Some Dallas ISD students traded books for a more hands-on lesson. The idea is get rid of myths and fears and get kids thinking about the future. Noelle Walker has the story.
On Monday morning, some students at Ebby Halliday Elementary School were wide-eyed for a hands-on lesson. Wildlife on the Move is a non-profit that brings science to life and they made a visit to teach some eager-to-learn students about wildlife.
"We're gonna start out in Texas since that's where we live," Wildlife on the Move President Eric Brittingham said.
"All right, this is Dude," Brittingham said taking out an opossum. "He loves to eat ticks."
Brittingham went through some fun facts about how little Dude was at birth; the size of a jellybean. Also, how many teeth he has; 50. That's more than any other land mammal in North America.
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"When I go to shows the first question out of kids' mouths is, 'Is it real?'" Brittingham said. "So what's important about it is they need to still have touch with live things so that we know that we're all connected."
The show-and-tell lesson is a light-hearted approach to a serious subject.
"So we can learn that nature is important," Fifth grader Talia Powell said. "That we need it to live."
"Boom," Brittingham said as he pulled a python from its box and the students screamed.
The goal of Wildlife in Motion is to take away fears and myths and empower students to be the change.
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"Cause I think a lot of them feel defeated like they can't do anything cause they're small," Brittingham said. "But hey! I'm one guy and I'm seeing thousands of people, and if I can just spark one kid to go, you know what he's telling me, I need to work on this and this is what I want to do."
That message seemed to sink in with some of the students.
"If we don't take care of the animals, then it will destroy our ecosystem," Fifth grader Elizabeth Banda said.
"If we don't know this, then people aren't going to know about the animals. They're just gonna think that they're bad and people just want to harm them," Fifth grader Adrian Fernandez said. "But if you know that they're peaceful and they don't want to hurt you..."
Like animals, humans can change their behavior.
"So we have to get people over their fears and dispel myths about them, but do it in a fun way, and also use science and STEAM to help them get connected to it," Brittingham said.
Each student had the opportunity to touch the python on the way out the door.
"I really like snakes now," Fernandez said. "Now that I'm thinking about it, my dad said I could get a pet and I'm thinking I should get a snake!"
Fernandez said his mom might take some convincing.
Wildlife on the Move is a non-profit that brings science to life. Its YouTube show 'Let's Go Wild' has won a TELLY award.
