“I’m walking in a minefield here in rural Angola, tailing a monster rat. This is a Gambian pouched rat, a breed almost 3 feet from nose to tail, the kind of rat that gives cats nightmares. Yet this rat is a genius as well as a giant, for it has learned how to detect land mines by scent — and it’s doing its best to save humans like me from blowing up.” N. Kristof, New York Times
ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post with Answer Key
Abraham, a Hero Rat. Photo-International reporting project
Excerpt: The Giant Rats That Save Lives by Nickolas Kristof, NYT
“These rodent mine detectors have been dubbed HeroRats, and when you’re in a minefield with one that seems about right. You’re very respectful, and you just hope this HeroRat doesn’t have a stuffed nose. I’m here because five years ago, my kids gave me a HeroRat for a Father’s Day present through GlobalGiving.org. I didn’t actually take physical possession (fortunately!) but the gift helped pay to train the rat to sniff out explosives. And now I’ve come to minefields of rural Angola to hunt for my rat.
A Gambian pouched rat clears a minefield in N. Angola. Credit-N. Kristof:NYT
I’ve seen land-mine detection in Afghanistan and elsewhere, and it’s dreadfully slow and inefficient. Typically, men in body armor walk in precise rows holding metal detectors in front of them. Whenever they come across metal, they stop and painstakingly brush away the soil until they see what it is…In contrast, the rats scamper along on leashes. They respond only to the scent of explosives, so scrap metal doesn’t slow them down.
The rats are paid in bananas, peanuts, avocados and apples, and they don’t need body armor — partly because they’re too light to set off land mines. (They can still weigh up to 2.5 pounds, which is a lot of rat when you’re face to face.) The handlers grow attached to the rats and recognize each of them by face.
Credit- AllAfrica
Bart Weetjens, a Belgian product designer, started the HeroRat program after puzzling about how to improve mine detection. As a boy, Weetjens had kept rats as pets, and he came across an article about the use of gerbils for tasks involving scent detection. Weetjens then consulted rodent scholars, who suggested Gambian pouched rats, in part because they compensate for very weak eyes with a superb sense of smell.
So Weetjens started an aid group, Apopo, that trains the rats in Tanzania and then deploys them to minefields in various countries. Apopo is also now branching off into using HeroRats to detect tuberculosis — a disease of poverty that kills 1.5 million people a year around the world.
Through Apopo.org, you can “adopt” a HeroRat for $84 a year. Take it from me, this makes a terrific Mother’s Day or Father’s Day present!”
ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post
Level: Intermediate – Advanced
Language Skills: Reading, writing, speaking and listening. Vocabulary and grammar activities are included.
Time: Approximately 2 hours.
Materials: Student handout (from this lesson) and access to news article.
Objective: Students will read and discuss the article with a focus on improving reading comprehension and learning new vocabulary. At the end of the lesson students will express their personal views on the topic through group work and writing.
I. Pre-Reading Activities
Predictions: Analyzing headings and photos
Directions: Have students examine the titles of the post and of the actual article. After they examine the photos, ask students to create a list of words and ideas that they think might be related to this article.
Pre-reading Organizer By Scholastic.
Word Inference
Directions: Students are to infer the meanings of the words in bold taken from the article. They may use a dictionary, thesaurus, and Word Chart for assistance.
- These rodent mine detectors have been dubbed HeroRats.
- When you’re in a minefield with one that seems about right.
- Land-mine detection in Afghanistan and elsewhere is inefficient.
- Men in body armor walk in precise rows holding metal detectors.
- They painstakingly brush away the soil until they see what it is.
- Usually it’s an empty AK-47 cartridge.
- Rats are also more reliable.
- With humans, concentration wanes after a while.
- I think I found my rat: a scraggly codger named Boban.
- The rats are also much more accurate than a human.
ELLteaching 2.0 vocabualry chart
Reading Comprehension: True /False/NA-Statements
Directions: Review the following statements from the reading. If a statement is true they mark it T. If the statement is not applicable, they mark it NA. If the statement is false they mark it F and provide the correct answer. The authors friends gave him a HeroRat as a gift.
- The authors friends gave him a HeroRat as a gift.
- The author took physical possession of the rat.
- The gift helped pay to train the rat to sniff out explosives.
- The author went to the minefields of rural Angola to hunt for his rat.
- The author has five kids.
- There are 52 HeroRats in rural Angola.
- The rats wear body armor.
- Bart Weetjens, a Belgian product designer, started the HeroRat program.
- They are called “pouched” because they are marsupials.
- Another advantage of Gambian pouched rats is that they have an eight-year life span.
Grammar Focus: Preposition Exercise
Prepositions: in, for, of, with, by, across, on, at, to, as, into, around, over, until, from, during,
Directions: The following sentences are from the news article. For each sentence choose the correct preposition from the choices presented. Note that not all prepositions listed are in the article.
I’ve seen land-mine detection ___Afghanistan and elsewhere, and it’s dreadfully slow and inefficient. Typically, men___body armor walk___ precise rows holding metal detectors___ front ___them. Whenever they come ___metal, they stop and painstakingly brush away the soil___they see what it is.
III. Post Reading Tasks
WH-How Questions
Directions: Have students use the WH-question format to discuss or to write the main points from the article.
Who or What is the article about?
Where does the action/event take place?
When does the action/event take place?
Why did the action/event occur?
How did the action/event occur?
Discussion/Writing Exercise
Directions: Place students in groups and have them answer the following questions. Afterwards, have the groups share their thoughts as a class. To reinforce the ideas, students can write an essay on one of the following discussion topics.
The following three statements were taken from the article. Rephrase each statement in your own words, then discuss the meaning with the members of your group.
1. “I’ve seen land-mine detection in Afghanistan and elsewhere, and it’s dreadfully slow and inefficient. Typically, men in body armor walk in precise rows holding metal detectors in front of them. Whenever they come across metal, they stop and painstakingly brush away the soil until they see what it is. Usually it’s an empty AK-47 cartridge or a nail. Sometimes there is metal every few inches. Each time, the whole process stops until the soil can be brushed away.”
2. “Rats are also more reliable,” …With humans, concentration wanes after a while, but rats just sniff away. The rats are paid in bananas, peanuts, avocados and apples, and they don’t need body armor — partly because they’re too light to set off land mines. (They can still weigh up to 2.5 pounds, which is a lot of rat when you’re face to face.)”
3. “Weetjens then consulted rodent scholars, who suggested Gambian pouched rats, in part because they compensate for very weak eyes with a superb sense of smell. They are called “pouched” not because they are marsupials but because they fill their cheeks with nuts and other goodies, and then bury them underground — relying upon scent to recover their caches later. Another advantage of Gambian pouched rats is that they have an eight-year life span that offers a lengthy return on the nine months of training needed to detect land mines.”
1-Minute Free Writing Exercise
Directions: Allow students 1 minute to write down one new idea they’ve learned from the reading. Ask them to write down one thing they did not understand in the reading. Review the responses as a class. Note: For the lower levels allow more time for this writing activity.