LETTER FROM CLUB FACILITATOR

Dear Club Members

We were sorry that the fifth session of Thinkers' Club had been cancelled. We had hoped that this club would run smoothly and without any interruptions, but due to a strike called in the city, we could not hold this session. Anyhow, we can continue our research and thinking on the theme that was taken up in the last session.

The home task of last week, which was to research about How Stars Guide Us in Travelling, will be presented in the upcoming session. Several club members have sent us their presentations and articles on the topic. If you did not have time to do the task, you have one more week to complete it.

I hope you all have subscribed this blog for email updates. All the work received up till Session 4 has been shared here and each contributor is acknowledged on the Contributors' page. Your presentations and articles on Stars will be published on the blog after the upcoming session, Insha-Allah.

Please comment on the posts if you have not commented yet, especially the session reports. Also invite your parents, siblings, friends, and teachers to visit the blog and comment on your work and reports.

In response to this post, kindly tell us through comments about how you liked the club, what you liked or didn't like, what is the best thing about the club, and suggestions, etc. Also, tell us about what you learned from the topics discussed in each session.

Looking forward to hear from all of you.

Keep thinking!

Salman Asif Siddiqui
Facilitator

Thinkers' Club

Migratory Birds, by Zainab Salman (club member)

What are Migratory Birds?

Migratory birds are types of birds which migrate from one place to the other due to weather changes/lack of food. Some birds migrate to nesting grounds to breed.

Migratory Birds in Pakistan.

Some species of migratory birds migrate to the subcontinent in the winters, from cold places like Siberia and Antarctica. Birds like grebe, pelican, bittern, stork, glossy ibis, spoonbill, white headed duck, swans, geese, ruddy shelducks and a list of others migrate to Pakistan’s beaches and lakes where they spend their winters.

During the Journey….

The birds which migrate are called Migratory Birds. The birds that don’t migrate are called resident birds. Migratory Birds migrate in autumn, before winters. Some also migrate twice a year. The birds go to warmer/colder places where they stay and then fly back to their home place. Before migration,birds eat a lot. They store fat so they have enough energy to fly non-stop for hours before it is time to rest and have something to eat. Birds gather together when it’s time to start off so nobody gets lost. They also travel in large flocks of birds of each specie and they travel together. Similarly, geese fly in a V formation, so they can always see their leader.

Migration is not only done by birds but animals and humans also migrate. The reason of migration for animals is the same as for birds. For Instance, Marine Animals like Grey Whale, green turtles, Monarch butterflies, salmon and trout fish are Migratory Animals.
Even though migratory birds do all this, it doesn’t mean that they can be wiser and cleverer than us, humans. It’s all part of their life, their routine, their script, that Allah (S.W.T) has written for them. Just the way we wear warm clothes and eat warm food in winters, some birds migrate. There is no reason for asking why, because that is part of their life. The process of migration is just around their basic needs, there is no rocket science.

I collected all this information from Science books, and from my own knowledge about migratory birds. This task was fun and I learnt many new things about birds while I was simply researching.

Compiled by Zainab Salman 

Club Member 

Migratory Birds, video by Saad Allahwala (club member)

This video is made by our Club member Saad Allahwalh about Migratory Birds.

Migratory Birds, presentations by Club Members

Migratory birds, by Muneeb Elahi (club member)

When many of us think about migration, the image of geese winging their way south in their wrinkled V-shaped flocks is one that often comes to mind. Bird migration is the regular seasonal movement, often north and south along a flyway between breeding and wintering grounds, undertaken by many species of birds. Migration occurs mainly in the Northern Hemisphere where birds are funneled on to specific routes by natural barriers such as the Mediterranean Sea or the Caribbean Sea.

Why do birds migrate?

Birds migrate to move from areas of low or decreasing resources to areas of high or increasing resources. The two primary resources being sought are food and nesting locations. 

Birds that nest in the northern hemisphere tend to migrate northward in the spring to take advantage of burgeoning insect populations, budding plants and an abundance of nesting locations. As winter approaches, and the availability of insects and other food resources drops, the birds move south again.

Escaping the cold is a motivating factor but many species, including hummingbirds, can withstand freezing temperatures as long as an adequate supply of food is available.

