Every challenging work needs guidance as well as encouragement.

So, special thanks to Özge Sevim , Özlem Meyer, Urszula Waligóra and Monika Bomba that gave great support and inspiration to write out this story for the project AnimaLand.

Main Characters:

Dodo Bird

Mammoth

Pinta Island Tortoise

Passenger Pigeon

Caspian Tiger

Carolina Parakeet

Journey To Animaland

Part 1 - Özlem Meyer and her students, Şükri Bitlisi Ortaokulu

One day, a group of students and their teachers wanted to take a part in eTwinning project. They thought about an imaginary island which was visited by some extinct animals. They could travel to this island which is called “Animaland” by using a time capsule. This time capsule drove them into the past and it started a great story of 6 extinct animals. The students invited each of those 6 animals from different time periods, to their “AnimaLand” in 2020.

Let’s see how the animals met and which experiences they shared with each other.

The Passenger Pigeon landed on a branch and looked around. She was excited to be in this magical place, full of green with several natural beauties.

 “Am I the first guest here?” she asked to herself.

Somebody lifted up his eyes: “No, you are the second guest here.”

 This was the Dodo Bird, calling her from a shiny lake.

The Pigeon said “I thought it was because I can always fly fast, even up to 100 km, I am the fastest bird in the world.”

The time capsule must have brought the Dodo earlier than him.

Am I the first guest here?

No, you are the second guest here

“Ah, this is unbelievable! you are such a lucky bird,” the Dodo said.

 The Pigeon asked: “Why?”

The Dodo complained: “I sometimes feel unhappy because I am a bird but I can’t fly!”. He suddenly looked sad and lowered his head.

“But you have a colorful beak and I don’t have that. You should not be upset. We all are unique and have different features. Come on, let’s go and find our other friends,” the Pigeon said.

The Dodo was glad to hear those nice words and they started walking on the AnimaLand.

They were impressed by the beauty of this island. They felt like in a paradise.

“I can’t believe how the water is clean and there are so many trees here. This place is entirely different from my world,” the Pigeon said.

The Dodo approved her and went on by saying: “I don’t see any sailors trying to capture me here.”

The Pigeon: "What is the problem with the sailors?"

The Dodo: "Because they always want to hunt us and people pick up our favorite fruits from the trees."

The Pigeon Pigeon asked then, “What is your favorite fruit?"

The Dodo: "I like eating fruits of tambalacoque tree and you? How about you?"

The Pigeon: "I like eating grapes and cherries."

They went deep into the woods while chatting. The Dodo was walking so slowly and this annoyed the Pigeon. They were curious to discover everything around and wandered the other parts of the island. The adventure had just begun.

The Pigeon: "I can’t wait to see our other friends. Can you please walk faster?"

The Dodo: "Sorry, I am not able to walk and run fast."

The Pigeon: "Well, I can do either but this doesn’t stop people from hunting us."

The Dodo: "Really? Do they also hunt your species?"

The Pigeon: "Yes, they do. Our number is becoming less day by day."

The Dodo: "So, I am not the only animal with the danger of extinction."

The Pigeon: "You are not! Maybe, other animals are living happily and don’t have such problems like us."

Then, they suddenly heard something very loud. A round shape became bigger and bigger in the sky. After that, it finally appeared clearly. This was like the sun but seemed red and black rather than a bright yellow. It had horns and was looking so scary like a monster. The animals were frightened and it was getting too warm.

Then, they asked: “Who are you?” 

Who are you?

My name is GLOBAL WARMING!

Don’t you know me?

"Heyyy! I came here to greet the humans! My name is GLOBAL WARMING! Don’t you know me? " the voice said.

Before they answered, Wolly Mammoth had arrived.

The Mammoth: "Hey, friends! I am a mammoth. I may look enormous. Some animals are afraid of my appearance but I am very friendly. The eTwinning students sent me here. Nice to meet you."

They welcomed The Mammoth. Global Warming was still waiting there. 

Hey, friends! I am a mammoth. I may look enormous. Some animals are afraid of my appearance but I am very friendly.

G.W: "Let me introduce myself! People created me years ago. They fed me with their misbehaviours."

Animals asked: “What do you mean with misbehaviours?”

G.W: "Oh you poor animals! You really don’t know anything!"

The Mammoth started feeling hot and thirsty. He was already tired in the beginning of this journey.

G.W: "People hate me now but they keep feeding me every day.

If they feed me more and more, I will become more dangerous."

The Animals: "Don’t worry, we can love you!"

G.W: "Don’t love me, please! I am very dangerous for animals, too. "

The Pigeon asked, “Why?”

Part 2-Urszula Waligóra and her students, Szkoła Podstawowa im. Mieczysława Wieczorka w Olszanie

 G.W: "You really don't know? Because of my heat. The Earth will turn into a desert! Plants will no longer grow, there will be no food for the animals and the change in temperature will cause many species of animals to become extinct! "

The Mammoth: "We will not allow it! People will not allow it!"

G. W: "People? And where were the people when I was growing stronger and stronger? Most people don't care about the fate of their planet. Soon I will rule the world!"

The Pigeon: "Not all people are like that! We will stop you eventually!"

The Global Warming started to laugh, “I will not waste time on you. But I will come back again, you will see. People will remember that they gave me such strength,” he said and left.

The Dodo: "Very bad. We have to do something!"

The Mammoth: "Huh? What can three animals do? After all, G.W is powerful. Don't people see it?"

“Some people see that but they don't have much opportunity to do something.” the Pigeon said sadly.

The Dodo: "Let's start looking for other animals. Maybe they will want to help us?"

