Thursday, May 11, 2006
My Day With The Seventh Grade
Yesterday, I met with three groups of seventh graders at Gentry Middle School in Mount Airy, NC. The science teacher who invited me to talk with her class had purchased one of my first bunnies for her son three years ago. We had talked then about how interesting it would be to use the rabbits as the basis for a class.
So yesterday, we made that discussion into a reality.
After introducing myself and talking about showing rabbits in general, I talked about the different rabbits that were used to create the Holland lop. I concentrated on how the dwarf gene, pattern gene, and wool genes became part of the Holland lop gene pool.
Luckily, I had a fuzzy for my demonstration. I don't always have one available, so I was happy she was on hand. She is also the only Charlie I have in the barn right now, so she served a dual purpose.
One of my peanuts born last Thursday was still alive when I packed up on Wednesday morning. It was great to be able to show the students chubby six-day old kits and their peanut sibling. There was a huge difference. I also took a false dwarf buck and a true dwarf buck both born on Christmas Eve. That helped them see the difference between a true dwarf and a false dwarf. They really loved Took, a solid junior buck with a bit of ear control still. I think he'll make a fine show rabbit one day (when gravity gets hold of those ears!)
We worked with Punnet Squares to figure the odds of producing certain outcomes. It was great to hear the students calling out "Fuzzy!" or "Charlie" when the gene combinations came up. Many of them really got it.
I enjoyed my day with the students. For the most part, they had very good behavior and were attentive. I would enjoy going back again next year.
Laurie Stroupe
The Nature Trail Rabbitry
Precious Pet Rabbits
Affordable Web Site Design
¶ 9:15 AM
So yesterday, we made that discussion into a reality.
After introducing myself and talking about showing rabbits in general, I talked about the different rabbits that were used to create the Holland lop. I concentrated on how the dwarf gene, pattern gene, and wool genes became part of the Holland lop gene pool.
Luckily, I had a fuzzy for my demonstration. I don't always have one available, so I was happy she was on hand. She is also the only Charlie I have in the barn right now, so she served a dual purpose.
One of my peanuts born last Thursday was still alive when I packed up on Wednesday morning. It was great to be able to show the students chubby six-day old kits and their peanut sibling. There was a huge difference. I also took a false dwarf buck and a true dwarf buck both born on Christmas Eve. That helped them see the difference between a true dwarf and a false dwarf. They really loved Took, a solid junior buck with a bit of ear control still. I think he'll make a fine show rabbit one day (when gravity gets hold of those ears!)
We worked with Punnet Squares to figure the odds of producing certain outcomes. It was great to hear the students calling out "Fuzzy!" or "Charlie" when the gene combinations came up. Many of them really got it.
I enjoyed my day with the students. For the most part, they had very good behavior and were attentive. I would enjoy going back again next year.
Laurie Stroupe
The Nature Trail Rabbitry
Precious Pet Rabbits
Affordable Web Site Design
¶ 9:15 AM
