Why do you use animals in the course?

I do not believe that classrooms should be "sterile" places - especially classrooms that talk alot about God, the author of life itself.   God is not static, or lifeless.  He has filled the earth with abundance.  We do a deservice, I believe, to education, to youth and to the Lord of Creation by presenting our students with lifeless walls, a few pictures and a "chalkboard."  

Animals are a dynamic reminder that life is going on all around us, and that what we talk about in class, we hope, relates to life itself.  

Students learn the name of living creatures to help them remember the material in a more dynamic way.  For example, our  Egyptian Uromastyx is aptly named "Ahmoses 1550." the best candidate for the pharaoh of the Exodus, according to historian Ian Wilson.

Students have to know the full name of the animal before they can hold it.  We use reptiles because they are the easiest to care for and interesting.