Snakes, tortoises and broken pots

zooschool022: Carefully fitting the pieces together, Zoo School student Lenna Grimes reconstructs her clay pot artifact.What would you do if you came face-to-face with a snake? Walk up and pet it? Under most circumstances, that would not be the recommended approach when encountering a slippery serpent in the wild. But at the California Living Museum (CALM) in Bakersfield humans and snakes are bonding during five weeks of fun and education called the Zoo School.

In one recent session called “Fur, Feathers, Scales and Exoskeletons,” children in grades 1-3 were introduced to a live gopher snake by Manager Debby Kroeger. After learning what it is, how to recognize it and several facts about the slithery reptile, each child took turns touching it. The session leads students through a discovery of animal groups, hands-on activities, crafts and encounters with CALM's ambassador animals.

“Be careful, don't make sudden movements and touch him with a finger,” Kroeger instructed her curious students.

Then, it was off to observe where tortoises “hang out” in the summertime. Teacher Trina Puckett gave the children some last minute instructions before they headed underground to look for tortoises in the Desert Animal Habitat.

“You won't see turtles,” Puckett told them. “Why? Because, although tortoises look like turtles, turtles live in the water and tortoises live in the desert.”

“Oh, I hope we see one laying eggs,” shouted out an excited Zoo Schooler.

“Let's walk very quietly and maybe we will see one before it crawls into a burrow,” said Puckett.

The tortoises beat the class to the punch, and the children had to look intently to see a pair of eyes, two front legs and part of a shell barely visible in a small hole underneath protruding rocks. Puckett explained that there was wire enclosure around the habitat to keep snakes out. In response to another child's question, she pointed out that tortoises like to eat broccoli. Then, she conducted an instant quiz to see how much the class had learned.

“A special prize to someone who can remember what the top, outside part of the tortoise shell is called,” Puckett asked.

“I know, it's a carapace,” chimed in seven year-old Omar Bishti.

“You're right,” said Puckett.

At the same time inside the CALM compound, older students in grades 4-6 had their focus on finding, fitting and gluing together pieces of broken clay pots. It was part of an exercise in a session called “Be an...ologist” in which children learn about being an archaeologist, botanist, zoologist and paleontologist on succeeding days.

“Today, they are learning to be archaeologists,” said office assistant Jamey Harrell. “Each student decorated the pots with their own hieroglyphics, and then we broke them into pieces so they would get a feel for what archaeologists have to do when reconstructing a find.”

Ten year-old Katie Sparks provided a quick interpretation on the importance of archaeology, “You learn new information about cultures and families by digging up artifacts.”

“By learning about each of the sciences, the children are finding out why each is meaningful to CALM's role as a natural habitat zoo, botanical garden and natural history museum,” Harrell said.

For enrollment and other information on Zoo School, check CALM's website on the Internet at http://www.calmzoo.org or contact the main office at (661) 872-2256.
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