The Reptiles At Risk on the Road Project has been working out of the office lately, developing some pamphlets and booklets about Ontario's snakes and turtles. The winter is a difficult time to travel far and wide with reptiles (since they are ectotherms). For our final batch of programs, we will be looking to our home base of Orillia! Many of the schools so close to us have never had a "snake show" or "reptile educational program" (personally I like the latter). We are going to try something new with our surveys as well. For those who haven't participated in our funded programs (i. e. free), surveys are completed so that we can evaluate how much children's knowledge about reptiles is increasing, and how their attitudes towards the group have changed. Generally we ask schools to complete one survey before our presentation, and one survey after. This time we're going to have TWO surveys before the program. This will help us determine if those increases in knowledge and changes in attitude are due to our program, or a piqued interest in reptiles after doing the initial survey. All of this information is invaluable in the development of the best possible educational programs. Thanks to all of the schools that have already helped us in our quest for knowledge...hopefully you enjoyed your free reptile program as well!
If you are associated with a school in the Orillia area and are interested in learning more about the program, or are keen to book a program, give us a call at 705-327-2353 (ask for Megan).