69传媒

Science

Stuff It

By Emily Goodman 鈥 November 12, 2004 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

Howard Whitten makes dead animals speak. It鈥檚 what a good taxidermist does鈥攐r a good science teacher, for that matter. And Whitten is both at Nokomis Regional High School in Newport, Maine, using taxidermy to identify the inner workings of animals for his biology students and showing his taxidermy class how to remove them.

鈥淚 wanted a chance to work with the dead animals,鈥 says Mallory McAvoy, a senior in the taxidermy class, one of only a few such courses in the nation. 鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely something I think everyone should get to experience; it鈥檚 different and unique.鈥 The students in the taxidermy class and after-school club spend part of their days preparing the animals, learning about their habitats, and then reconstructing them.

69传媒 in Howard Witten's classes learn all about animals.

Whitten鈥檚 taxidermy students aren鈥檛 the only ones who benefit from the specimens he鈥檚 scraped off the highway or begged from hunters and game wardens over the years. His biology classes get to learn about animals from their actual preserved bodies, not simply from two-dimensional slides and textbooks. And with the help of Whitten鈥檚 honors research students, who take their knowledge into the community, the animals get a much wider audience. 鈥淓verything we mount here goes out to schools, museums, and nursing homes,鈥 he says. When they donate preserved specimens to elementary school classrooms, Whitten鈥檚 honors taxidermy students teach the kids about each animal and let them help mount it.

He now has a lot more subjects to work with. This fall, the Smithsonian Institution donated more than 400 rare animal carcasses from all over the world, including mountain lions, a grizzly bear, and a bighorn sheep. When all the preserving, stuffing, and mounting are done, Whitten hopes to create an animal library, which will lend specimens for museum display, school instruction, and other educational purposes. Eventually he鈥檇 like to create a dedicated museum where the entire collection could be displayed. But for now, Whitten says, he鈥檚 just looking to pique people鈥檚 interest through taxidermy and science. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what we鈥檙e supposed to do in education鈥攇et kids excited.鈥

Events

School & District Management Webinar Crafting Outcomes-Based Contracts That Work for Everyone
Discover the power of outcomes-based contracts and how they can drive student achievement.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School & District Management Webinar
Harnessing AI to Address Chronic Absenteeism in 69传媒
Learn how AI can help your district improve student attendance and boost academic outcomes.
Content provided by 
School & District Management Webinar EdMarketer Quick Hit: What鈥檚 Trending among K-12 Leaders?
What issues are keeping K-12 leaders up at night? Join us for EdMarketer Quick Hit: What鈥檚 Trending among K-12 Leaders?

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide 鈥 elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

Science One Change That Can Get More Girls, 69传媒 of Color Taking Computer Science
Making computer science classes a graduation requirement can be a powerful strategy.
5 min read
Two teen girls, one is a person of color and the other is white, building something in a science robotics class.
iStock/Getty
Science A Marine Science Program in a Surprising Place Shows 69传媒 New Career Options
It's hard to find teachers for STEM subjects, but a school system in a landlocked state has found a way to make it work with marine science.
5 min read
Nolden Grohe, 16, feeds exotic fish during Marine Biology class at Central Campus in Des Moines, Iowa, on Sept. 27, 2024.
Nolden Grohe, 16, feeds exotic fish during Marine Biology class at Central Campus in Des Moines, Iowa, on Sept. 27, 2024. The Iowa school system has had a hands-on program for three decades that has introduced students to career possibilities in aquarium science, marine biology, and related fields.
Rachel Mummey for Education Week
Science The Biggest Barriers to STEM Education, According to Educators
Educators share the challenges schools face in teaching STEM.
1 min read
Photograph of a diverse group of elementary school kids, with a white male teacher, working on a robot design in the classroom
E+
Science The Grades Where Science Scores Have Taken the Biggest Hit
One of the first studies to examine science performance finds that elementary students' scores have rebounded. Not so in middle school.
4 min read
An illustration of a non person of color climbing a large pencil with a safety harness and rope tied around the tip of the pencil while a person of color is in the distance without a safety harness or rope attempting to climb a very large science beaker.
Collage by Gina Tomko/Education Week + Canva