Questions/instructions:
This activity uses the computer.
Click on the button that says The Clumsy Tiger.
Click the Play button to hear the video. Only play the tape once.

Video script: Once there was a tiger who lived in a forest in China. This tiger looked big and strong but really he was very slow and clumsy. He tried hard but he could never catch enough food to eat. He just wasn’t quick enough, so he was always hungry. One day, the tiger watched a cat running through the forest. The tiger called to the cat, “You’re so quick and clever. You can run and you can hide. You can jump from rock to rock. You can pounce and you can prowl. Can you teach me to be quick and clever like you?” “All right,” said the cat. “I’ll teach you all I know. Meet me here tomorrow and we’ll begin your lessons.” So every day the tiger came to see the cat, and every day the cat taught the tiger something new. Soon the tiger was no longer slow and clumsy. He could run and jump and hide and pounce and prowl just as well as the cat. Then one day the cat saw the tiger watching him with a hungry look. “That’s it,” said the cat. “I’ve taught you all I know. The lessons are over.” “Did you really teach me all you know?” said the tiger, getting ready to pounce on the cat. But he wasn’t quick enough. The cat had already climbed to the top of a very tall tree. He called down to the tiger, “There was one more I was going to teach you but it’s just as well I didn’t!” So now you know why tigers still can’t climb trees.

• The tiger had learnt all he wanted to know.

• The cat saw the tiger watching him with a hungry look.

• The tiger did not want to know anything else.

• The cat wanted to live somewhere else.

Commentary:
About 15 percent more year 8 than year 4 students succeeded very well with this task. There was little change between 1998 and 2002, at either year level.