Scicomm songs for little pythons-Rattlesnake and copperhead

Venomous snakes are pretty misunderstood. This installment introduces us to a rattlesnake and a copperhead-both of whom just want to be left alone to serve their rodent control jobs.

 

The first is the Rattlesnake's song. The Melody is "Old Joe Clark"-which is one of my favorites to use with kids because it introduces mixolydian mode.  

Full PDF

Copperheads often are quite feared. They actually are very timid animals and generally only bite when stepped on or provoked. For this, we used the melody "Down by the Station"

SciComm songs for Little Pythons-Octopus!

Octopi/Octopodes are incredible animals. They are extremely smart cephalopods, with an amazing range of behaviors. This is a traditional rhyme/fingerplay style, but, of course, since we're talking about octopodes, we're talking groups of 8!

This is in two PDF files because there were more pages than the sheet feeder on my scanner wanted to manage on the thicker art paper.

 

Part 1          Part 2

Scicomm Songs for Little Pythons-Out came a Spider

Spiders are scary, right? No, Spiders are wonderful and amazing. This piggyback song is to the tune "Down came a lady", which is commonly used in Orff and Kodaly classes. We added a few spider species. Have fun!

Full PDF

Scicomm songs for little pythons-Little brown bats

My daughter (My Little Python) collaborated with me last year to create a series of illustrated piggyback songs and rhymes that actually include facts about animals that are normally thought of as scary. On request, I am posting these for other people to use with their students.

First up-Little Brown Bats. This is based on a fingerplay about "Scary Bats". We picked the little brown bat because it is a common species here, and one that is frequently seen. They are a small, mouse eared bat that eats mosquitoes.

Full PDF

Scicomm songs for Piano Pythons-A My Little Python collaboration

I started teaching music lessons again last year, and this year have 13 piano students between two locations. With some help from My Little Python, I have created a few warm up activities that also introduce a few of the creatures that live in my home, and sometimes are visible from my home studio-and a few of the ones who might be visible in your backyards. Enjoy!

The whole set PDF is here

#HERper lessons I didn’t want her to learn-#JMIH18

I debated writing this about a week and a half ago, and decided against it. It seemed like the societies had it under control, and everything that should be said had been said. Until today, when a prior Herpetologists league president, Ken Dodd, doubled down, blaming the media, those who dared object on social media, and women who wear shorts, all while insisting that the actual incident was no big deal. He is entitled to his opinion, even when in direct contrast to his society and the leadership of the other associated ones. But so am I,

I first came to JMIH in 2014. The reason was my daughter had gotten a prebaccalaureate grant to attend the conference, and travel costs were minimal since it was in our region. She was in heaven. She got to meet people who she “knew” from books and journal articles, and got to hear about reaearch firsthand. She also discovered, as did I, that the social events were definitely adult focused, not a place for a herp-crazy kid. We spent the evenings with the younger “accompanying persons”, who were enjoying Chattanooga TN while a parent attended the conference.  

And I am also very aware, as a mom with a daughter who loves snakes, that there is a definite “men’s club” in the Herp world. Unfortunately, that spans all areas. I was having to explain off color jokes from her first Repticon at age 5. I have also been in academia long enough to know that greater degrees just means that the off color jokes might have a little more intellectual ring to them. I did not expect JMIH to be immune, or to be a “kiddy pool”. 

We have since attended the JMIH 4x, as well as the SSAR meeting in 2015. We have also attended quite a few regional and state conferences. I’m her silent partner there, and her mostly silent partner on social media accounts that I made so she could both do her outreach and communicate with the Herp world, while hopefully keeping her safe. A vast majority of the people, talks and 1-1 discussions  have been wonderful. This is what makes JMIH part of our family travel, and why I, as a early childhood music teacher by profession and training, have a “professional” membership to SSAR. 

And yes, we have heard Dick Vogt speak, both at JMIH18 and in prior years. As a mom, there have been moments in every single talk of his that something has been said that I hoped she didn’t “get”. Something that makes the audience kind of giggle nervously, and females in the audience glance around uncomfortably. Something that gets left out of live tweeting the talk. All talks tend to involve people in field gear. Which, yes, might include swimwear.  But only in Vogt’s talks do you see women who look like they have touched up their makeup and hair, and then posed with a sea turtle in the style normally seen in car magazines. We have attended talks on courtship behavior with no innuendo, yet Vogt manages to fit it in when talking about communications between turtles before hatching. And while the various mentors and awesome folks who have supported and encouraged my daughter have introduced her to many meritorious Herpetologists, they have, across the board, skipped Vogt. I suspect I know the reason.

