weXplore Cultural Experiences — THINK Global School

That is amazing! The world being the classroom, the experience being the teacher. What a great teaching philosophy! TGS, you rock!!!

-Comment by Lin Cheng on TGS blog

weXplore is what sets THINK Global School apart from every other school. Rather than offer school diversions or “field trips” tangential to the academic curriculum, weXplore places the unique people, sights, and events located in and around our host cities at the core of the students’ learning experience.

Lessons begun in the classroom come alive as students reflect, analyze, question, compare, and articulate their responses to a challenging series of workshops, cultural exchanges, museum tours, and nature expeditions. These trips are planned in coordination with TGS faculty in every subject area in the curriculum, and designed according to the latest pedagogical research about effective experiential learning. weXplore adventures also build teamwork and citizenship, as students depend on one another to solve problems and overcome obstacles.

Follow along with us on the TGS blog, as our students and teachers share their explorations with people all over the world.

weXplore Highlights

During our recent trimester in Cuenca, we spent two incredible weeks in the Galapagos Islands. We made a full trip around the circle of life as we spotted finches and iguanas from our kayaks, snorkeled with sting rays and hammerhead sharks, practiced our Spanish at an Ecuadorean Quinceañera ceremony, and even watched a sea lion give birth. We also studied the ecological threats to the islands at a tortoise research facility, learned about the chemistry of taking out the trash at a composting and recycling center, read Darwin’s notebooks at the Charles Darwin Research Center, and used our mathematical skills to measure trends in sea algae growth.

View the complete Ecuador photo gallery here.

Cuenca Trimester: Activities

Tiputini Biodiversity Station in the Amazon Rainforest
Climate change with Natalia Greene of The Pachamama Alliance (speaker)
History of the Galapagos lectures with professors from the University of San Francisco de Quito
Ecuadorian history and environmental politics with Jorge Barba (speaker)
Biodiversity field course with professor Vinueza of USFQ
Exploration of the Galapagos Islands
Charles Darwin Research Center on Santa Cruz Island
Hiking Sierra Negra Volcano
Oktoberfest at Colegio Aleman Stiehle Cuenca
Ecuadorian cooking class
Incapirca ruins
Fiestas de Cuenca
World Wildlife Fund International president Yolanda Kakabadse
Ecuadorian shamanism with a highland practitioner
Conversation with Queen of Water co-author María Virginia Farinango
Hiking El Cajas National Park
Volunteering in the rural Chimborazo province

During our trimester in Beijing, we toured the Great Wall of China with scholarly expert and National Geographic Channel host William Lindesay. On what was surely the most exciting (and aerobic) lessons we’ve ever had in our Global Studies course, we explored how the wall was constructed, the way it factored into Qin Dynasty military strategy, the archaeological sites along its perimeter, and the conservation issues facing the “wild” sections of the wall that have been reclaimed by the surrounding forest.

View the complete China photo gallery here.

Beijing Trimester: Activities

Great Wall expedition with William Lindsay
JUMP! Foundation workshop with Beijing BISS students
Peking Opera performance
Practicing Tai Chi
Teaching English to Chinese migrant students
Terracotta Warriors in Xi’An
798 Art Zone
Mountain-Top Temple in Dali
Tiger Leaping Gorge and Shangri-La Trek
Hutong scavenger hunt and dumpling class
Confucius temple
Forbidden City tour with Mike Bruhn
Hutong cooking competition with BISS students
Dragon boating

During our trimester in Sydney, we undertook a multi-stage adventure that began with a rainforest hike through an ancient volcano crater. Led by a zoologist and nature photographer, we learned how to identify native bird and reptile species. Trekking further into the jungle, we stayed overnight with an indigenous highland tribe, the Yidinji. They taught us their traditional methods for preparing food and herbal medicines, telling stories and creating rock art, playing didgeridoo, and of course throwing boomerangs. We even went hunting for fish, mud crabs, and mussels in a mangrove swamp. The grand finale was a scuba dive in the Great Barrier Reef, where we spoke with a marine biologist about evolution and the challenges posed by global climate change.

View the complete Australia photo gallery here.

Sydney Trimester: Activities

Sydney Harbor bridge climb
Indigenous rainforest tour
Scuba diving the Great Barrier Reef
Kangaroo Island Wildlife Sanctuary
Hyde Park Barracks Museum
Blue Mountains climbing trip
Performed in Chinese New Year parade
Exploring Sydney’s aquatic ecosystem
Australian Theater for Young People Workshop
Museum of Sydney exhibit on the struggle for Aboriginal rights
Australian Observatory/Planetarium
Sydney Opera House Tour and attended the opera “Carmen”
Manly Beach bicycle tour
Australian Museum
Kayaking with Ironman Guy Leech
EastSail adventure on the Sydney Harbor

During our trimester in Stockholm, we traveled deep into the mountains to Åre, just 220 miles south of the Arctic Circle. We learned about the folkways and survival techniques of the indigenous Sami culture and went snowshoeing and dog sledding in a beautiful winter wonderland. This meditative trip to the top of the world was also a great opportunity for literary reflections. (Good thing there are so many words that rhyme with “cold.”)