Getting Started
Learning for life
- The living world is a large and beautiful place with diverse climates and habitats, flora and fauna.
- Every living thing has a right to have its needs respected and protected.
- All living things depend on the environment around them for survival.
- All living things need water to survive, and we must manage the water we have so there is enough to go around.
- All living things are interconnected and interdependent, and the balance can be delicate.
- Humans are ultimately responsible for the state of the environment and its protection for the future.
- Environments change over time and these changes can be caused by nature or humans.
- Changes, whether natural or artificial, can affect whole systems and the environment both for better and for worse.
- Many spaces and species are threatened because of human impact on the environment.
- Through knowledge and understanding, I can make responsible choices to meet my needs and still promote the protection of the environment.
- I may only be one child but I can make a difference.
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Overview
Mang, the happy orangutan, master of the trees.
Mang, the clever orangutan hiding in the leaves and shadows.
Mang, the brave orangutan, man of the trees.
This beautifully illustrated story tells of Mang's journey from an infant on his mother's back, deep in the rich rainforests of Borneo, to being an object of ridicule in a barren zoo exhibit.
As a stand-alone book, this story will introduce younger students to the plight of humans' nearest biological neighbour, and perhaps help them see orangutans in a different light when they next visit the zoo.
However, this book is also an excellent springboard to really delve into the lives of these creatures to discover how humans can have such an impact on the environment that orangutans are now threatened with extinction.
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Useful websites 
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Focus questions
Before reading the book
- What can you learn about orangutans from the pictures on the inside of the covers?
- What else do you know about orangutans?
- What does the author mean when she writes, 'Orangutans are our closest relatives'?
- How do you feel when you see the illustration of Mang on the title page? What makes you feel that way?
- Why do you think that most people find orangutans appealing?
During reading the book
- Where is the story set?
- How is Mang feeling at the start of the story? How do you know this?
- Why does he not like people?
- How did Mang get to be in the zoo?
- What things does Mang miss most?
- What do you think his strongest memory is?
- What are some of the things that Mang's mother did for him that your mother does for you?
- Do all mothers look after their babies as well as this?
- Why did the hunters shoot Mang's mother?
- Why does Mang spend his days imitating the zoo's visitors?
- Even though the zoo has tried to copy his natural environment, why is Mang not happy?
- Why does Mang continually include statements such as 'Mang, the brave orangutan, man of the trees' in his story?
After reading the book
- Why do you think the author called this story, Mang the Wild Orangutan?
- What do you think Mang's future will be?
- Given the plight of the orangutans, is he better off in the zoo or in the rainforest?
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Activities
Responding to text
The story in the story
Individuals 
Class
We can learn a lot about orangutans from Mang. Draw eight large rainforest trees, and label each with one of these with the headings 'appearance', 'habitat', 'habits', 'food', 'movement', 'communication', 'protection' and 'interesting facts'. Use these to create a class concept map and mural background reflecting what the students already know about orangutans. To help them sort their ideas, when a student states a fact, ask them which tree trunk it should be written on. Re-read the story and add any other facts and observations that the students make.
Small groups
Locate a variety of resources about orangutans that will answer the questions listed below. Use the 'Useful websites' section and look in 599.88 in the non-fiction section of your library.
- What do orangutans look like?
- What colour are they?
- How big do they grow?
- Are there distinctive differences between males and females?
- Where do they live?
- What parts of Borneo are their natural habitats?
- Do they only live in Borneo?
- Where do they sleep?
- Are they nocturnal or diurnal?
- Do they hibernate?
- What do they eat?
- How do they get their food?
- Do they rely mostly on their sense of hearing, sight or smell?
- How do they move?
- How fast can they move?
- Are they agile or clumsy?
- How do they communicate?
- Who are their enemies?
- Are they afraid of humans?
- Will they attack humans?
- What scares them?
- How do they protect themselves?
- Do they have special survival skills?
- How have they adapted to their environment?
- Can they adapt to new or different environments?
- Are they clever?
- Do they live in groups?
- Do they live in families?
- How long do they live?
- What are their families like?
- Do they go through the same sorts of developmental stages as humans?
- When and how often do they breed?
- How do they look after their babies?
- Why do the mothers spend so much time with their young?
- Could the mothers do this if they had a lot of babies?
