Category: Faculty

While visiting the Golden Triangle in northern Thailand, we had the joy of visiting Think Elephants International, where Dr. Joshua Plotnik explained how they study domesticated elephants in order to promote elephant conservation. In this video, Dr. Plotnik explains some of the basic understandings about elephants on our visit to their grounds in Chiang Saen.   After watching their many experiments on behavior, Dr. Joshua Plotnik and Dr. John...

TGS students took the initiative while at PTIS to explore the campus farm and develop their own pre-CAS activities related to farm improvements. Utilizing elements of science, experience gained from Me to We, their own ingenuity, our students created various teams each dedicated to a different project on farm improvement, all while closely working with Chrissie Bleach, the Farm Coordinator for PTIS. Not only was it an excellent training opportunity...

  AS OUR 9TH AND 10TH grade students move through their studies and creep closer to the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP), THINK Global School is providing opportunities like this one to help prepare them for the task ahead. Matthew Albert visited TGS and PTIS on February 17th, 2012 to talk about his experience with the IBDP and how his CAS project directed his life goals from that point...

Not every geography class covers Antarctica in as much depth and detail as to specify this seemingly obvious answer. How many south poles are there? What does Antarctica even look like? Who has dared to journey to the South Pole in the past, and what compels someone to endure one of the world's most extreme environments? Dave Martin of Extreme World Races recently spoke to the students in Thailand about...

I NEVER THOUGHT I'D WALK into a temple in Thailand and say, “Look at the Angry Birds dive-bombing the World Trade Center!” but that is exactly what I said upon visiting the shrine inside the Wat Rong Khun in Chiang Rai. The assignment was to use our trip to the Golden Triangle as a text through which to explore the concepts of Cultural Diffusion, Cultural Assimilation and Cultural Imperialism. The...

BOTH TEA AND OPIUM have been produced in Thailand's northern Chiang Rai province for thousands of years, just as elephants have been a constant. This past week, TGS took advantage of the opportunity for place-based learning on these subjects, venturing three hours north to the Chiang Rai province. In Mae Salong, the area's largest producer of tea, students walked through tea plantations before taste testing several different types of tea....

MATTHEW ALBERT is the self-proclaimed "biggest fan of the IB" - the International Baccalaureate programme. On February 17, 2012, Matthew spoke to the students of PTIS and THINK Global School in Chiang Mai, Thailand about the daunting IB programme and how to tackle this big endeavor.   In this first part of his hour-long lecture, he poses a question to the students: How do you eat an elephant? Matthew's...

  WHILE IN CHIANG MAI, THAILAND, the students of THINK Global School worked alongside the organic farm staff at Traidhos Three Generation Community for Learning, using science to brainstorm necessary improvements for the grounds and animals. Science teacher Jarret Voytilla called on his students to do research and create proposals for the farm, some of which were implemented while on location.

THE TGS-HOST SCHOOL CONNECTION is integral to the experience of THINK Global students. Not only does pairing with a local IB school help harbor our academics and provide interaction with students from the area, but there’s a mutual benefit of exposure to events and opportunities conducted by each school. Traidhos Three Generation provides such opportunities to witness culture, try new things, and bond with the inhabitants of Thailand. These are...

ONE OF THE MANY THINGS we try to do in Science as we travel around the globe is examine regional environmental value systems and explore local issues in conservation management. We began this investigation in Ecuador with our trips to the Amazon rainforest and the Galapagos islands. We have continued the tradition this term here in Thailand by examining the controversial situation with domesticated elephants. Elephants are a national symbol...