Sunday, January 23, 2005

Science & Math Night - January 21

Friday night was my first event of the year for the zoo. Megan Pool, fellow volunteer, and I sat at a critter table at Bowman Elementary for their Science & Math Night celebration. And boy, did they celebrate! They had over 350 people attending! Thankfully, they put us in the "quiet zone" along with the live animal (a frog named Spunky) and the microscopes. One little boy even brought his dinosaur bones to share with the school: he had two claws and a rock with a face in it.

Megan and I set up our table at about 6:00 so we had some time to get ready before the official opening, which was at 6:30. We brought lots of critter stuff with us: bits of fur, horns, antlers, eggs, and quills, as well as a bunch of confiscated items on loan from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife. I also brought my picture album and a picture book from the zoo's gift shop for everybody to look thru.

I took a moment during a bit of a lull and walked around to get a look at some of the other tables. They had things like math puzzles, science experiments, an origami table, even an egg-drop station (I'm not sure what exactly they were teaching at that one, other than just providing an opportunity for the kids to make a big mess). The cafeteria was set up with pizza and pretzels even, but I never got a chance to try any of them.

All the people I saw had smiles on, and the noise levels were quite loud, so I'm going to assume that everybody had a good time out there. I was, however, very thankful to be put in the "quiet zone" for our critter table. With so many small pieces of critter stuff, it's difficult to keep an eye on everything. It's so easy for a child to walk off with something in their hands; most often they aren't even aware that they're doing that!

One little boy, however, was very aware of what he was doing. I didn't catch him until it was too late; he pried off a piece of our musk-ox horn. I talked to him rather sternly about being respectful of other people's stuff, and asked him how he would feel if somebody broke his dinosaur bones (yes, he was the one who was sharing with everybody). He looked rather sheepish for all of perhaps 2 seconds, and then bounced away on to the next table. Oh well.

Megan and I had quite a few kids stop by our table, and we had fun going over all the stuff. I had them all trying to guess what everything was, and was surprised at how well they all did. I guess I shouldn't be so surprised since they were all Alaskan-grown kids. Pretty much everybody has seen a moose or a bear, and even if they hadn't seen one before, they all know what a polar bear is. Megan was in charge of the confiscated items and did a good job telling the kids all about protected animals and the laws that pertain. She talked about why you shouldn't pick up an eagle feather, or why you really don't need a purse made out of seal fur, or a bracelet made of elephant's tusks.

The event that night was over by 8:30 by which time both Megan and I were ready to go home. I love doing events like that but it's so very exhausting, particularly when you've just had 9 hours at work.

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