And they did what he said. They roamed around AnimaLand in search of other animals. Finally, they came to a small lake. The Caspian Tiger was sitting by the shore. Seeing that someone was coming, he turned and looked curiously at other animals.

"Nice to meet you. I'm the Caspian Tiger. Who are you?" the Caspian Tiger asked and approached the guests dignifiedly. The animals introduced themselves and explained the situation to him. He was very concerned about the whole issue.

Nice to meet you. I'm the Caspian Tiger. Who are you?

?

The Tiger: "We have to do something! He can't win. After all, it's our planet, our home, and home needs care. Why can't people see it?”

“But what can we do?" the Mammoth wondered. 

Suddenly something came out of the lake. It was great mass of paper, bottles and other trash. When they looked closely, they could see eyes glistening red, large teeth and claws. They could smell the monster's old garbage smell. The animals backed away in fear.

The monster smiled mockingly and said: “Why are you afraid of me? I am the ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION! You must have heard of me! I am another problem of people. I am powerful and invincible! I was created by people many years ago and I am stronger every year.”

Why are you afraid of me?

I am the ENVIRONMENTAL

POLLUTION!

"Why are you here?" the Dodo asked in fear.

 E. P: “I wanted to warn you. Soon I will be so powerful that nobody will stop me. Together with other problems we will take over the world. Plants, people and animals will be more and more threatened! If this goes on, soon there will be no place without trash and pollution.”

The Pigeon replied: “We will not allow it! We will defeat you and the Global Warming!”

“You can't beat us! People created us and they will not stop! Every year I am more powerful and all thanks to your people! Beware! Time will show!" he said and disappeared as soon as he appeared.

Part 3 - Özge Sevim and her students, 100. Yıl Atatürk Ortaokulu

The animals were more alarmed than before. They felt trapped on the island and heard the birds singing louder and louder. The sun came up surprisingly bright and they could see the white smokes of ships out at the sea. They left the small lake behind and decided to reach the shore of the sea nearby. The Caspian Tiger joined the flock and they followed the path which was covered with beautiful flowers and yellowish grass. While walking, they felt at home because this path seemed familiar with their feet. 

The Caspian tiger shouted with a big noise: “Watch out! What is that?

I saw something going up and down in the water.”

The Pigeon: "I can’t see. Maybe it is just a fish."

The Dodo: "No! I can see it, too. Look! It is in the water. Let’s go closer."

The Mammoth: "Stay behind! I am bigger than all of you. If it is something dangerous, I can protect you."

As they were approaching the shore, the Pinta Island Tortoise jumped out of the water and fixed its eyes on the mammoth.

 “Oh! Are you a monster? Don’t eat me, please.” he said in horror.

The Mammoth angrily replied him: “No, I am not! You don’t make my mouth water and I am a vegetarian!”

Oh! Are you a monster? Don’t eat me, please

No, I am not! You don’t make my mouth water and I am a vegetarian!

The Tortoise was very amazed to see a huge body of the Mammoth and stayed staring at him for a few minutes. Then, the Tortoise realized other animals behind the Mammoth and came to himself.

The Tortoise: "Hello everyone. I am Pinta Island Tortoise. Sorry for my fear and surprise but I was trying to hide myself from the sailors and whalers who usually want to hunt tortoises as a source of fresh meat. "

The Dodo: "Oh no, you don’t need to be scared. There aren’t any people around. Calm down. You are safe with us."

The Tortoise: "Thank you, my friend. Actually, I found myself in this sea while I was swimming in joy from the deep blue of the sea to the golden sands. I saw you while I was looking around where I was and I thought you are one of the cruel hunters who cause my friends to die "

The Pigeon: "Ok. Apparently, we all came here within the time capsule. But why? This is a very nice place but we met two very bad things which are called GLOBAL WARMING and ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION."

The Pigeon's heart gave a wild beat and it thoughtfully opened her wings and rose to the sky. After taking a few turns in the sky, she saw a colorful beam of light coming towards her.

Suddenly she stopped and waited for it to approach with curiosity. It was the Carolina Parakeet who came and they quickly went down together.

The Parakeet started talking after resting her extraordinarily colorful wings for a while: “Hello. I greet this beautiful group of animals with happiness. You all wonder why you are here. I came from a group of students and teachers who called you here."

The Tiger asked: “Why did they call us? Is there a problem?”

The Parakeet: "Students and their teachers need your help to stop everything harmful to animals and the environment. The water, soil and air are being polluted. Some people ignores the loss of animals’ habitats and species. The world is getting warmer and glaciers are melting. Some of our friends are hunted or tortured for their fur, leather, skin or other reasons. Now it is time to change the ongoing situation!"

Animals were in silence. The Dodo gives a long sigh a minute later with a company of shouting birds and insects.

The Mammoth: "We are coming with you. If they need our help, we will do our best. But we have a problem. How can we reach to the land?"

The Pigeon: I can fly. But what about you?

With a spirit of adventure and excitement of the brilliant idea that appeared in his mind, the Tortoise turned over his shell and “I can handle it.” he exclaimed as he was looking round at the other animals which were looking hopelessly. Then, he started to tell his brilliant plan. According to his plan, he would call all his tortoise friends in the sea and create a raft from their shells. If they succeeded in swimming tightly next to each other, they would be able to easily move on the sea thanks to this raft of their shells.

The Mammoth: "The raft of shells? Are you sure your friends can stay alive? When I stamp on them, we probably go under the depths of the sea together. How will they carry me?"

The Tortoise: "Don't worry, big boy. They are so strong that they can carry even a large body like you." (It giggles.)

The Tortoise, who dived into the sea with excitement, returned with his many shellfish friends. He was acting as if he was leading an army and told other tortoises that they had to stay side by side tightly and swim with all their power to cross their friends across.