Fun at school

[Inuleki]

So, I'm in my Environmental Science class last week, and one of the other students is a science teacher at a private school around here during the day. We got to chatting, and I brought up the subject of Tarantulas, and well, he asked me to come in and teach a class.

So, on Tuesday of this week, Kacey and I went to this local school, where, upon arrival we are mobbed by about 60 kids! kindergarten through sixth grade :D
We proceeded to give a 2 hour presentation on all sorts of facts about tarantulas. How they molt, how they eat, differences in OW vs. NW, all sorts of stuff.

At the end of the presentation the principal asked if we would like to come back again to teach the older kids :eek:


it was SO MUCH fun!

I think we may turn it into a habit :D

but the thing that tops it all off, Kacey gets to write a lesson plan for the teacher, which he will actually grade the kids on :D tee hee.

-Joshua

[cricket54]

I loved doing that too when my kids were young.
Our first tarantula was my daughter's B.Smithi.
They called it a red leg back then. I was able
to hold her and she tolerated it very well.
You get to teach the kids correctly about Ts
and they get to see them in person.
Sharon

[Inuleki]

yeah, we brought in 5 different spp. and a whole bunch of molts. Our big male P. cancerides stole the show though... what's not to love? he's an 8 inch purple spider :D

[Navaros]

Cool, good to see you had fun. I have thought about doing the same thing once I get out of High School and have more time to set something up. Was this in a classroom with a small amount of kids or was it in an auditorium? The schools around here for the most part have presentatiosn like that in big auditoriums so I don't know how you would really get a good message across to the kids without a huge slide projector or something.

[Inuleki]

We were in what would be their lunchroom, completely cleared of tables, except the one for us and our spiders. there were then about 60-70 kids in chairs all aorund us as we talked.

We brought in our male P. cancerides, male B. albopilosum, our P. fasciata, a little A. avicularia, and a baby B. boehmei. (decending in size from 8" to 1/4")

-Joshua

[Overmenneske]

Sounds like something more of us should do!
I can think of no better way of teaching people that these animals aren't deadly and fierce. I can imagine the kids going home telling their parents about T's and so on. :)

[DnKslr]

OH! That sounds like so much fun!! There's a school a few blocks away from my house and I was thinking of donating one my T's to the science class (later on when one of the Chacos gets bigger).
I always have people at work asking me about them (some are just being buttheads though).

[The Red Queen]

I have taken my T's to many schools... preschool to highschool:D I think I have a little more fun with the big kids though.

Around Halloween, we had a children's program at work, and I had all of my animals in the funeral home to show the kids. I had a lot of fun until my boss kept trying to walk off with my scorpions! LOL! I told him to stay within kicking distance with my babies!

Amanda

[Phalagorn]

Originally posted by Inuleki
So, I'm in my Environmental Science class last week, and one of the other students is a science teacher at a private school around here during the day. We got to chatting, and I brought up the subject of Tarantulas, and well, he asked me to come in and teach a class.

So, on Tuesday of this week, Kacey and I went to this local school, where, upon arrival we are mobbed by about 60 kids! kindergarten through sixth grade :D
We proceeded to give a 2 hour presentation on all sorts of facts about tarantulas. How they molt, how they eat, differences in OW vs. NW, all sorts of stuff.

At the end of the presentation the principal asked if we would like to come back again to teach the older kids :eek:


it was SO MUCH fun!

I think we may turn it into a habit :D

but the thing that tops it all off, Kacey gets to write a lesson plan for the teacher, which he will actually grade the kids on :D tee hee.

-Joshua

maybe the kids in school get intressted in taranula hobby :) and the kids grow up and beome mebers on Arachnoboards! :D

[manville]

cool cool that is good stuff...keep doing what you are doing...

[BBlack]

I've thouht about visiting schools in the future but I'm worried about how it might be received. Not from the kids I'm sure they'd be stoked, but their parents may make a fuss.

Becuase you and I know T's are essentially harmless with some exceptions, but loads of people are not as open.

How did it work in the school you visited did the kids need permission slips or something?

[burnpile]

Originally posted by Inuleki
So, I'm in my Environmental Science class last week,
it was SO MUCH fun!

I think we may turn it into a habit :D

<snip>

-Joshua

As a fella with 3 kids, I want to thank you....this world needs more folks like you.

[Inuleki]

Well, everything was taken care of before we got there, we just had to come and set up. The kids did not need permission slips that I know of, and I guess the next day, all they could talk about was how cool it was, and how all the other kids that were absent missed the best assembly... things like that :D hee hee

but today, I talked to the teacher who hooked me up with doing this, gave him the address for these boards, and he gave me a business card. For the Director of the Youth services center for all of the Cherry Creek School District, and they want us to come in and do the same presentation for the kids that are in trouble, (the ones in jail pretty much) because apparantly science isn't a part of their curriculum. :D

this is going to be so much fun :)

As a fella with 3 kids, I want to thank you....this world needs more folks like you

I'm flattered :blush:

oh, we have far too much fun, and think it's important for kids to learn tolerance of the unknown, to ever turn down an opportunity like this.

[satanslilhelper]

In the top left corner of every post there is a DATE of when it was posted. This is almost six years old.:eek: It's great that your using the search function. At least that's why I'm thinking you found a post this old. Every time I see one of these old posts being brought up it seems like it's someone who just got on the site.:wall:

By the way welcome to the boards!!:D

[Mad Hatter]

It's great that you're using the search function.

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

By the way welcome to the boards!!:D

I second that - welcome to the site!


Also, it's never too late to revive a thread, IMO!