Maps: 
Migrating birds navigate using celestial cues from the sun and stars, the earth's magnetic field, and probably also mental maps.

Migrating birds:
Storks, swallows, turtle doves, geese and hummingbirds are examples of migrating birds.

Shared by Muneeb Elahi

Club Member

Migratory Birds, by Kenza (online member from UK)

Birds are one of several species of animal that migrate every year. Unlike animals such as hedgehogs, mice, bears, etc they do not hibernate. Instead, they fly to another part of the planet where it will be warmer for the season – and where they can find plenty of shelter and food.  

Why do birds migrate?

The main reason why birds migrate is that they know food will become scarce in winter. Most birds will migrate to places like Africa, where there will be plenty of food. Other birds change from the northern hemisphere to the southern hemisphere and vice versa – where the opposite hemisphere will become warmer as it nears to summer there.

Are there exceptions?

In places like the Amazonian Rainforest, in Brazil, birds don’t have to migrate because the Amazon is located close to the equator, in which case it would be warm in any season and there would be enough food for them to live.

However, some species of birds don’t migrate. They stay for the winter. Such birds in the northern hemisphere include blackbirds, robins, etc. They will usually feed on the berries found in hedgerows, worms and other insects and maybe bread or bird food from bird lovers.

When do birds arrive from their migration?

Birds that have migrated arrive back from early-spring to mid-spring. Usually from around March to May. A good time to spot a certain species of birds back from migration is around the first few days of May, very early in the morning (around dawn).

How many of them migrate?

The known amount of species of birds that migrate every year is 4000. That’s 40% of all the bird species on Earth. Swallows, ospreys, turtle doves, geese, Arctic terns, emus and chaffinches are among those 4000 species. Smaller birds include hummingbirds, flycatchers and warblers.

Which bird migrates the furthest?

Out of all the 4000 known species, Arctic Terns are known to travel the furthest. Each year they migrate 20,000km. They depart from Shetland to the Antarctic from the beginning of August to the end of October and they return back to Shetland from around end of March to the beginning of June.

Link

To see an interesting migration map, click on this link! http://www.rspb.org.uk/youth/play/migrationmap.aspx

Written by kenza
Online Member from UK

Migratory Birds, by Abiha Salman (club member)

If you have ever shifted from one place to another, you know how difficult and tricky it is. Who wants to leave the comfort of their homes? Well, some birds do migrate away from their homes every year. Such birds are called migratory birds. 
So, what makes them leave the comfort of their cozy nests and migrate over thousands of miles to a new place each year? The main reasons are food and weather. As winter approaches, food becomes scarce and therefore, birds move to warmer places in search for food. Sometimes, birds fly away from home also to give birth to young ones in a conductive environment.

Written by Abiha Salman
Club Member

Report: Thinkers' Club Session 4

Session # 4
Date: 24^th August, 2014

Attended by: 17 participants
Report Written by: Fatima Salman

Today we had the 4th Session of Thinkers Club. We began with a quick round of introduction and then came to the presentations on Migratory Birds. This was the home task of the last session. 

Several kids had done this task and many of the club members had made Powerpoint presentations. One by one, each person presented his or her work. (All the research work done by members will be shared on the blog) It happened to be very informative. 

We discussed the topic, Why Birds Migrate? Most people had done a lot of research work and the answer was weather changes, which is the main reason for migration. The birds also need a warmer climate for hatching their eggs, so breeding is also a reason.

We discussed their routes and found out many interesting facts. Like in a route map shared by a member, we saw that the migration routes of certain birds are different for going and different for returning.

We then discussed about How does a bird remember it's way back from exactly where it started? This may not seem a very important question, but it is! Because many animals have a sense of direction better than us humans. They also figure out their way through stars. They know which star to follow which will lead them to their destination.

We ended with the task to find out about how people follow stars in travelling, what stars do they follow, and some research about it.

Note: Another member has joined our club through Online participation. Her name is kenza and she lives in the UK. 

Here is another report written by another Club Member, Azka Javeria.

