About the shy animals noise meter
The animals are hiding just off screen, and they are shy. While the class stays calm, they wander in one by one. When it gets louder they stop and look up, and if the room goes over the limit, they all run away and the class has to win them back. While they are out and the room stays calm, they build something together: a hut, a log cabin, a snowman, a sand castle, a treehouse or a coral castle, depending on the habitat. It takes 20 calm minutes to finish (change it from 5 to 60 minutes with Build time), and every second the class is too loud, it crumbles and loses 5% of its progress. Pick a habitat with the tiles in the corner: savanna, forest, polar, desert, rainforest or ocean, each with its own animals. The microphone only measures loudness in your browser: nothing is recorded or uploaded.
Ways to use it
- Silent reading or independent work: how many animals can you bring out?
- Calm-down time after recess or lunch.
- Younger classes: a gentle, visual reminder that needs no words from the teacher.
Frequently asked questions
How do the animals come out?
Every few seconds of calm brings one more animal onto the savanna. Getting a bit loud makes them stop and look up; going over the noise limit sends them all running.
The animals keep running away. What can I change?
Lower the sensitivity or raise the noise limit. Every room and microphone is different, so set it up once with the class talking at a normal working volume.
How long does the build take?
Twenty minutes of calm by default while the builder is at work next to it; pick 5 to 60 minutes with Build time. A bar at the bottom shows how far along it is and how many minutes are left. Getting a little loud only pauses the work; every second over the limit knocks off 5%. When it is finished, a golden animal comes out to dance next to it, but even a finished build crumbles if the class gets too loud.
Which animals are there?
Six habitats: giraffes, zebras, elephants and lions on the savanna; deer, a bear, a fox and rabbits in the forest; a polar bear, penguins, a seal and an arctic fox in the polar scene; camels, fennec foxes and meerkats in the desert; a jaguar, monkeys, toucans and frogs in the rainforest; and a whale, a turtle, fish and an octopus in the ocean.
Can I switch to the bar or bouncy balls?
Yes. The buttons above the scene switch between the bar, bouncy balls and shy animals without restarting the microphone.