So being the awesome teacher that I am, I used an April Fool’s joke to teach my students about animal reproduction, namely spider eggs. When I got to school on Monday, I put some yogurt covered raisins in the tarantula cage, and sat back, waiting for someone to notice… But no one did. The next day, I waited again for my students to see the pile of juicy white orbs… Nothing. I gave it one more day, but halfway through it wasn’t looking good. During 4th period, I couldn’t stand it anymore. I walked by Dracula’s cage and suddenly ‘noticed’ the eggs. I told the students that Dracula had laid eggs for the first time in over a year! I reached in and pulled out the ‘eggs’, holding them out for students to see.As I talked about spider eggs being a delicacy in some parts of the world, I popped one in my mouth. Their mouths dropped open as they recoiled, saying, “Oh no she didn’t!'“ and “She ate it!” I offered the eggs to only the students with no food allergies. Some grimaced, others gagged, and unexpectedly, a great big boy jumped up and ran across the room squealing. Only the very brave tried one (a tiny little girl!). I explained that the moderately sweet flavor came from the sugars stored in the coating to feed the young spiders before they hatched. Then I stopped talking to dig a “spider leg” out from between my teeth. “Yuck!”, “Gross!” they shouted. Then one of them asked, “Isn’t Dracula a boy?” “Yes,” I responded. “Boys don’t make eggs,” one said, and “Doesn’t it take two to make baby spiders?” And the discussion began. When I finally let out that they were actually yogurt covered raisins, shouts of “I knew it!” rang out, while others were disappointed that they had not, after all, eaten a spider egg. This is one of my favorite lessons for several reasons:
1) The students figure out why the things I’m telling them are wrong and what the right answers really are.
2) Due to the context of a prank, they remember this lesson years into the future.
3) This prank is just soooo much fun! I have students from all over the school coming to my room to see if I will really eat spider eggs.