On the fourth session of The Thinker's Club dated 24th August 2014 ,we first had a quick recap of things we did earlier, and then we saw the lovely presentations on Migratory Birds by, Talha Arif, Isam Majeed and Affaan Haider, and Ayan Bin Salman. There were also writings by Muneeb Ilahi, Zainab Salman,and a really descriptive writing by Abiha Salman. A new girl joined us online today, named Kenza from UK and she also sent a very nice writing and a very interesting link to a map of routes of different migratory animals ( rspb.org.uk/youth/play/migrationmap.aspx) . Some facts were also shared like "A salmon comes back to die at the place where it was born." A very reasonable question came up afterwards, "How do animals know there way?" there were a lot of different answers, because these theories have not yet been prove. We were told that some animals rub of there scent on there way. Animals that travel at night use the stars as their guides. Even humans travel with the help of stars when they are at sea. Later on we were given two home tasks: (1) We had to write short reflections on this class. (2) We had to search how someone can find there way with the help of stars. It was a very interesting session and we learned a lot from it.

Report:Thinkers' Club Session 3

Session # 3
Date: 17^th August, 2014

Attended by: 22 participants
Report Written by: Fatima Salman

On 17th August, we had our third session of Thinkers' Club. In this session, we were joined by eight students of L2L Academy. We were continuing the topic of What and How Animals Think. Following the previous session's home task, three kids had made nests out of twigs, dried leaves and grass. They were presented to the class and the people who had made the nests, explained how they had made them. The nests were finely made and resembled a bird's nest. (Pictures of those nests are shared here).

Then, we started discussing on what animals think and act upon. These four main things came up.

1. Protecting from danger
2. What to eat
3. How and where to live-home or no home
4. Produce offspring

This is the way an animal's mind works.It just cares about protecting itself from any kind  of danger, hunting for food, having a place to live, and creating a family. This can be called an animal's life.

This led to another point to ponder upon; Are there people who spend their lives like animals? The answer, quite simply is a yes! There are people who think only around their instincts like animals: Protecting themselves from any any kind of danger, (earning money) to have food to eat and a place to live, and then having a family.

We then discussed about What are the things which makes a person different from an animal, or, in other words, What are the qualities of a human being which animals don't have?

We listed these things which came to our mind:

1. Selflessness; thinking of others
2. Purpose of life\goals
3. Proactive instead of reactive (emotional control)
4. Follow instructions\orders of Allah [Religion]
5. Knowledge
6. Culture\manners
7. Curiosity
8. Freedom of choice
9. Sense of right and wrong\needs and wants
10. Problem identification, analysis, and solving
11. Planning long term future
12. Beautiful forms of expression\creativity
13. Highly developed languages

We ended with the home task of finding out about Migratory Birds. We could present it through a Presentation, Report, or Write-up.

Reflections by Club Members on Session 3

In the third session of The Thinkers' Club dated 17th August 2014, some new people joined us, so there are 20 of us now. 

First of all we shared the nests we had made with each other. Some awesome nests turned up.
Then we returned back to our topic "What and How do Animals Think" We discussed how humans think differently from animals. These are the points we got:

Animals  think about:
How to defend themselves.
Where to live.
Where to find some thing to eat
What they should do to reproduce.

Humans' are different because:
They are Selfless.
They have a purpose of life.
They are proactive whereas animals are reactive.
They have a religion.
They have wisdom.
They follow traditions.
They are curious.
They have a lifestyle.
They have hobbies and freedom of choice.
They have the sense of right and wrong and needs and wants.
They can identify problems, analyze and then solve them.
They plan for future longer than animals.
They are creative and they can express with ease.
They have a language unlike animals.

Written by Abiha Salman
Club Member

Last Sunday and and the Sunday before that I attended a workshop called Thinkers Club. I am only able to attend session 2 and session 3, and I thought although these classes were not as I expected, they were certainly educational. These classes we learnt about animals thoughts, wether they think and what they think. We also had to make nests, as a homework to show that birds do have to think to be able to create such a thing, although we learnt that animals have a limited thinking ability. They are able to think about the near future and about the bare necessities of life, such as reproducing and caring for offspring, finding or building shelter, finding or hunting for food, finding drink, and protecting oneself from predators or natural disasters. As an animal lover, I was pleased about the topic and found the debate during session 2 riveting. I noticed one thing though. Most people in favor that animals think seemed to be the sort of people who would be animal lovers. Another thing I noticed was that while discussing if animals think, we were actually thinking ourselves! Although the class was an hour and a half long, it felt like a mere fifteen minutes. These classes were interesting and I regret that I'm unable to attend any more. I advise anyone reading this to attend this class, if they aren't already, and if they wish to use their brains to at least part of its potential.

