look at Mango’s ugly tail,” while Mango would bare her teeth in a soft but threatening growl. All of the animals worried about how sassy and snotty Swishy was getting to be. And one day, Mango decided that she couldn’t stand one more second of vain, proud, and elegant Swishy.

            Mango left a message for everyone that said, “Everyone meet me by the old redwood at sunset. DON’T TELL SWISHY!!!!!!” Each animal saw the message, and obediently met Mango promptly at sunset. Everyone, especially Chatterbox Squirrel, excitedly whispered and wondered why they had to come.

      They immediately quieted down when clever and sly Mango appeared at the front. “Say, Mango,” said Fox. “Why did you tell us to meet you here?”

       “You’ll find out soon enough when the sun sets.” replied Mango.

            Suddenly Mango drew herself up to her full height (which was approximately 24 inches) and barked for attention as the sun set. Then she lowered her voice down to a whisper and said, “Everyone be quiet. If Swishy hears us, she’ll get curious and come over.”

         Meanwhile, Swishy was bounding cheerfully in the forest, looking busily for an animal to boast to. She knew nothing about the secret meeting, and she was wondering where everyone had gone. Swishy was very close to the old redwood, but luckily Mango heard Swishy and sent Bear to chase her away. To Swishy, it seemed like Bear had lumbered out “just by chance” and she swiftly ran home from fear when Bear growled.

            “The reason I called this meeting,” continued Mango, “was because I feel like Swishy is so annoying! I need to think of a plan that will teach her and her tail a good lesson. Does anyone have a suggestion?”

          Fox said, “You could hang from a tree and grab Swishy’s tail when she passes underneath.” No one thought much of that idea.

        Then Deer cried out, “I’ve got it! You can chase Swishy to the old barb wired fence! We animals will block the other directions, so the only way Swishy could go is under! Her tail will get caught, so it would get “clipped” short!”

        “That’s the best idea ever!!!!!” barked Mango. “Let’s meet here tomorrow at sunrise.”  And everyone parted their own ways.

            At sunrise the next morning, Mango trotted to the old redwood, breathing in the cool, crisp, fresh autumn air. The other animals had begun to gather, and were whispering excitedly to each other.

         Deer told Mango, “Everyone’s here! Let’s go!” Mango agreed, and they led the group to Swishy’s home. Mango took a deep breath, and howled as loud as she could into the back exit. Swishy ran out the front, and the chase began! Mango’s paws were flying as she chased Swishy toward the barb wire fence. Just like they had planned, every direction was sealed, and Swishy bolted under. Her tail became hopelessly entangled.   Her only choice was to force her long tail out, which would rip it to a little fuzz ball, or DIE!

            Mango and the others helped poor Swishy rip out her namesake, while Swishy’s tears sat at the corner of her warm melted chocolate eyes. Finally, with one last rip, Swishy was free!

       Mango leaped onto a tall rock and growled for silence. She asked Swishy, “Do you know why we did this?” Swishy snuffled and nodded. “Do you promise not to act boastful and obnoxious anymore?” asked Mango. Swishy sniffed and nodded.

      Everyone cheered for Mango and Swishy. They chanted, “Mango! Swishy! We love you!”  Swishy began to perk up and smile.

       This is why the cottontail rabbit has such a short, fluffy, little tail, and why it will run away when something larger makes a loud noise. 

Why Jellyfish Have Tentacles

                                                                        by Nils, 4th grade

    A long time ago, in the deep blue sea Eeler lived among many eels. He was a humble fellow. With a bruise below his jaw, a stitch all across his side, and a bad scratch above his eye, it was surprising how fast he made friends.

    One day he saw a pink blob swimming across the sea. He called out a warning the other eels about this creature. The blob was a jellyfish, but not the one you know. These jelly fish didn’t have tentacles, and were much more poisonous than the ones we know today. If any animal touched it, they turned into jelly-type stuff and died.

    Eeler, like many other eels, was fed up with these jellyfish.  Unlike many others, he had a plan to stop them that just might work. The very next day, he called a meeting with the eel council in the cave of Folk, an eel god.

    After Eeler told them his plan, none but one eel thought it might work. Luckily, that was the Rees, as the eels called him. He was a cross between a king and a president. Here, he was more like a king. “It’s risky, and it will involve much sacrifice, but it might work, and we...”  he corrected himself, “I will give up anything to get rid of those jellies!”  Too much arguing with the Rees only meant bad things, so the rest of the council stayed quiet.

