Friday, December 15, 2006
‘Ick factor’ makes learning fun at zoo
RON WHITE
The Daytona Beach News-Journal
CORRESPONDENT
DELAND — Many a mother has screamed in horror after watching a son or daughter handle a dead bird, mouse or frog.
“Go wash your hands!” is a familiar refrain for the child who just loves to dig into the mud in search of earthworms.
For some children, the slimier, the better.
To feed that yearning for yuck, the Central Florida Zoological Park is introducing youth to “ickyology,” a pseudo strain of scientific study that focuses on the disgusting side of the animal world to uncover the hidden truths in elephant dung, owl vomit and — gulp — those dust mites that probably share your bed at night.
“Kids enjoy being grossed out, so we decided to make it a focus,” said Sandi Linn, supervisor of the zoo’s education programs.
Linn said ickyology debuted as part of a youth educational camp last summer. Now, the zoo is revisiting the class for 9- to 12-year-old children participating in the zoo’s winter camp, a four-program event scheduled Dec. 18-22 from 1-4 p.m. each day.
“It went over so well that we’ll repeat it during the winter camp and again during next summer’s camp,” Linn said. “We think it will get the kids excited about the zoo and, particularly, about the microscopic side of animal science.”
Each day of the ickyology camp will feature a different theme. Among the themed days is Upchuck Day, which will provide students with a closer look at different forms of vomit and what can be learned from it.
“We talk about why animals throw up,” said Linn, who later explained that owls generally chomp the bone and fur of the food they capture before regurgitating it into compact pellets.
“We’ll dissect some of those owl pellets with tweezers,” Linn said.
While there is a tongue-in-cheek comedic nature to ickyology, animal science depends heavily upon much of what is featured in the educational camp.
“We try to tie our camp activities with real science,” Linn said.
Linn said most of the zoo’s animals undergo check-ups on a regular basis. When zookeepers notice aberrations, though, they’re often inspected closely via microscopic views of feces and the like. It was through such investigation that a tapeworm was discovered in a cat. That parasite now serves as a teaching tool for the ickyology program.
“There’s a lot we can learn from the yuck,” Linn said. “Some of it is rather shocking. If you look at a photo of a dust mite that has been blown up 1,000 times its actual size, it’s a pretty scary-looking creature. But we also just have fun. For example, we have an elephant dung contest. Last time, we threw it at a target. This time, we’re going to use it more like a marble.”
Four camps will be featured next week. The camps, which are designed for children aged 6 to 12, are limited to 20 students per session.
“We’re hoping to fill it, but we may not,” Linn said. “It’s not as easy to fill as the summer camps.”
A surefire way to attract visitors to the zoo is to offer children a chance to meet a famous person. The zoo comes through on Saturday with Breakfast with Santa, which combines a visit with loads of activities related to the holidays and the animals..
For more information on the winter camp, call Dawn Damzi at (407) 323-4450, extension 123 or visit centralfloridazoo.org
Serial story: THE MOUSE AND THE MOTORCYCLE