District critter farm supplies science classes in Scottsdale
“Do not leave your snails unattended because they crawl off the table!”
Teacher Jennie Shirey admonished her fourth-grade science class last week to pay attention to the land snails that were scooting on top of several desks.
The excited students were comparing the snails’ activity and seeing whether they would pull harnesses made out of paper clips and string. One table of students had a snail race.
Other students in the class at Tavan Elementary School were studying crayfish, picking up the thrashing creatures to see how they clung to bits of cat food.
The snails and crayfish are just some of the critters that the Scottsdale Unified School District breeds and maintains for its K-8 science classes.
Students sticking their hands in the water to touch the slimy snails and watching a fuzzy pupa transform into a beautiful butterfly are important parts of scientific observation, and ones that can’t be duplicated by watching a video, according to Janey Kaufmann, the science curriculum specialist for the district.
“When they start with their meal worms, they observe a complete four-stage metamorphosis over a period of about 12 weeks,” she said. “They can’t see and document these changes with a video very well.”
The children learn how to create a livable environment for the creatures and how to handle them humanely, Kaufmann said.
Shirey’s students were taught to spritz their desks with water to keep the snails moist and how to pick up a crayfish in the middle of its back so it won’t pinch.
Many of the students had never handled live creatures, Shirey said.
“They get so excited for this because it’s so hands-on. They have these wonder ‘aha’ moments that I just love,” she said.
For its K-8 science curriculum, the district had used kits purchased from an outside vendor, which also provided coupons that teachers used to order live creatures. Those creatures were shipped to Scottsdale from out of state.
Kaufmann said the creatures are expensive — $40 for 12 goldfish — and the coupons sometimes expired or were misplaced. Often, many of the animals were dead by the time they arrived or died after arrival if the box was delivered on a Friday afternoon.
About seven years ago, the district decided to breed and keep its own critters, which saves several thousand dollars a year.
Biology teacher Eric Bodznick maintains the “critter farm” at Arcadia High School, where he breeds and cares for the creatures.
He keeps several kinds of fowl in his classroom, including chickens and quail, along with tanks of guppies and snails. There are plastic containers of insects that include meal worms, pill bugs, crickets and milkweed bugs.
A leafy pond on the campus holds more than 50 goldfish.
Two handsome Rhode Island Red roosters live in a roomy coop outside of Bodznick’s classroom. They’ll be used to produce eggs and chicks for future classes.
Bodznick, who grew up on a farm, enjoys taking care of the animals.
He comes in over school breaks to feed and check on the creatures, and while Arcadia is shut down in the summer, one of his rooms has an air-conditioner running. Some of the critters stay, and the rest go home with Bodznick.
The district still occasionally buys some critters.
When teachers need creatures for a science unit, they e-mail their order to Bodznick. Every Monday morning, he fills the orders, for example, by placing a dozen crayfish into a small cooler. Then a district employee collects the coolers and distributes them to the teachers the same day.
Bodznick holds a state license that allows him to keep crayfish, which, along with some types of snails, are considered an “invasive” species in Arizona and subject to control.
He keeps a weekly census of the animals.
At the end of the year, he must report on the fate of each one to the Arizona Game and Fish Department. None of the invasive species can be returned to the wild, but creatures such as painted lady butterflies, which live in Arizona, can be set free.