Resources/ Lesson Ideas

[spurlee01]

Hey everyone, I will be doing a presentation next semester about using beardies in the classroom for my science class. I'd like to start now compiling resources and lesson ideas. I plan to print out the beautiful dragons nutrition list, several of the articles on here, make my own version of a care sheet (with some specifics for classrooms). As for lessons, I know that graphing size/ weight as well as taking the actual measurements would be good. Beyond that, though, I'm not sure. Someone said they had found beardie coloring pages online, but I havn't had any luck so far. Also, let me know if anyone has seen children's books on beardies that are must-haves. Thanks guys! Oh, and for the other people that are on here and have beardies in the classroom, I would especially love to hear from you and of course you have my permission to use anything others post on here (as long as it's okay with the poster).
Sara

 

[jennvee]

Found this coloring page:
http://www.jacksonzoo.org/assets/coloring_book/inland_beared_dragon.jpg

 

[spurlee01]

Awesome! Thanks!

 

[ColoradoRiverRafter]

I'd love to be in your class. Lol. Sorry, I don't have any ideas. Good luck though.

 

[sheshe]

I will be bringing Rex to live in my 3rd grade classroom after Christmas. I'm excited because I am actually at school more than I am at home, so I will be able to see him/spend more time with him during the days. My 3rd graders are currently "earning" their new pet. They don't know what they are getting - yet. I have Rex all set up at home and will be setting up a second (almost identical) viv at school. I plan to start setting up his home at school and letting the kids try to figure out what kind of animal is going to live there. I'm sure once the lights go in, they'll figure out pretty quick it's a reptile. I plan to have them make observations about the temperature while we are getting that all straight. Once Rex gets there in January, I want to set up a journal where the "helper of the day" can record observations about daily temps (of the viv and they can also take temps of the bath water), food eaten that day, weight and length, and general behavior observations. I also plan to discuss the nutrition requirements and food choices. This can lead to discussions about healthy eating for humans too. I think the kids can do drawings of Rex and some writing too..."A Day in the Life" kind of thing where they write from his point of view or even some poetry. I also thought we could create a photo journal by taking a photo every week and compiling them - then, at the end of the year, the kids could really see how much he's grown and changed. I have been on the lookout for children's books with bearded dragons in them and can't find much except non-fiction care books. Maybe I should try my hand at writing one myself with a bearded dragon as a character!

I did find this one (which looks cute - but I don't know how good it is): http://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-Iggy-T...r_1_13?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260061240&sr=8-13

Right now, while the kids are "earning" their new pet, they are researching how to take care of other pets. Each child picked a different pet and is creating their own care sheet based on research. They're covering everything from hamsters and hedgehogs to chinchillas and sugar gliders. I think it is important for them to see that taking care of pets involves more than just feeding it. I am hoping to teach them to be responsible pet owners now and in the future. We are even taking a field trip next week to the Louisiana SPCA - we are collecting towels and blankets to donate and will be helping out in the shelter for a day. It should be fun and educational!

Good luck. I will be watching this thread for more ideas!

 

[spurlee01]

Thanks Sherie!
I plan to set up a seperate viv in my future classroom (I'm a junior, now) so that Lilly can go back and forth with me. I know that I will need to have plenty of standards-based lessons to justify a classroom pet in today's day and age, but I think it is so worth it. If I can teach children early on about what care pets require, maybe we will have fewer of these awful cases of neglect that pop up. Anyway, I'm presenting to a science class next semester, so I want to be sure that I have lots of lesson ideas to present! I'd also love to keep this thread up and going so that as the other teachers on here (I know there's a few) have neat ideas they can be shared.
Sara

 

[sheshe]

I agree with you 100%, Sara. Educating kids is the key. So many people think of pets as disposable or temporary. It drives me crazy. I'm lucky to teach at a small private school where I have the flexibility to do "extra" things in my classroom. We also have 2 gerbils and a box turtle at school. The kids have been so great with them. I can't wait for them to experience Rex as well. I'll keep posting in the future about things we do in the classroom. I'm sure once I get him there, teachable moments will happen!

Let's do keep this thread going.

 

[MissT]

I'm so jealous of you guys!!! I would absolutely love it if I were allowed to introduce a beardie as a classroom pet but, the board by which I am employed does not allow reptiles as classroom pets - their guidance specifies that 'reptiles and unacceptable as classroom pets due to the high risk of salmonella bla bla bla'!! Its totally unfair!!! For now, my class will just have to be happy with the little photo updates...

Just an idea... dependent on the age group you are teaching, you could also look at the care of the insects that are being fed - perhaps start a little silkworm colony??

T

 

[spurlee01]

Ohh yeah, I had actually thought about hornworms a while back but totally forgot about that. I know that I will have to have tons of hand sanitizer to appease the people worried about salmonella.

 

[sheshe]

I am very lucky to teach where I do. We also have gerbils and a rescued box turtle in the classroom. I'm going to have to check into raising silkworms and superworms. We do have a mealworm colony going for the turtle, so that's a good idea. We also started a worm bin this year to make compost for the school garden. I recently wrote a grant for a school garden to grow veggies for the class pets to eat - so you could bring some gardening/plant education into it by focusing on things beardies eat.

 

[MissT]

You could also branch out into where you might find wild beardies, what the land is like there etc etc but I guess thats veering off into geography rather than science... I'm not sure how your system works but over here, science and geography come under the one subject area...

 

[sheshe]

I actually had a student get salmonella this year - and the parent questioned the doctor about the box turtle. Not that the kids ever handle him without washing their hands and I am very careful about how and where I clean up after him. I have been named the Queen of Lysol at my school. Anyway, the doctor said no - that we are much more likely to get salmonella from the food we eat than a pet reptile who is kept in clean conditions. They did some testing (after their dogs got sick as well) and found the source was some rotisseire chicken from a grocery store.

 

[spurlee01]

Here's a book with Alex's beardie, Cailyth who just passed featured in it:
http://www.amazon.com/Lively-Lizards-Perfect-Anders-Hanson/dp/1599287528/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260147939&sr=8-3
I put it on my Christmas list, so hopefully someone will bring it to me. I definitely like the idea of doing some geography, and maybe even culture stories (wouldn't it be neat if we could find Aboriginal stories involving beardies?)
I like the garden idea a lot too. I have seen several classrooms this year growing plants with the long strips of lights that look like UVB lights. I'll have to look into that more if I'm not at a school where we could build a garden.
MissT, over here geography and science are different subjects, but there is a big emphasis right now on integrating as many subjects as you can into one lesson.

 

[DragonMomSandy]

Sherie
I think having your beardie in class for the kids as a learning proces is great! I have a bit of info that was sent to me by a friend who lives in Australia and keeps beardies and other reptiles and how they catagorize beardies there (they refer to them as Phases and by local rather than morph). I can PM it to you if you'd like. It's a little lengthy, and you would have to bring it down just a little to the age level of your students, but, it has good info on where the different species of bearded dragon come from and the types of terrain/home they live in in the wild. Let me know, I'd be happy to send it to you.

 

[spurlee01]

If you don't mind PMing it to me too, I would love it. Thanks, Sandy!