Reptiles part of environmental lesson at Peter Muschal School
By:David Koch
BORDENTOWN TOWNSHIP Most adults would run from the sight of a 3-foot-long ball python.
But children at Peter Muschal Elementary School were a little too curious to run.
Students jumped at the opportunity to pet the python named Nelly as she twisted and curved in the arms of her owner, Dennis Gemmell, president of Ecological and Environmental Learning Services (EELS) in Clarksburg.
"It felt weird and fun," said third-grader Beth Kloppel. "I hope to get a snake for my birthday."
Beth was one of 105 third-graders at Peter Muschal who received Dr. Gemmell’s special interactive presentation on ecology Friday in the school’s all-purpose room. Dr. Gemmell holds a doctorate in ecology.
"The presentation is about the food chain, ecological problems and how the environment can solve its own problems under wise management," said third-grade teacher Lauren Czehut.
The presentation is the culmination of the students’ studies in Life Sciences at the elementary school.
Of course, Dr. Gemmell had help from his four friends. They were Nelly, two baby king snakes named Jellybean and Rex, and a full-grown rosy boa called Rosie.
Known as "The Snake Man," Dr. Gemmell said he doesn’t really like that term.
"It was an ecological program that used snakes as a hook for the kids," said Dr. Gemmell.
Dr. Gemmell’s company, EELS, is an educational consulting company that offers ecology presentations to local schools, in-service training for teachers and curriculum development.
This is Dr. Gemmell’s second presentation at Peter Muschal.
"It is always interesting for us to get a speaker and, as far as I’m concerned, he’s one of the best with the kids," said Ms. Czehut.
Dr. Gemmell said he keeps students’ interest by making the program interactive.
The presentation began with a problem presented to students by Dr. Gemmell about Farmer Clyde who wants to get rid of the rats in his barn. Too many rats are eating up his corn and he wants a snake to eat the rats.
But the students need to help Farmer Clyde chose the snake’s color so it won’t be seen and eaten by hawks or owls.
One kid chose a red snake to match the color of the barn and another chose yellow to match the color of the straw, said Dr. Gemmell. Dr. Gemmell said there was no right answer.
"They picked intelligent choices and pretty much of most of what they say is right depending on their perspective," said Dr. Gemmell.
The game also was designed to teach children about the ecological food chain. Kids were asked to draw on a sheet of paper the chain starting with the sun, which helps corn grow, which is eaten by rats, who are then eaten by snakes, and in turn are eaten by hawks.
From the students’ look of delight and shock, the most popular part of the program was the snakes.
After petting Rosie, third-grader Deshaun Wilson said he liked petting the snakes the most.
"I like snakes," said Deshaun. "This one felt cold and it had red eyes. It kind of looked scary."
Dr. Gemmell said the whole purpose of the exercise is to teach kids that snakes and other life forms play a unique role in the ecology.
"The fear kids have of snakes is what they acquire from parents and adults," said Dr. Gemmell. "Most kids will respond favorably and there are very few who don’t touch them.
"What I found is that young kids, if they are prepared and educated about the environment, and if you touch their head and their heart, you can get them motivated to becoming stewards of the environment."