Did Dinosaurs Crow?
This student said that he saw in the movie, “Jurassic Park”, that if you just stare and don’t move it can’t see you…
Today I brought in my rooster from Mezzacello Urban Farm as part of my sustainability in nature class at Metro Schools this week. To say they were mesmerized is an understatement. The look on their faces when that rooster crowed inside its cage - out of their line of sight - was priceless. The kids had so many good questions and created some GREAT ideas for inventions that will make my rooster-saurus safer!
Let’s Make This Fun and Inventive
I started out by explaining to the students the role that a rooster plays on a farm, even an #UrbanFarm. That crow and it’s aggressive stance serves a very reall purpose on the farm and in the ecology of a farm. We explored the physiology and environmental impact of the rooster by asking the kids to design a no-crow collar that was reusable, inexpensive, and humane, a chicken diaper that would manage droppings and save them for recycling, and design a spur guard.
What they did not know is that when this rooster was donated to Mezzacello Urban Farm, it’s spurs had been surgically removed. There really was no danger, but I wanted the students to experience the real-world need for safety. They did a fantastic job.
They used my bow tie to see how tight the collar needed to be.
The Spur Deter Concept
A student had the idea to ask students as a group what they thought they were going to learn today. What a great idea!
Their prototype marketing for the Happy Protector rooster no crow collar
Surprising Us With Insights and Forecasts
Because the students know that as an urban farmer, they know I have to wear more than one hat. So they took it upon themselves to split into teams. They created a prototype team, a marketing team, and a business team. They worked together to pick a single design idea tpo get behind, started building a brand and a slogan, and even predicting and mapping production costs and sale pricing to optimize sustainability. Mrs. Deb and I were both surprised and delighted. What a great day!
