Chief Posted May 26, 2006 Share Posted May 26, 2006 Stacy and I were asked by a friend to do a "Show and Tell" presentation on the animals we keep. We thought it was a perfect opportunity to expand their fragile, little minds about coral reefs. I originally thought that they were going to be bored with the presentation but I was dead wrong. Before I could get my first sentence out, there were about 4 hands that popped up. They had a ton of questions for me. Some were very advanced. I brought some coral skeletons for them to touch. I had a picture board to illustrate what I was talking about. I took the skeletons out of my fuge just before I left, so there was some pods and worms in them that the kids found. They loved it. They are just getting started with oceanography so it was perfect timing. Some of the kids actually knew what polyps were, and that coral are animals not plants. I can see why Roger gets so jazzed. The kids really soak this stuff up. All in all it was a good day. A couple of the kids asked if they could keep a small chunk of a coral skeleton which wasn't a problem. They were so into the coral reef talk that they weren't as interested in all of my reptiles. We brought a bearded dragon and a rose haired tarantula also. In the middle of my discussion on the snakes, the kids kept asking questions about coral. It was a lot of fun. A half hour went by very quickly. Here are some pics of the discussion. Jay 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DChemist Posted May 26, 2006 Share Posted May 26, 2006 Way cool... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted May 26, 2006 Share Posted May 26, 2006 Way to spread the diease we call reefkeeping!!! (Rim) Really glad to see you are out sharing your knowledge with the kids. never to late to get them interested and have them start to discover things for themselves. WAY TO GO!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted May 26, 2006 Share Posted May 26, 2006 Thats awesome! What school was this at? Looks like a great presentation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spayne Posted May 26, 2006 Share Posted May 26, 2006 I think it was Cascade Middle School off of Echo Hollow. I'll have to ask my friend to make sure what school it was. They live so close to the school that we just walked to it and went through a side door. It might be Malabon Elementary, too. Like I said, I'll have to confirm! laugh Yeah, I had a serious pucker factor moment when one of the kids squealed, "I found a worm!" I was thinking CRAP! Bristle worm! And then I had to walk around with the pod that fell out of the skeleton and show them all. Poor thing was having its throes of death, which of course the kids thought was cool. (scratch) I really didn't expect them to be so into the presentation. I figured that once they saw the lizard and tarantula, that they wouldn't care about the reef stuff. They were totally into it though! And Jay did a bang up job talking to the kids and teaching them about coral. I'm hoping we can continue to go to schools and teach kids about our hobby. We're really into the education aspect of the club. Man, almost makes us want to become teachers... but we're not kid people, so that would probably be a bad career choice! laugh Yeah, and the board... I had like a week to throw that together. I did it the morning of the show and tell. I'm such a procrastinator! DOH! Stacy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spayne Posted May 27, 2006 Share Posted May 27, 2006 It was Malabon Elementary. Both of us swear that Tami told us that he was in sixth grade... but he's actually in the fifth grade. *sigh* Parents! Stacy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanF Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 About a month ago we setup a tank at my daughters school in one of the 5th grade classrooms and half the class stuck around when I came to put the liverock in the tank. They have to magnifying glasses on strings attached to the tank that they use to look for little things. They were even thrilled by the brown algae phase. We just put some snails and hermits in the other day and one kid almost missed his bus to stay behind and watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowman Posted May 29, 2006 Share Posted May 29, 2006 Every kid who comes to the house, big and little, have to stare at the tank. It truly is something that should be sared. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Posted May 31, 2006 Author Share Posted May 31, 2006 We might have one of the local schools come to the house on a field trip. That way they could admire the reptiles in thier cages and see the Reef tank in action. Pictures are great, but no substitute for the real deal. If it ever happens, we will be sure to post it here. Jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rude944 Posted June 3, 2006 Share Posted June 3, 2006 You 2 are good people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.