A Reverse Field Trip: A Visit From Beardsley Zoo At Head O’ Meadow

By Eliza Hallabeck

Head O’ Meadow parents Eileen and Jim Knox were not at the school on Monday, November 15, to visit their son, James, but instead were in the third grade classroom to share other animals with their son’s fellow students.

Mr Knox, Beardsley Zoo curator of education, had Mrs Knox, his assistant for the day, keep a close eye on all the fellow visitors to the third grade classroom on Monday. One by one each greeted the students, and Mr Knox shared information on all the animals and insects.

“At the zoo, the fundamental basic topic we talk about with people are adaptations,” Mr Knox said.

He asked students to define what adaptations were, and agreed adaptations are a part of behavior of an animal that has been dictated by the animals habitat.

A tarantula was the first to meet students. While she was too small for students to view from their seats, Mrs Knox used a projector to show all the tarantula’s legs and hairs. Third grade teacher Bonita Cartoun was asked for her help during the presentation also, and was rewarded with the chance to hold a tarantula exoskeleton.

The students also learned about and met a vinegaroon, a Savannah monitor named Coby, and an alligator.