Written by Dania Khan
Club Member

Today we discussed ‘What animals think’ in the topic ‘Do animals think’. 3 children had made the nests (previous homework).  Each one was uniquely creative and different. After all the children had gathered, we discussed about what animals think. We finally found 4 basic points as mentioned below:

1.       Protection from danger

2.       What to eat

3.       How and where to live

4.       Produce offspring/Give birth.

We discussed whether humans can think like animals and we answered “yes”. There can be any such human. But as Allah (S.W.T) has created us the best of all creations ,there are several things that make us different from animals. We got different answers and we jotted them down on the board and in our notebooks:

1.       Selflessness/thinking of others

2.       Purpose of life/goals.

3.       Proactive instead of reactive (emotional control)

4.       Follows instructions and orders of Allah (religion)

5.       Curiosity/urge to gain knowledge.

6.       Culture/manners/routine

7.       Freedom of choice: interests and hobbies.

8.       Sense of right and wrong.

9.       Problem solving and analysis.

10.   Planning for long term future

11.   Beautiful forms of expressing creativity.

12.   Highly developed languages.

We ended with an introduction of the new boys from L2L academy and added their names to the member’s list.

The homework was to prepare a report about Migratory birds which we will send to the Thinkers' club email address. This session was interesting and fun.

Written by Zainab Salman

Club Member

The session 3 of thinker's club dated 17 August 2014, was very informative. A few more children joined the Thinker's Club today making it more intriguing. I was thoroughly immersed throughout the session. I go to know a few interesting things, like how humans and animals think. It was a wonderful session and I am sure I'll attend all sessions in the future.

Written by Azka Javeria

Club Member

How to post a comment

Written by Fatima Salman

This blog is a reflection of the things we do in our sessions. We would appreciate it if you comment. In case you don't know how to comment, or your comment is not getting published, this is how you can comment.

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A box will open where you have to write your comment.After typing your comment, click on the blue button that says Publish.

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Nests made by Members

Here are the pictures of the nests that the students made and shared them in Session 3. It was a project based on the theme of session 2 DO ANIMALS THINK.

Nest made by Asjad Waseem

Nest made by Dania Khan

Nest made by Abdul Qadeer, Fayez Ali and Javeria Ali

Nest made by Azka Javeria and Fatima Salman

A Story on an Animal: Stray Cat

This is a story about a stray cat from it's perspective, written by Zainab Salman in Session 2.

I am a stray cat. I am sitting on the top of the garden fence, smelling about for some food. Suddenly, I smell some milk and I follow the smell. I see a saucer full of milk and I bow my head to lap it up, But all of a sudden, A girl pops out of a corner and yells BOO!!!

I feel so scared and I run away, out on the street. I stop by a kind old lady who’s on a wheelchair. She sits out in her garden every evening and sometimes throws me some meat or cat biscuits. She also owns this awful Persian cat who hates me very much.  (I usually keep a distance with her in case of any attacks!) The old lady throws out some over boiled meat and I start nibbling it up even though I really hate boiled meat. I prefer raw fish, but she doesn't know that and I don’t care because I am way too hungry. I lick my paws and purr. Then I walk away and settle down at a corner for a sleep. I wake up to see some boys throwing me some popcorn. I chew some up, and walk away to a corner of soft grass because it is a purrrfect place for a purrfect nap. Meeoow!!!

A Story on an Animal: Ant

This is a piece of writing about an Ant from it's perspective written by Syeda Nameera Faisal in Session 2.

A Story on an Animal: Lizard

This is a small piece of writing about a Lizard from it's perspective, written by Club Member Fatima Salman in Session 2.

Just as I got out of my hiding place under the bed, a girl entered the room. I stayed still, hoping to be unnoticed, but her terrible eyes spotted me and she screamed so loudly that my ears hurt! I ran back under the bed. I was terrified that someone would kill me if I came out, so I stayed under the bed all day long until night. And when everyone fell asleep, I changed my home to a safer place, (Under a loose floorboard!)

