The kids of PathStone's Carbon County Head Start program got a chance to learn all about vertebrates during a special presentation on Wednesday, and no bones about it - they loved every minute of the educational endeavor.

Hosted by Cynthia Kurket, an environmental education specialist with the state's Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the event started with a brief lecture for the three classes in attendance about the five types of vertebrates: mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles. Following that, everyone dove into a set of four activity tables to review the characteristics of animals with backbones and question the kids on some interesting facts."Some animals have backbones, and some don't," Kurket said. "I'm dealing with mostly 3- and 4-year-olds today, so I'm hoping that they realize, 'Hey, not all animals have backbones, but I have one,' and that they see that relationship, and the relationship with their pets or other animals that they might encounter at a park like Beltzville."Kurket, in her second year as an environmental education specialist, was contacted by teacher Marilyn Sulzer for an opportunity to teach the Head Start students about the wonders of nature. Kurket developed the vertebrate program based on the Game Commission's "Growing Up Wild" curriculum, with a few special tweaks to keep everyone excited. Head Start's nine classes were split over separate sessions from Tuesday through Thursday.A sorting station featuring a collection of photographs and plastic animal figures tasked the students with organizing the critters based on their vertebrate class. The kids excitedly identified the figurines and photos, even when they got a more difficult wild-card entry, such as a bat.Students got a chance to examine skeletons featured on animal X-ray cards, which were placed on an illuminated cube at the lightbox station to highlight the underlying bones of the creatures. The station also featured some special image-shifting cards that showed an animal's skeleton when the card was tilted."I think they love it, and I think it's very exciting for them to see the X-rays. I'm very surprised, because they knew the answers to a lot of the questions," teacher Tammy Haydt said.The art center table had everyone coloring pictures of vertebrates, and then gluing beads on the image to highlight the animal's spine."My favorite thing was making pictures of our favorite creatures with backbones," said Serenity Fritz, 4, who made a picture of a bird.The sensory station, a collection of pelts, audio recordings, bones and shells proved to be a popular stop, where everyone got a chance to engage their senses of sight, touch and hearing. Using a magnifying glass, everyone had a chance to closely examine the fine details of feathers and turtle shells, while the pelt table had the kids petting fox, deer and other furs."I thought it was very informative, and the kids learned a lot from it. They really like the interaction, the touching and seeing all of the animals," teaching assistant Christy Berk said.To cap off the day, all three classes gathered around the edges of a parachute, where Kurket led the group in a song featuring clues about a particular class of vertebrate. Once the group guessed the correct answer, Kurket would toss a stuffed animal or toy representing the group onto the parachute, which the students and staff would launch in the air."The parachute was my favorite. I liked to shake it," Aella Strohl, 5, said. Strohl said that her favorite vertebrate is the Tyrannosaurus rex, a reptile.The hands-on learning experience managed to capture and hold the attention and enthusiasm of the 3- to 5-year-old group throughout the hour, with students excitedly identifying the physical characteristics of vertebrates."It's very important for this age group to keep them busy and interested. They definitely need to have a hands-on experience. They're having a great time. It's a lot of fun," Haydt said.At the end of the program, Kurket declared that all of the students were now nature detectives with a specialization in backbones, and encouraged them to get outdoors and educate their families about vertebrates."We're trying to create little nature wonders for everyone, young and old, where they get out and enjoy what the environment has to offer," Kurket said. "These children are our future, and we hope to see them carry that stewardship on and take care of our state parks and our land in the future."