Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've read two of the recent posts on the "Herps and Kids" forum regarding snake presentations in schools, churches, etc. I have some thoughts to add and also would like some advice from those who have experience doing these presentations.

This was my second year doing a snake and tortoise presentation at the school where my wife teaches. Last year I did two 30 minute presentations; this year I did four. They even interviewed me for their in-school news program. Kids and teachers kept coming up to me in the halls to comment and ask questions; it was really fun.

One of the teachers, who happens to be deathly afraid of snakes (but held one anyway for the news video) approached me and asked if I would like to put together a proposal for me to travel around the district doing presentations. They said my show got more response than the field trips to the animal rescues and the animals they've brought in before.

So far, my presentations have been to second grade classes, but we're talking about a genetics-focused show for high-school biology classes. It would feature live animals from my collection that are homozygous and/or heterozygous for one or more simple recessive genetic traits. I'll be able to show how two normal parents, for example, can produce albino offspring. Also how two or more simple recessive traits can combine to change an animals appearance.

Right now I'm in the brainstorming phase. I'm trying to come up with ideas for presentations that would appeal to a range of ages.

Some thoughts are (in no particular order):

General information about reptiles (part of my current presentation)
Genetics
Safety/identification
Reptiles as pets
Conservation
Life Cycle and Food chain (part of my current presentation)
Venom
Snakes' Role in Ecology
Types of Snakes
Constrictors (Types and the mechanics of constriction, also mentioning the controversy surrounding large constrictors)

Some topics I'd like advice/feedback on:

Activities: Do any of you incorporate activities into your presentations to encourage participation? What types of activities?

Behavior: Second graders are a handful! Any tips or ideas to help keep them quiet and attentive?

Teaching Resources: Anyone know any good herp-related teaching resources geared toward different age levels that I could utilize?

What about insurance? How many of you carry insurance and where does one even start looking for that type of coverage? I generally only let the kids touch one or two of my snakes and my Sulcata, and I make sure they wash their hands with Germ-ex before AND after. I take the utmost care possible to avoid any accidents; the two snakes I allow kids to touch have NEVER bitten any human. But what if a kid comes down with salmonella or does manage to get bitten and the parents decide to sue me?

The animals I currently incorporate into my presentations are:

Honduran and Pueblan milk snakes
California, Thayeri and Grey-banded king snakes
Ball and Carpet pythons
Sulcata

I enjoy doing these presentations and I feel like this is my part to play as a responsible reptile enthusiast; that education and the positive influence of public opinion regarding reptiles, especially snakes, is a noble cause. I'm interested in hearing your feedback.

Thanks
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http://www.mikefoux.com
http://www.cafepress.com/shedz

1.1.0 Hondurans Het Amel
1.1.0 Hondurans Anery, Het Hypo
0.1.0 Honduran Hypo
0.1.0 Honduran Hypo, Het Anery
0.2.0 Pueblans
1.0.0 Pueblan Hypo
1.0.0 Thayeri MSP
0.0.1 GBK Blair's Phase
1.0.0 California King
0.1.0 California King Blue-eyed Blond
0.0.1 Speckled King WC
0.0.1 Jungle Carpet
0.1.0 Ball, Normal
1.0.0 San Diego Gopher, Poss. Het Applegate
0.0.1 Sulcata
0.1.0 Wife, Caucasius Mexicana

First of all I'd like to commend you on your efforts. You are doing what I feel is the most important part of our hobby, to educate others. I also do presentations, and displays. I teach the boyscout reptile and amphibians merit badge classes at merit badge faires. I feel your pain when you ask about keeping their attention. A few things I've learned to keep their attention is 1. the most important thing that I struggle with the most is don't go over their head. When you are talking about the different compositions cytotoxic and myotoxic venoms to a 10 year old you lose their attention quite quickly. 2. Don't be too nice. If you see someone disrupting your class don't be afriad to call them out. Make them be quiet or leave. You'll be surprised who will actually support your decision when it's warrented. 3. Keep it interactive instead of telling them everything keep them guessing. Instead of saying "This is a cornsnake" say "can anyone tell me what this kind of snake is?". But attempt to keep their own "herp tales" to a minimum. While one kid is telling their ten minute story about the snake their uncle got chased by last summer you'll lose the rest of the kids.

The liability is something that's always concerned me too. I have been meaning to discuss it with a lawyer and see what I can do to help prevent any law suits but so far I just be totally honest. I never tell anyone that anything don't bite. I tell them at the start and beginning that EVERYTHING I have has a mouth and can bite. I feel the forewarning should help some. I very well doubt you'd have much worry about a law suit about your honduran biting some little girls arm and leaving a few teeth holes. But you could be faced with something serious if someone got salmonella. Or if you have a nile monitor rip some kids finger off.

Like I said I commend you and would like to be the first to thank you for your help to try to educate the next generation. Fear of these animals is a learned response it's not born into them. If I can ever offer any assistance feel free to drop me an email. Alabamaherpsociety@yahoo.com.

