Matoaka offers students
a special learning area for Science!
Please come help us recognize the donations and effort by the community, PTA and staff towards this special nature center. We will have refreshments, live animal demonstrations and a tour of the nature center.
Date: Thursday March 13, 2014
Time: 9:45am
Place: Matoaka Elementary School, Living Wedge
The Living Wedge is a “living” nature center for the children of Matoaka Elementary School that provides students with hands-on opportunities for Science enrichment. Created in 2010 by 5th grade teacher John Spence and the Matoaka PTA, “The Wedge” houses captive bred snakes, lizards and other animals for students to observe. Modeled in tribute to the Virginia Living Museum, this unqiue area inside the school gives students a rare opportunity to see and interact with animals while fostering a love for Science. To help maintain the Wedge, students from the 5th grade Wedge Club come in every morning before school to clean cages, feed animals, and use Science and Math to track growth and health patterns.
While the existing exhibits have served the center well, they are in need of updating. Improvements are also needed in order to provide easier maintenance of the animals and to expand the usefulness of the area for teaching. To make this a reality for the students of Matoaka, our new goal is to raise donations to create two large, interactive exhibits that house local species of reptiles and amphibians for our students and teachers to use for Science, but to also educate our school community about our local wildlife.
Click Here to see a VIDEO TOUR of Matoaka’s Living Wedge that was featured on WY DAILY
Above: Rough sketch of plans for new Living Wedge exhibits
WE REACHED OUR GOAL OF $2500 THANKS TO YOUR HELP!
The Living Wedge project is a campaign to raise funds from businesses and private donors. Thanks to our generous donors, we were able to raise more than $2500 for the building costs of the exhibits or the purchase of pre-made enclosures.
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To learn more about our project:
Take a tour of our Living Wedge:
In The News:
- Matoaka Community Collaborates to Add Living Museum
- Matoaka Elementary Students Benefit from having Animals at School