- Why would the death of Mang's mother have such an impact on the orangutan population?
- Are they shy?
- Are they curious?
- When would it be best to search for them?
- What does the word orangutan mean?
- Why are they endangered?
- Why is the destruction of the rainforest such a critical issue in their survival?
- How do they contribute to the preservation of their environment?
Add any other questions that the students suggest. Classify the questions into broad bands of inquiry and assign small groups the task of investigating these and producing a brief report. Discuss the sorts of resources that might provide the best answers, where these might be located and how they can be used most efficiently. Display the reports as part of the mural.
Individuals
Imagine your grandchild has asked you about orangutans because they have become extinct and he/she has never seen one. What would you tell them?
Mang's diary
Individuals
Imagine you are Mang. Write a journal that describes your life and feelings both before and after your capture. Use the journal to create a documentary using software such as PowerPoint or Photostory to retell your story. Illustrate your work using appropriate pictures from either print or electronic sources – under copyright laws you can use these for an educational purpose such as this.
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Themes for Education for Sustainability
Born in Borneo
Individuals Small groups
Mang was born in the rainforests of Borneo. Locate Borneo on a world map.
- Which countries are its nearest neighbours?
- Which parts of the island belong to Malaysia?
- Which parts of the island belong to Indonesia?
- Which part of the island is an independent state?
Use this map to mark in these places:
| Sarawak | Brunei Darussalem | Sabah | Kalimantan |
| Mahakam River | Mt Kinabalu | Rainforest areas | Tanjung Puting National Park |
| Sulu Sea | Celebes Sea | South China Sea | Makassar Strait |
- If you wanted to see the orangutans in the Tanjung Puting National Park, how would you get there from your home town?
- How long would it take you to get there?
- When would be the best time of year to go?
- What travel documents would you need?
- How would you say 'hello' and 'thank you' to your guide?
- What sort of currency would you need?
- If you had $A100, how much would you have in Indonesian money? Use this site to help you work it out: http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert.cgi
- A four-day, all-inclusive tour of the Tanjung Puting National Park from Bali will cost you about 8,406,166 rupiah. How much is this in Australian dollars?
- The Australian Orangutan Project has a slogan – Save the Orangutan – Take a Holiday! How might taking a holiday save the orangutan?
What is a rainforest?
Individuals Small groups
Scientists are finding that if a female orangutan's habitat is damaged, she will not move to make her home area somewhere else. She will stick to her territory and slowly starve and die.
Investigate the unique characteristics of the tropical rainforest. Consider:
- location
- climate, especially temperature and rainfall
- structure
- biodiversity and ecosystems
- plant life
- animal life
- soil nutrition
- Why are the orangutans so dependent on the rainforest?
- If the orangutan were to become extinct, which species would be immediately affected?
- In such an interdependent environment, what might be the consequences of the mass destruction of a particular species of flora or fauna?
Create a diagram that demonstrates the orangutan's place in the food chain. Use this chain reaction template to help you.
The disappearing forest
Individuals Small groups
Large areas of the rainforests of Borneo are being cleared every day.
- If the orangutans are not killed, where do you think they go?
- What would the consequences be of lots of orangutans trying to live in one space?
- If there is not enough natural food, where will the orangutans look for food?
- How will the local farmers feel about this?
- What are they likely to do?
Going, going, gone
Individuals
Experts believe that the natural rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia are being cleared so rapidly that orangutans in the wild will be close to extinction by 2012 - less than five years time. What does 'extinction' mean?
The main reason for the clearing of the rainforests is so that plantations of palms can be grown for their oil. Palm oil is used in many everyday products such as potato chips, chocolate, toothpaste, muesli, biscuits, shampoo, cosmetics, cereal bars, bread, mayonnaise, ice cream, margarine, soap and detergents.
Check the labels of some of the products in your pantry and make a display of those that contain palm oil (It is often just described as vegetable oil.)
Some newspapers have been publishing stories with headlines such as:
- 'Shoppers threat to orangutans'
- 'Eat that ice cream, kill an orangutan'
- 'Save orangutans from extinction when you next shop and put an end to the cruelty of palm oil'
- How are people likely to feel when they read headlines like these?
Write a newspaper article alerting readers to the connection between the use of palm oil, the destruction of rainforests and the threat to the orangutans, without using emotional language.