Congratulations on the success!

I've done a few myself, and one thing I now do is to display the animals in clear display cases but do not let the audience hold the animals unless they are 18 or older.

I have found that kids are just as happy when I circulate a clear box with a snake, rather than the unconfined animal. And parents really appreciate that, since many of them are biased against snakes as you know. And I avoid the chance of bites or poop or the scare of salmonella.
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Mark

...for the advice and kind words! I'm going over everything you all have said and working toward some new and improved presentations.
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http://www.mikefoux.com
http://www.cafepress.com/shedz

1.1.0 Hondurans Het Amel
1.1.0 Hondurans Anery, Het Hypo
0.1.0 Honduran Hypo
0.1.0 Honduran Hypo, Het Anery
0.2.0 Pueblans
1.0.0 Pueblan Hypo
1.0.0 Thayeri MSP
0.0.1 GBK Blair's Phase
1.0.0 California King
0.1.0 California King Blue-eyed Blond
0.0.1 Speckled King WC
0.0.1 Jungle Carpet
0.1.0 Ball, Normal
1.0.0 San Diego Gopher, Poss. Het Applegate
0.0.1 Sulcata
0.1.0 Wife, Caucasius Mexicana

Educate them on the bad rep that snakes get. Tell them how to avoid salmonella (from reptiles and from peanut butter) and why captive snakes (especially foreign species) should never be released. Use Florida as an example of what happens when stupid people buy a cute little Burmese python. Also, some printed material could go a long way. Make some little handouts with some snake facts that they can take home. And the kids will be more likely to stay focused if they are occasionally rewarded. Ask questions and give something cool to the first kid to answer. Do this often so that they all have several chances to win something.
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1.0.0 Great Plains Ratsnake
1.0.0 Corn, Lavender Aztec het for Amel
0.1.0 Black Ratsnake
0.0.1 Texas Rat (tame)
1.0.0 Broad Banded Water Snake, Hypo
1.0.0 Black Bassador Retriever
2.1.0 Godchildren, 1 Evil, 2 possible hets

Mike:

I was searching the forum and came across your post. I am a professional environmental educator and also do snake presentations (among other things) for schoolchildren. I would highly encourage you to attend a Project WILD and/or Project Learning Tree (PLT) workshop. Project WILD and PLT are internationally recognized environmental education curricula. I am sure that by attending the workshop(s) you will get a lot of new program ideas as well as a good deal of information on age/grade appropriate techniques (esp for the little ones!). I do not know what state you are in but every state has a WILD and PLT coordinator. You can go to their websites to find out more info:

www.plt.org
www.projectwild.org

Also, another middle/high school program idea would be to have the students construct a dichotomous key to identify your snakes. In my state, dicotomous keys are a part of the 7th and 9th grade science standards. Having the students look at the snakes for specific traits (keeled vs non-keeled scales, head shape, etc) gets them to view the snakes in an entirely different way and it makes a somewhat boring topic fun. Just an idea....

I am very curious to learn what you do during your genetics program. I am thinking about doing something similar. What species do you use and which traits. Please email me if you would like to discuss this further.

Take care!

Gail

Thanks Gail, I'm going to look into that.

I don't have my genetics presentation done just yet, but I'm going to use my Honduran milks since I have both visible morphs and hets/multi-hets. I'm incubating a set of eggs from het parents that I want to use (along with a Punnet square) to show how two normal looking parents can produce both normals and albinos. I'm also going to look at the curriculum to get some ideas of what else I should include.

I'll e-mail you to discuss further.
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http://www.mikefoux.com
http://www.cafepress.com/shedz

1.2.0 Hondurans Het Amel
1.1.0 Hondurans Anery, Het Hypo
0.1.0 Honduran Hypo
0.1.0 Honduran Hypo, Het Anery
0.2.0 Pueblans
1.0.0 Pueblan Hypo
0.1.0 Corn Bloodred
0.0.1 GBK Blair's Phase
1.0.0 California King
0.1.0 California King Blue-eyed Blond
0.0.1 Speckled King WC
0.0.1 Jungle Carpet
0.1.0 Ball, Normal
1.0.0 San Diego Gopher, Poss. Het Applegate
0.0.1 Sulcata
0.1.0 Wife, Caucasius Mexicana

Awesome! I look forward to hearing from you!
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1.0 grey-banded kingsnake “Little Dude”
1.0 Arizona mountain kingsnake "Hellboy"
1.0 Apalachicola kingsnake “Feed Me”
1.0 California kingsnake “Dot-Dot-Dot-Spot”
1.0 Mexican black kingsnake “Captain Pablo”
0.1 brooksi kingsnake “Daisy”
1.0 black pinesnake “Oscar”
1.0 black milksnake “Hondo Rico”
3.3 ferrets “Hunter, Ranger, Bigfoot, Squeak, Spring, Merle”
0.1 German shepherd/walker hound “Minnie”
0.1 silver tabby “Kira”