AoW#6

Directions:

1. Show evidence of a close reading by using the text coding symbols.

2. Write a one-page reflection

Text Coding:
^I already know that
*This is really important
?I do not know this word
#I do not understand this section
/I agree/I disagree
!This surprises me

Animals run amok in classroomPosted on September 8, 2013

If a fennec fox, a teeny, white-blonde animal with oversized, rabbit-like ears, hopped on your desk in the middle of high school biology class, you'd probably be a little surprised.

Not students in Michael Bechtel's classes. They would have a treat ready.

Patagonian maras, bearded dragons and tortoises regularly roam between — and on — desks in Bechtel's classrooms, and Bechtel's animal collection has recently found a new home at Wartburg College's Science Center.

Bechtel has made his way back to his alma mater as associate professor of science education, and with him quite a few more animals than when he left. The menagerie is so large (he's unsure how many animals he has total) that he's created an animal sharing program with local teachers.

In college, Bechtel's animal obsession, which began with a love of goats on his Waukon family farm, led to a pet ball python and a dove. This odd couple wasn't at all strange to Bechtel.

"My dad supported everything but reptiles, so of course that was the first thing I had to get when I went to college," Bechtel said.

When Bechtel began teaching at Saydel High School in Des Moines, he had a few classroom animals, which his students loved. They pushed Bechtel to learn how to breed some of the more exotic species as part of their education on animals.

Bechtel was all for it. The class first bred a red-tail boa; when Bechtel discovered her coiled around 27 babies in her tank, a message was sent out over the intercom for Bechtel's students to help. They cut the baby snakes' umbilical cords, weighed them and immediately wanted to continue with the breeding projects.

An enormous animal collection was born, and with it, requests from local teachers to buy Bechtel's animals. Instead, Bechtel offered to set up an animal in their classrooms for a deposit; when they returned the animal and its habitat, they got their deposit back.

Bechtel turned the sharing program into an educational opportunity for his students, having them teach other classrooms how to care for the animals, checking in on the animals, giving presentations about them and bringing other animals to the classrooms for presentations. Bechtel placed animals in more than 15 school districts and 100 classrooms while teaching at Saydel for eight years.

"You can't relate everything to the lizard in the back of the classroom, but you can relate most of it. That's life," Bechtel said.

Wartburg biology department chair Ann Henninger said she knew of Bechtel's animal collection before he was hired, but wasn't aware of how vast it is. She hopes to see Bechtel's knack for getting kids excited about science at Wartburg.

"His animals are just one example of how passionate he is about science and learning and getting students to do hands-on activities," Henninger said.

Bechtel hopes to continue his animal sharing program in the Cedar Valley. In keeping with his trend, his class will be breeding exotic, difficult-to-mate animals which require specific conditions.

"For reptiles, if it's not warm enough they won't breed. It has to be raining for the Pacman frogs to breed, so we've created a rain chamber for them," Bechtel said. "You can't leave some animals alone together or the female will eat the male," he laughed, recalling a time when he pulled a live male snake out of a female.

Henninger said Bechtel's enthusiasm is catching, even for the most snake-squeamish students.

"People might get turned off at first, but just the way he is, I think he's going to rope them in," Henninger said.

"My idea is all about excitement and I want to show students there's a lot more to science than just pre-med," Bechtel said. "Animals just make the atmosphere better."

Select one of the following prompts to respond in

a one page, 5 paragraph essay:

  • What would it take to make this happen at your school? Explain.
  • Which is more important– the teacher’s passion or the number of animals he possesses?
  • What makes this learning environment (attractive/unattractive) to you? Explain.