Report: Thinkers' Club Session 2

Session # 2 
Date: 10^th August, 2014

Attended by: 15 participants
Report Written by: Zainab Salman

Today was the 2^nd session of the Thinker’s Club. We all gathered and introduced ourselves to the 4 new kids who hadn’t come last time. Actually, we didn’t introduce ourselves, we introduced others. We were paired up with somebody whom we didn’t know and were asked to introduce them. After that, we started our discussion. We debated over Do animals think? Everybody had different answers and then we decided that because animals feel and have emotions, they probably do think. But they just think around their basic needs; around their instincts. We also talked about whether animals have brains or not and decided that animals have brains because some kids had eaten cow and goat brains before. We were also asked that Is there any animal who’s brain is larger than it's body? After some time somebody answered the question and we learned that the ant is one such animal.

Then we wrote on the topic, A Day in the life of an Animal. From lizards to elephants and dogs, everybody had chosen a different animal to write about. We shared part of our writings with the rest of the class. All the writings were interesting.

We talked about Animals mentioned in the Quran. The responses were ants, honey bees, elephants, cows, spiders, etc. We discussed on diverse topics and answered several questions. We learned interesting facts and pondered upon different questions. We talked about birds and their nests. As the class ended, we were given a challenge to make a nest. You've to use no nails, glue or any artificial things. Most kids agreed to make a nest and seemed eager. This session was more interesting than the last one and everyone enjoyed.

Zainab's Writings: Review: The first session of Thinker's Club.

Zainab Salman, a member of our Thinkers' Club has published a review of the club's inaugural session on her blog. Please visit her blog and comment.

Zainab's Writings: Review: The first session of Thinker's Club.: We have started a Thinker's Club or 'Halqa e Ghor o fikr' in Urdu. Over there we think about several issues and discuss what we ...

Report: Thinkers' Club Session 1

Session # 1 

Date: 3rd August 2014

Attended by: 14 participants
Report Written by: Azka Javeria and Fatima Salman

On Sunday, 3rd August, we had the first session of Thinkers' Club. A group of fourteen children had gathered, mostly around the ages of ten to fifteen years. The session began at 10:00 am, and was conducted by Salman Asif Siddiqui.

First we introduced and told three things about our selves. The rules were set and the objectives discussed. 
We talked about how often it was that we wanted to ask or answer a question, but we didn't, thinking it may sound 'silly'. In this club, nobody should worry if they thought their question or answer sounded silly.
We discussed about 'What is the most important thing to think about?' and 'Is there any thing you wondered about but couldn't get the answer?' The kids responded

Then, we were encouraged to ask every question that ever crossed our mind whether it was inappropriate or if it sounded stupid. 

Later we were divided into two groups of seven, and were asked to form questions in our mind related to our brain. Afterwards we jotted them down and shared them with the other group. 

As the class ended, we were given something to observe and ponder upon; 'Do animals think?'
All in one, it was fun, and the best thing was that everyone enjoyed.

Session 1: Questions about the Human Brain

In our first session, after the Introduction, The participants were divided in two groups of seven kids in each group. We had to make a list of questions about our brain. Both groups, mostly eight-fifteen years of age, had lots of questions to share and here they are:

• What is the weight of our brain?
• What is the difference between the words, 'brain' and 'mind'?
• Does the brain grow in size?
• Why do we have a brain?
• How much memory can our brain store?
• What is the size of our brain?
• Why does the brain only think?
• Why do we think?
• What will happen if we stop thinking?
• How much can we think in one hour?
• Why is the brain so small?
• Does having long or short hair effect the brain?
• Does the weather effect the brain?
• Can dreams come true?
• How do dreams come while we're sleeping?
• Why is the brain placed in our head?
• Does our skull have the brain only?
• How much is the capability of a brain to think?
• What is the shape of the brain?
• Why are the nerves of our brain so small?
• Can we think with the brain of an animal?
• How much can a brain think in one day?
• Why does our brain control our whole body?
• Why do we ask questions?
• Can a person become mad  after thinking a lot?
• If we lose our memory, how long would it take to recover?
• Is the doctor who treats mentally ill people, mad?
• How do people recover from madness?
• Why does our brain think only?