On Oct. 6, AP Environmental Science students were introduced to the My Nature Lab, a hands-on learning experience that informs students on reptiles and amphibians. Mead High School’s AP Environmental Science class has acquired this program’s event for two years.

The speaker shared interesting, unique facts on the reptiles and amphibians featured during class. After the presentation, students had the option of holding and taking photographs with the animals. This seemed to pique the focus and and interest of students.

One of the reptiles students had the privilege of holding was a python snake. Isabel Deligio (‘24) said, “It was really heavy [and] I thought I’d be scared, but it was chill.”

Many students took advantage of taking photos with a variety of snakes. Ms. Krack said, “I love how enthralled students are. I love seeing kiddos get to touch a snake, hold them, and be so in awe of how amazingly cool these organisms are.”

One of the main reasons Ms Krack reached out to My Nature Lab was to apply the event to the students’ curriculum.

“What I like to do is give them real world examples that they can actually touch,” she said. “It’s also really nice seeing concrete examples.”

In AP Environmental Science, one of the lessons discussed is invasive and endangered species.“We don’t really talk about snakes. [They’re] one of the most important organisms in an ecosystem, so it’s really cool that we have something local where I can bring them in and we can talk about them,” Krack added.