| News of: | Agriculture | Business | Home/Health | Nature/Resources | Sports | Students | MSU | Youth | Other |
|---|
BOZEMAN - -Creepy, slimy, tough, strange... they're all words used to describe
Roni Parker's snails. But most of all, Roni's snails are COOL!
At least that was the consensus of first-graders at Meadowlark
School in Billings, where Roni, the Yellowstone County 4-H Agent,
gave kids what may be their first-ever look -- and feel
-- of brown snails from California.
Roni takes her snails on the road several times a year, visiting
schools, 4-H clubs, camps and after-school groups. At the presentations,
kids are encouraged to touch the snails, interact with them and
figure out what makes them tick.
For example, students examine the snails with magnifying glasses,
searching for physical characteristics like teeth and eyes. These
young snail scientists then use experiments to figure out the
special qualities of snails, such as what foods they like to eat
(cucumbers seem to be a favorite), how fast they travel (some
are faster than you might think!) and how much weight they can
pull.
"Mine's tough!" said Nathaniel Homan, 7. "He pulled
51 grams!"
Kids weigh the snails on a balance using paper clips or gram-weights.
Then they test the snails pulling power with Tonka trucks and
home-made "sleds." Some snails can pull over three times
their own body-weight.
Bobbie Rumbaugh, Extension agent in Daniels County, also teaches
Snailing to school enrichment programs, 4-H clubs and adult leader
training sessions.
"The kids are so excited," she said. "You can just
set the snail in front of them and they want to learn everything
about it.
"The great thing is that they are all learning --
even if they don't realize it. They are learning through observation."
Snakes
When Wade Crouch teaches kids about snakes, he has just two rules:
I'll make sure my snakes don't scare you, and you make sure you
don't scare my snakes!
"And the kids look at me like I'm crazy!" says Wade.
"They think, 'How could I scare a snake?'"
Snakes really can get scared, says Wade, an Extension agent in
Cascade County, who is often accompanied at his presentations
by up to six different types of snakes, from a 12-inch immature
California gopher snake to a 12-foot Burmese python.
Wade has given dozens of snake presentations to schools, camps,
science fairs and all kinds of groups. He teaches kids about snakes
in general, as well as the snakes in Montana. Often he brings
Mathew, a six-foot, red-tailed boa, which Wade describes as "small"
by boa standards.
Wade demonstrates how to carefully and properly handle the snakes,
so students can observe the snakes' characteristics, such as how
they move, and how they use their tongues and other sensory organs.
Most people don't get too scared, he says. Wade has students form
a circle, and people who want to hang back a bit can stand behind
the circle and reach in to touch the snake.
He tells of a recent visit to a high school class in which about
one-third of the class stood in the outer circle. "By the
time Mathew had made it once around the ring, they all were in
there touching him!" laughs Wade.
From the 4-H Clover Project Selection Guide
