what to say to a high school class about cp?

[Rocketcaver]

I recently donated a ventrata and a couple mexipings to the botany teacher at my local high school. This week was the first of term, he says the plants are a big hit. He has invited me to come speak to the class about cp. It's been a long time since I had to speak to an audience... any suggestions?
I have until sometime in February to prepare.

 

[Sundrew]

Recently I gave a presentation on CPs to a group of volunteers at a local arboretum. It's really important to give a solid foundation, such as where the plants live and why they are carnivorous before delving into the plants themselves. This allows the students to make connections and explanations themselves. My presentation started with an overview of what I said before, where you could find carnivorous plants and how this led to their adaptations. Then, I explained the four major CP traps types, (Pitfall, Flypaper, Bear trap, Bladder). I gave a very general explanation/diagram of the trap, then did somewhat detailed explanations on the plant genuses that use them. At the end I gave an explanation of how I got interested and my grow setups.

Here's the rough order of my slides:
What is a carnivorous plant?
Where are they found?
List of types of traps.
Pitfall traps
-Heliamphora
-Sarracenia
-Nepenthes
Flypaper traps
-Drosera
-Drosophyllum
-Pinguicula
Snap traps
-Dionaea
-Aldrovanda
Bladder Traps
-Utricularia
How I got started

Now when dealing with high school students, it's very important that every slide has a picture or video. I'd say the maximum is 3-4 bullet points with 6 words per. You should really use pictures and elaborate orally. It's also awesome if you throw in a few timelapse videos or clips from documentaries, there are tons on Youtube.

 

[MICKEY]

have some cute girls or guys in the pictures will hold there attention much longer

 

[cpbobby]

talk about preservation but not too long....explain the different types of cp's, their habitat, how they can survive in it and how their traps work. pictures help, bring some cp's with you to present and possibly some vids of cp's trapping stuff w/time lapse if necessary the vids should help keep their attention.

 

[Iwest]

Here's the rough order of my slides:
What is a carnivorous plant?
Where are they found?
List of types of traps.
Pitfall traps
-Heliamphora
-Sarracenia
-Nepenthes
Flypaper traps
-Drosera
-Drosophyllum
-Pinguicula
Snap traps
-Dionaea
-Aldrovanda
Bladder Traps
-Utricularia
How I got started

Now when dealing with high school students, it's very important that every slide has a picture or video. I'd say the maximum is 3-4 bullet points with 6 words per. You should really use pictures and elaborate orally. It's also awesome if you throw in a few timelapse videos or clips from documentaries, there are tons on Youtube.

+1 on all of that, that sounds like the perfect presentation. Maybe throw in some of your best pics of your collection at the end, or throughout the presentation, so the students can see what exactly it would be/look like to grow plants in their own backyard/terrarium/greenhouse. Good luck with the prezzie man, hope it goes well!

 

[hcarlton]

Mostly what Sundrew said, but being a high schooler myself (and enjoying taking my plants to school), it's a good idea to make sure there's lost of pictures, research some funny stories about the plants (where they got their names, uses, etc), and start with flytraps first. That's the plant htat for some reason catches everyone's attention, then broaden out. And most definitely I have to agree, bring some plants with you. If possible, show how they feed in person, and be prepared to tell kids over and over how they cannot eat their arms.

 

[Nepenthesis]

Oh hey, I just took a course on public speaking and I nearly died from fright, so I can help you out!

Before you go on, empty your pockets of anything that will jingle (like change) and stuff that will make noises (like your phone)... Start by introducing yourself and establish your credibility. Say something like, "I've been growing CPs since I was seven when my dad bought me a VFT and it laid eggs blah blah"... What you want to remember while doing the presentation is to talk with your hands. Practice hand motions you will use in the presentation. Perhaps if you're talking about a bird picking up cheese, you can touch all of your fingers together on one hand and act like a bird beak, then touch it to your other hand (other hand is flat) to symbolize the ground it is picking the cheese up off of. NEVER STAY IN THE SAME SPOT. Walk around, but don't nervously pace back and forth. What I got marked down for in my final for the class was for being nervous and not facing the audience the whole time (I had to draw crap on the dry erase board) so ALWAYS FACE THE AUDIENCE! Look up public speaking vids on YouTube, there's tons. They are really helpful.

I'd bring in some Neps with GIANT pitchers, VFTs to show the fast reactions, ect... Maybe a variety of CPs would be good.

 

[Rocketcaver]

Thanks for all the great suggestions. I have a lot of work to do.