Live Animals In The Virtual Classroom

To celebrate Earth Day, Proximity Learning partnered with Austin Parks and Recreation to teach a special lesson to Ms. Hamlin’s virtual 5th-grade science class from Academy of Dallas. Elizabeth Funk brought her special animals to show the class as she discussed the food web. 

Ms. Elizabeth showed the class a decomposer, the Madagascar Hissing Cockroach, a primary consumer, the Gulf Coast Toad, a secondary consumer, the Hog-Nosed Snake, and a tertiary consumer, the Great Horned Owl. Virtual students were highly engaged in her presentation and asked Ms. Elizabeth plenty of fun questions including, “Can that cockroach bite?” and “How can you tell it’s a boy?” (They don’t bite, and male Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches have horns on their heads.)

Take a peek into these special guest appearances. Watch Ms. Elizabeth discuss the Madagascar Hissing Cockroach.

After showing students the live animals, Ms. Elizabeth discussed how humans can affect the whole ecosystem and its food chain. She explained how water pollution can disrupt the natural habitat and change the sequence of events.

Watch Ms. Elizabeth discuss human impacts on the food web.

Watch more: Austin Parks and Rec youtube or Proximity Learning youtube