    On that night, all of the eels swam up to the pink blobs.  Eeler silently told which eels to attack which jellyfish.  “GO!” he said after they all knew what to do.  Eeler swam up to the biggest one.  He went faster and faster, but when he got close, he considered the real possibilities and slowed down. It felt like he was moving through jello.  Eeler told himself to go faster, but he found himself retreating.  He saw all of his fellow eels dying, none succeeding.  Everything went black.

    He slowly woke up and saw an eel.  It was his youngest kid, Bo.  Bo was a young boy that stayed behind.  “Who survived?”  Eeler groaned.

          “Us.”  Eeler looked around.  Roughly thirty were left.
   
    Eeler came to his senses.  “UP!  This time we bite harder, stronger and we will suck with DIGNITY!”

    The eels applauded.  (Or they would have if they could have.)

    “Out!  Out!  Out!” Eeler commanded.

    “That one!” Eeler gestured to a big jellyfish.  “Bite it!  Suck the venom out!  GO!” 
   
    Everybody went without hesitation except for Eeler.  He quickly shook it off and swam.  Everything was in slow motion.  He was about to die.  That phrase echoed in his mind.  He was coming close to the jellyfish.  Three feet away, two feet away, one foot away.  Impact.  He clenched his teeth hard and sucked hard.  He shriveled up, starting from the tip of his front tooth to his back fin.  He was dead.  Dead.  Killed.  Murdered.  He passed away.

    Legend has it, the jellyfish he harmed grew tentacles, which were comprised of all of the eels in a shriveled up form.  The eels bit so hard they stayed on the jellyfish.  The reason they sucked was so they could take all the venom out and today, the venom is a sharp sting in the tentacles, telling you to keep away.  The jellyfish they attacked was king.  He felt so embarrassed to have the weird “ropes” on his back that he ordered all jellyfish to grow them, and so they did.

           And that’s why, even today, jellyfish have tentacles.
   

Why Turtles Have Shells

     By Nick, 4th grade

One hot day in the Amazon Rain Forest, a fast turtle named Speedy was running from the Lion King. He jumped behind a bush that was under a tree. “I need some armor to protect me from the lion!” Speedy was lucky because his friend the Bird was listening. The Bird flew down from his perch in the tree and said, “I can help you to get some protection from the lion”. They both walked away.

While Bird was thinking, Bat wanted to join the conversation. So Speedy told Bat that he needed some protection from the lion. Bat asked Speedy and Bird to come to his cave for lunch. While they were feasting on green and purple crickets Bird said, “I can make a shell out of twigs like a nest to put on your back as armor.”

The next day Speedy placed the nest armor on his back, but when the lion came, the nest fell apart when he roared. Speedy ran back to Bat’s cave to get more ideas. When Speedy got there, Bat was already thinking of new ideas because he didn’t think the nest armor would survive a lion attack. Speedy told Bat that he needed something harder. Bat started to fly around his cave because he did his best thinking when he was flying. Suddenly when he was turning he ran into the rock wall of the cave. As he fell he thought, “I know, I can make the armor out of rocks because rocks are clearly very hard!”

When the armor was ready, the Bat put it on Speedy’s back. When the Lion King came he bit Speedy’s back and cracked his tooth on the rock armor. After the lion ran away howling in pain, Speedy tried to get up but he couldn’t move,.  His armor was too heavy. So he called to Bat and Bird to help him get the armor off. Bird and Bat got the armor off and Speedy thanked them, but left the armor at Bat’s cave because it was too heavy.

On the way home he passed Monkey cleaning his house. Just as Speedy walked past Monkey, he saw that Monkey was removing his roof to put a new one on. Monkey replaced his roof every other month because it turned green, and Monkey liked it to be golden. As Monkey threw off the roof, it landed on Speedy’s back. It fit perfectly. It was strong enough to protect him from the Lion’s teeth, but light enough to be able to move and swim. Speedy asked if he could keep his new shell, and Monkey graciously let him.

One day when Speedy was taking a bath he went to take his shell off and found that he couldn’t. After so many years of wearing his shell, it had become a part of him.  So now all of Speedy’s babies are also born with shells.