Following our successful completion of the ‘Chocolate Challenge’, we received a newspaper article from Mr Cadbury suggesting that we took part in a secret mission led by GDI (Global Development Industries) called Mission Meerkat. We followed our meerkat around the world, helping him to understand the new locations he had arrived in. He first arrived in Sendai, Japan. We became geographers using Google Maps, Google Earth and atlases to find out more about this location. We also watched some video footage of an earthquake that hit Sendai in 2011 and had to explain to our meerkat what had happened.

He then moved on to Popocatepetl, Mexico and found himself stuck in the crater of an extremely active volcano! While he was there, we grouped different types of rocks, made our own rocks out of chocolate and learnt about how volcanic eruptions originate and occur. We turned into journalists and wrote an article reporting the devastating effects of an eruption and also created some Batik artwork inspired by Andy Warhol and other artists who have painted volcanoes.  

Finally, he arrived in Egypt and found himself staring up at  huge structures. We quickly learnt that these were pyramids and identified the people who built them. We became historians and discovered lots of interesting facts about the way the Ancient Egyptians lived their lives including how and why they mummified things. To help us understand this, we mummified a tomato and worked through all of the processes.

We then became authors and wrote our own version of 'Meerkat Mail' charting the adventures of our very own Agent M. Luckily, he made it back home to Bristol Zoo safe and sound and we thoroughly enjoyed following him around.