Cold Critters

So the boiler broke, the temperature is plummeting, the weekend is coming, what do you do about the fish, crickets, pillbugs, millipedes, chameleons, frogs, worms, butterflies, and all of the other animals living in your classroom.

Don't presume everything will die. Most classroom animals are pretty resilient. They've stood up to the children's poking and prodding pretty well. They may get a little chilly if it goes down to 55, but they won't freeze.

So, how do you keep them warm? Two essential ingredients: heat source and insulation. Gather the critters together and put an incandescent light or two over them. No, don't put it too close, you don't want to fry them! Leave the light(s) on for a while and check the temperature with your hand. If it's too hot for you, it's too hot for them - or do it the scientific way and use a thermometer.

Let's insulate their environment as well. Don't go overboard, they still need to breath, but you can insulate the bottom and side of their containers, and a bit of the top as well. Use newspaper, styrofoam, towels, blankets, etc.

It's not a bad idea to prepare your children for some deaths. Actually you need to plan for this whenever you're dealing with live animals.