The adhesive toe pads of anoles (above) and geckos give them these species “super powers.” (at least when compared to other lizards)

Herps make amazing wildlife ambassadors. Many small children read about them or see them in books, but rarely have first-hand contact with them. During a recent outreach event in the northern suburbs of Chicago, I met first and second graders that had never seen a live snake or lizard! When one came out of a bag, they lit up like they had just caught Santa emerging from the chimney on Christmas morning.

Based on that introduction, it is easy to conclude that I get a lot of enjoyment out of introducing the world of herps to small kids. I enjoy engaging with kids in ways that not only introduce them to the animals, but also in ways that could motivate them to pursue science throughout their education. Several years ago, I described an exercise aimed at getting kids to think about the ways that dewlaps are used during animal communication. This past weekend I tested a new exercise as an outreach activity for GEMS, Girls Empowered in Math and Science, which was hosted at Niles West High School in Skokie, IL. GEMS is organized to encourage fifth through seventh grade girls to pursue careers in STEM. This year’s event had about 135 girls registered across that age range! This exercise is meant to teach kids about the biology of the adhesive toe pad and the bioinspired engineering that led to the development of Geckskin.

Some of the tapes the students could pick from

The first objective of this exercise is to get the students thinking about how a lizard can climb rugose tree bark using their claws. Easy right? But what about clinging to a waxy leaf, hanging upside down from a ceiling, or traveling 80mph down a highway where their claws can’t be used? Compared to other lizards, this is their “super power.” After explaining the microanatomy of the toe pads to the class–the pad, setae, and spatula–I gave them a challenge. With a collection of every type of tape available at Home Depot (Duct, Scotch, painters, masking, packing, etc.), I challenged the students to choose one that could outperform a lizard’s toe pad. The students were broken into small groups, each taking a piece of wood and a small piece of Plexiglas (tree bark could also work but might not be reusable across many groups). Each group selects a type of tape that is then run through a battery of challenges during which time I provide the biological commentary:

  • A lizard runs around all forest all day. Its toe pads must be reused over and over again without fail. How many times can your tape be reused before it is no longer sticky?
  • A lizard must run on different surfaces–leaves, tree bark, rocks. How does the tape perform on different surfaces?
  • A lizard doesn’t leave tracks where it walks. Does your tape leave a residue?
  • As the lizard walks, does its foot stick to the surface it is walking on as it tries to take a step? How easy is the toe removed compared to your tape?
  • Some days it will rain. Do lizards fall out of the trees when it rains? No. Now, what happens when your tape gets wet? (a moist sponge is provided)
  • Lizard toes also get dirty. What happens if the tape gets dirty? Feel free to try to brush of as much dirt as possible after putting the tape in. (a dish of coconut bark  was provided)

As the students are working through these challenges, I pull out a Lepidodactylus gecko and a knight anole from behind the table at the front of the room (they are usually clinging to the side of their cage which helps with the wow factor) and clicked through slides of lizards seeming to overcome each of these obstacles. A few smiles overcame the students as they realized that they had been bested by a tiny reptile.

Good natured volunteers demonstrating Geckskin technology.

After demonstrating that nature has come up with an amazing solution for adhesion, I pose a question to the kids, “What if we apply what we learned from these lizards to develop new products that we could use in everyday life?” Here I introduce them to the ingenuity of Geckskin (developed in part by ex -officio anole biologist Duncan Irschick). I must briefly digress to sincerely thank Phelsuma/Geckskin CEO Rana Gupta for providing Geckskin samples that I could demonstrate for these kids. As he says in the video, they “feel magical.” They are not tacky like tape, but stick to a variety of surfaces like a dream. There are some useful videos of Rana demonstrating the Geckskin products on the company’s website. The climax of my demonstration was pressing a 2X2 Geckskin Griphanger against a board as several girls held either side. Then, suspended by a piece of climbing cordellette, they hung a 5lb weight on this pad with my toes directly below. I bet the girls to use any of their tapes to do the same thing, but didn’t have any takers. (This could easily be another challenge offered to the students during a longer presentation.)

At the end of this demonstration the girls had the chance to meet Bob the red foot tortoise and Spot the ball python. (Anoles and geckos don’t make the best hands-on animals for presentations.) The presentation can readily go on without the use of live animals, but it seems to help bring the kids out of their shells and leads to a more memorable experience for them. I hope that others can use this write-up for motivation for some exercises they can employ during their next outreach activity. I am off to see some second graders in two weeks.
* I always appreciate feedback on these exercises as well. Fire away! 

Bob and Spot are always big hits.

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