So. when the whole kerfuffle started, I handled it by keeping a close eye on twitter and largely keeping my daughter, now a high school/dual college student out of the social situations, because that was the primary topic of conversation. I was gratified to see the immediate response from many awesome people in leadership, and the HL’s quick response at their meeting. 

And I watched my teen girl realize that the positive experience she has had at JMIH is largely due to the awesome people she knows protecting her from more than hearing an off color comment,  but many of those same folks have not been so lucky, which in turn makes her question whether the herpetology world  is for her. Part of her doubts is that she is getting older, and discovering there is a lot out there, but part of it is seeing women she respects talk about moving out of herpetology into other areas because they have found the Herp world uncomfortable. She has already filtered her xollege hunt based on “doing interesting work” and “will talk to the little kid”. She’s now, now that she’s not a little kid who stands out due to size, adding things like “female students seem happy in the lab and recommend it,” and “lab is diverse”. 

As of right now, she wants to go back to JMIH. She feels that the good experiences she has outweigh the negatives. But I have to say, only the fact that I know that a majority of the leadership of ASIH, SSAR, AES, and yes, HL, do NOT agree with Ken Dodd that makes me willing to consider it. 

Making Music for Save the Frogs Day!

These are some activities I'm planning for preschool attendees at our Save the Frogs! Day event, which will lead into my preschool music/early learning homeschool class as well. I thought others may want to use some of these as well.


Playlist for most songs. If you have Amazon Prime music, these are songs that are currently included in that plan.
https://music.amazon.com/user-playlists/48b97671adc44ec593edc39c48dcf699sune?ref=dm_sh_62dc-8b57-b38b-4e0a-38fcc

Unit:	Save the Frogs music time (demo)
Music concepts:	Fast/slow
LwOT Concepts:	Frog Jump Letters-F
Hello Song-	Hello, How are you?
Alfred the Alligator	(Alfred the puppet brings out a toy frog from the mystery box-the kids identify and talk about the frog, and what sounds it makes)
Listening	Frog calls- listen and repeat
Instrument playalong	Guiros-Galump went the little green frog
Movement	The frog (move in jumping motions)
Fingerplay	Show pictures of real frogs/toads, discuss 5 Little Speckled frogs
LwOT activity	Frog jump Letters frog jumps- Air write
Movement w/prop	Salamanders and frogs String quartet No 10 in Eb Scherzo (ribbons/scarves)
Instrument play	Caribbean Amphibian-Shaker play
Story/Song	Over in the Meadow - Here is a version we created based on our most common local frog calls.  http://mylittlepython.blogspot.com/2018/03/over-in-meadow-frog-version.html
Instrument play/Family Jam	7000 kinds of Amphibians https://thewigglytendrils.bandcamp.com/track/7000-kinds-of-amphibians-a7k (assorted instruments)
Circle/Parachute play	The Axolotl Song
Goodbye song	Goodbye my friends
Materials/Instruments list	Water bottles, scrapers (popsicle sticks work well), and shaker fill                     guiro (frog guiro, if you have one)                     recordings of frog calls or Frogwatch USA stuffed frogs with recorded calls (https://www.stuffedsafari.com/Stuffed-Frogs-and-Plush-Frogs-s/45.htm)                     Assorted instruments                    Stuffed frogs and salamanders or pictures of real frogs and salamanders                    Scarves or ribbons                    Prepared Book: Over in the Meadow                    Wood or magnetic letter pieces (LWoT)                    Mystery box or bag                    Puppet if you use one (I use an alligator named Alfred in all my classes) For the water bottle guiros, collect recycled water bottles with ridges in advance, one per child. Add some shaker fill (Birdseed is good-that way if any escapes, it goes to good use), and close the lid. Seal with electrical tape or hot glue. You can add eyes and legs to make it more "Frog like" if you wish. Use a scraper to make your "frog guiro" croak, or shake to make other sounds. We will use these in some of the activities.
Home activity suggestions:	F is for frog/Letter assembly activity, fast and slow frog calls.