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Research themes
Spreading the word
Individuals Class
There are many organisations and individuals who are trying to protect the orangutan and its habitat such as the Australian Orangutan Project.
Investigate the methods these organisations use to alert the public about these sorts of issues such as television advertisements, stories, websites, posters and so on. What could you do, as an individual or a class, to raise awareness of the plight of the orangutan?
Small groups Class
As a group or a class, choose a project, identify your goal and then work out an action plan to help you achieve it. Use this t-time form to help your planning and this timeline form to ensure you meet your goals on time.
For some more ideas see the Planet Keeper program.
Mang in the zoo
Individuals Small groups Class
Even though Mang is unhappy in the zoo, is he better off there than in the rainforests of Borneo?
Discuss these questions:
- Why are zoos important?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of breeding wild animals in zoos?
- Who benefits the most from the breeding of wild animals in zoos: humans or the animals?
- Why would a wild animal live longer in healthy captive conditions than in the wild?
- How is having a creature like Mang on exhibit in the zoo likely to help protect all orangutans?
Individuals Small groups
Imagine you are the curator of the zoo who is planning an orangutan exhibit that will help the public learn about and appreciate these creatures more. Design a habitat that would meet its needs and ensure its survival. Make a plan and use this to make a model of the space.
Individuals Class
Visit the orangutan sanctuary at Melbourne Zoo at www.zoo.org.au/Melbourne/Orangutan_Sanctuary
and perhaps contact them to investigate the sorts of things they had to consider about its construction.
The Perth Zoo also has a successful breeding program for orangutans. See www.perthzoo.wa.gov.au/Conservation--Research/
- What is the current role of zoos in the protection and preservation of endangered species?
The great apes
Individuals Small groups
- Humans, chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans are all closely related – in fact the orangutan shares nearly 97 per cent of human DNA. What are the main differences between these types of animals?
Create a chart that shows what you know.
One of the commonalities of humans, chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans is the ability to use their thumbs and fingers in different ways. To discover how important this is, tape your thumb across the palm of your hand. Now try to pick up a pencil and write your name. What other tasks are you unable to do with your thumb taped in this way?
Glossary
Individuals Small groups
Create a glossary that shows understanding of these words:
| adaptation | ape | arboreal | biodiversity |
| clear-felling | conservation | diurnal | ecosystem |
| endangered | endemic | extinct | fauna |
| flora | forage | frugivorous | habitat |
| herbivore | orangutan | rainforest | slash and burn |
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Assessment
Assessment tasks are dependent on the teacher's identified outcomes of the unit, the tasks selected and the evidence that teachers determine to be acceptable for the age group.
Changes in values and attitudes evolve as our expertise and experience grows and so cannot be measured. However, by exposing students to activities such as these we start them on their journey of awareness of the wider world, particularly if we give them the opportunity and time to reflect on their learning.
One or the other?
Palm oil is seen as an ideal product to use instead of fuels such as petrol, so that greenhouse gases can be reduced.
- Which is more important: the reduction of greenhouse gases or the preservation of the orangutans?
- Is there a compromise that allows both?
- Consider the issue from one of these perspectives:
- a local farmer living on what he/she can grow and sell
- a logger employed by the plantation owner earning about $A1000 a year
- the plantation owner trying to meet the demand for palm oil
- the scientist who is convinced that palm oil is the answer to the problem that greenhouse gases cause the environment
- the conservationist who believes the extinction of the orangutan is imminent
Argue your position using what you have learned to support your opinion. Is there a solution that will make everyone happy?
Changing times
Compare the future of the orangutan with the fate of the thylacine in Gary Crew's I Saw Nothing – The extinction of the thylacine. What do we know and do now that the Tasmanians didn't?
Investigate another example of a creature under threat and how its protection and preservation is being addressed, or not.
- What local, national and/or international organisations are there to protect the rights and lives of animals, especially endangered species?
- What is the Red List http://www.iucnredlist.org?
- What do we know, understand and value today that perhaps was not appreciated in times past?
- Reflections
- How has this story impacted on you?
- What will you remember about it when you are older?
- Have the words or the pictures had the most impact? Why?
Use the reflections sheet to reflect on what you have learned and how it might have changed your thinking and understanding.
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