Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i am a sophomore at northeastern highschool (central pa)and i have about 13 herps right now. i have
been coming to this forum for years and keeping for about 5. anyway, in my school we are required
to do a senior project in order to graduate, and while i still have 2 years to do it i am doing it now,
along with my boyfriend. we have decided to do a reptile"demonstration" at a local elementary
school, probably for third graders. we are going to teach them about the animals natural habitats,
how they eat, and other things about the herps. we want to teach them to respect the animals and
not to be afraid of them. im going to take herps with me and allow the kids to touch/hold/ look at
the actual animals they are learning about. any suggestions on how we should do this successfully
would be very greatly appreciated.
thanks for all of the help
~icy
-----
UroKnight...coming soon
1.0.0 mali uromastyx
1.2.0 green anole
1.0.0 brown anole
1.0.0 emperor scorpion
1.0.0 cuban knight anole
1.0.0 ribbon snake(currently escaped)
1.0.0 african clawed frog
1.0.1 green iguana
0.1.0 eastern kingsnake
0.0.1 3 lined salamander
0.1.0 albino leopard gecko
0.0.2 house gecko
0.0.1 crocodile gecko

That is a great project. As an undergraduate, I was a member of a herpetological society (http://www.rso.cornell.edu/chs/) and we frequently did educational herp programs at elementary schools. Here's a couple things that are worth keeping in mind while doing herp programs:

You'll make a longer lasting impression on young students if you involve them directly in the program. They may drift off if you just spend 40 minutes lecturing them about herps, but they can be incredibly excited if you ask them questions. Ask them about what herps they see in their yard, if any of them have pet herps, what their favorite herps are, what the coolest fact is about herps.

Remember that some people have deep phobias about herps. Respect the fact that they are uncomfortable about herps, and don't make them handle or touch the animals.

Excited children can make fast, unpredictable movements. Keep a close eye on them while they touch or hold the herps, and don't ever let them handle a herp without direct supervision.

Make sure they wash their hands.

I hope this is helpful.

All the best,

Mike
Mister Toad

The first place to start is with your school district headquarters. Because of the perceived threat of salmonella transmission by reptiles, some school districts prohibit reptiles in classrooms, even for a short program. Other schools leave it up to the principal of the school in question. If that is the case, go to the principal and tell him what you propose to do, and let him or her know how you will be addressing the issue of disease transmission to set his/her mind at ease that you know what you're doing and that nobody will be getting sick. Before you spend too much time preparing your presentation, make sure they'll let you do it in the first place.

i used to do herp talks through my school years ago.

through my animals care, handleing, and careers class we went around to different school in my schooldistrict (MN ISD 196)

i didnt prepeare before hand and just did impromptu the whoe way through, i did however made sure i knew about how the animals were in the wild.

one trip out to an elementry school i got to use our class 60 lb boa and had several of the kids come out to hold her up and they loved it.

at another school we ad a sweet femal igg and afterthe presentation they came up to touch her and a few held her but were soon told to go wash their hands after touching the animals and before to tell them not to lick their fingers or touch their faces untill they have washed. salmonella sucks to get when you are little.

if you were anywhere near minnesota i would get you contacts with in my old school district.

hope this helps ashley
-----
"I’m scared of those nasty big-eyed grey aliens, too. I think it’s that I don’t understand their motivations. I am confident of my ability to out-think, out-con, or if need be, tire-iron-upside-the-head demonic forces, ghosts and goblins, things that go bump in the night, etc. It’s the notion of something that doesn’t have any desire to talk to me except via anal probe that freaks me out"