The Weasel Project Marches On!!!!!....

The lessons, experiences, and qualities that trapping can teach us all come out every time someone leaves their house with some steel to set.  That is perhaps most evident when you apply it in the classroom (and then, of course, outside the classroom, to speak literally...).  I am convinced that getting kids out trapping not only teaches them to appreciate the ecological soundness of this activity, but also is a fun way to engage them in learning responsibility, ethics, respect, patience, integrity, humility, and thankfulness..and that's just getting started.  All this, despite the nonsense the naysayers like to toss around...

This conviction is borne out yet again in the Port Alsworth Weasel Trapping Project, carried on in all of my math and science classrooms this year.  The torch that Sarah and I started in Pilot Station is still being carried, and trapping as an educational and life tool is still succeeding.  No teaching endeavor brings me greater joy than these types of projects.  Academic success - yep.  Achievement in life - got it.  Strength of Character - Check!  The philosophy of Tanalian School is enabled through the weasel project!  Teachable moments abound, and the rewards are many!  Have a peek.... :)

First, a shot of my bulletin board in the classroom... (The 'bear-rugged' vole and shrew pelts are there because those two specimens are the leaders in their species category).. The quote says it all, uttered by one of my students early in the year.  Indeed....


Now, as for the details...   So, we started off the weasel project this year, as always, with a research project:



... to learn the physiological, ecological, and life history aspects of the mustelid family, most specifically the short-tailed weasel, (mustela erminea), also known as 'ermine' or 'stoat', depending where you are from.  Though we didn't expect to catch another specific species of weasel during the project, the least weasel, (mustela nivalis) we did! - second from left in the above pic. As we will be trapping all the way to March, there's still a lot of time to catch more, too!

But, after all the students demonstrated their learning about the weasels we would be targeting, and how they - and the species they are connected to - fit into the environment ecologically, it was time to bring the project into math class...

We held a contest to see who could come up with the best design for a weasel box, as everyone now had some helpful knowledge of the weasel, their dimensions, abilities, and their habits.



Once the designs were explained, debated, and approved, we went ahead with construction. (Bring on the 'industrial arts' :) ) Materials were scrounged up from all corners of town, and the graciousness of the donors was acknowledged. ..And the first applications of the students getting to use manners and gratitude make their appearance.





Once the boxes were ready, we learned how to set the traps we would be using, and all that was left then was to wait for the season opener. We spent this time examining tracks, and piecing together what the students had learned about ermine with what the animals were showing us.



Finally, November 11th came around, and off we went...





It didn't take long, and catches started trickling in...






They can't just catch 'em...they have to skin and stretch them, too...


He looks angry!... :)  After all, there is only ONE BEST WAY to learn anatomy...medical schools everywhere can't be wrong...






When catches are made, we take weight and length measurements, examine the weasels for parasites, physical condition, and freeze the skinned carcasses...and later on, as we get to the appropriate Units, we will be dissecting them, examining stomach contents, etc.  There is pretty much no realm of life science or physical science that this project does NOT cover...



And then there is the exercise that we all get, tromping around in the great outside...




Weasel furs do some awesome stuff when you shine a blacklight on them...notice the legs, edges, tails do not show purple... (I know, a lousy pic, but it has to be dark... ) :)  It is thought (speaking of some of the scientific community) that this light-reflective property may be useful to the ermine in escaping predators hunting them at night.  Perhaps something to do with the mechanics of the eyes of birds of prey, etc., that enables them to see at night, I presume.


Least weasel adult (That's Da 'yittle one) next to a short-tailed weasel(the large one).


Prime winter ermine fur, baby!!!!!


The wall of fame, so far....  LOTS of trapping season yet to come...