Snakes in Classrooms Continued

In addition to the bat last week, we had another visitor, a Texas Rat Snake. A lovely specimen, she measured just over four feet in length.

She arrived unexpectantly last Tuesday morning, courtesy of Rod the Snake Wrangler.

This colubrid is commonly found in Oklahoma, Texas, and Louisiana. They tend to be a bit aggressive (hence the glove) and are noted climbers. There are reports of rat snakes resting in hanging baskets, resting in attics, and climbing as high as 40 feet in trees. In addition to rats, their diet can also include mice, lizards, birds and their eggs. Rat snakes can grow up to six feet long.

Striking out is one of their last defense strategies. More often they lay motionless. If handled, they will usually release the dreaded snake stink. This snake opted for the chill pose.


Elaphe obsolata lindei

The markings are exceptionally effective camouflage. Can you spot her in this picture?

Pictures by PhotoTheo

Bats on Campus & Transplantation Tuesday.

Recognize this little guy?

Bats are occasional visitors on our campus. When Small first opened, the silo stairs were completely enclosed with corrugated steel. No insulation, no windows, very little ventilation.

Temperatures in the silo soared above 100 degrees. Solutuion? Cut large ventilation slits and cover them with wire mesh. This did work. It brought the temperatures down, but the mesh wasn't the proper gauge and bats attempted to colonize it.

Another time, two students found a bat on the ground barely breathing. Naturally, they picked it up bare handed. Animal control promptly incarcerated the bat and sent it off for rabies testing. The students sweated out the results with visions of impending shots. The bat flunked its rabies test. The faculty seized the teachable moment and went over bat safety. Bat Conservation International, headquartered here in Austin, offers a poster for schools regarding this very topic. And speaking of BCI, Kari Gaukler once visited my classes and captivated the students with bat facts and fiction.

Our latest flying mammal visitor suddenly appeared in Ms. Mazac's 3rd floor classroom. This was not the first time she's been visited. Mr. Poliakoff (admittedly this info is at least third-hand) apprehended the cuprit. Next stop for our furry perp, the office. That's when I walked into an excited scene in the front office. Ms. Teinert had the offender under her desk (darkest nearby spot) in order to calm it down. Nice thinking- it worked.

I took it to my advisory class, grabbed the kids and the camera, and proceeded to the Bat Box Hilton, erected near our track as a part of Garrett Dunaway's Eagle Scout project.

If you can identify this bat, leave a comment to this posting.

After a couple of minutes, our newfound friend flew off.

Bat photos by Jaime D.

Transplantation Tuesday

One lucrative trick of the nursery trade is to buy flats (trays) of plant starts in 4" pots and repot them in larger containers. The process is known as "bumping up." All three classes helped.

The previous day, students seeded trays of three tomato varieties, sweet bell peppers, jalepeno peppers and little bluestem grass.

Click on the photo to watch us work:

They're Back: Purple Martin Scouts Arrive to Spruced up Homes

During my lunch break today, I spotted three purple martins circling the retention ponds in front of our school. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me.

Just this past week 6th grade Native Plants and Animals students lowered the four housing units and cleaned them. Among the detritus students found the remains of two young martins.

This is a slightly lower motality rate than I reported in a previous posting.

We were a bit late getting to our spring cleaning. Nature's calendar and the school calendar don't always sync up so well. The rule of thumb that I have heard many times is to have the houses cleaned out before Valentine's Day.

Most of what we removed was mud, grass, leaves, and feathers.

This load is headed for our compost pile.

For our area the recommended housing style is the polygourd.

Last season most of all the compartments in both housing types were occuppied so we decided to leave the older metal ones up as well. They are a bit beat up. Some are missing their doors. We were able to straighten up the loose ones.

The units raise and lower like sails and flags for cleaning and making observations.

It took us two class periods, but the task is complete.

Prior to the cleaning sessions, we took notes on their characteristics, traced their images, and looked at Internet videos to hear their songs and calls. We also viewed footage of the massive gatherings that have become an annual August event at Highland Mall.

Let the Sun Shine

Through a generous grant from Austin Energy's Solar for Schools Program, Small Middle School received a solar panel array in 2008. The electricity it generates feeds directly into the school's grid. You can monitor the amount of energy produced by clicking here.

We are fortunate to live in a city that takes investment in green technologies so seriously.

According to the Austin Business Journal, Austin was ranked number 1 in the Business Facilities magazine in availability of renewable energy and ranked number 2 in the greenest metros category.

One of the major players in the cities green energy success is the Austin Independent School District. From the Austin Independent School District's website:

The Environmental Protection Agency reports that the Austin School District is the eighth largest purchaser of green power among all U.S. government entities — and the only public school district in the nation on the EPA’s Top 20 “Green Power” list.

The Top 20 Local Government list represents the largest purchasers among local government partners within the Green Power Partnership. The combined green power purchases of these organizations amounts to more than 1.8 billion kilowatt-hours annually, which is equivalent to the electricity needed to power more than 180,000 average American homes annually.

Green power is electricity from environmentally-preferable renewable resources such as solar, wind, or geothermal power. Green power currently accounts for about two percent of America’s electricity supply, but voluntary purchasing of renewable energy is accelerating renewable energy development.

In October 2003, AISD made the largest purchase to date of renewable energy from Austin Energy’s GreenChoice® program, with 45.7 million kilowatt-hours annually of green power. In May 2008, AISD purchaesd another 19.92 million kilowatt-hours. The total AISD subscription, 65.64 million kilowatt-hours, accounts for approximately 40 percent of all of its electric power needs and is enough to power 5,386 homes year-round.

While other educational institutions subscribe to green power, the AISD subscription is by far the largest by a K-12 school district anywhere in the country, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, Green Power Partnership.

“AISD believes in being good stewards of our resources. It is also important for our students that we set an example of respect and responsibility for the environment,” Superintendent Dr. Meria Carstarphen said. “We are proud to be on EPA’s prestigious Top 20 list of government green power purchasers.”

As a campus housing a Green Tech Academy, we aim to integrate alternative energy sources into our curriculum. In fact, two of our elective offerings for 7th and 8th graders are Energy and the Environment and Environmental Technology and Design.

We also see ourselves as a demonstration site for our community to explore these green technologies. We have received further funding to purchase two different types of wind turbines. Once installed, we will feature them on this blog.