Bears don't hibernate

Via video uplink, students learn about bears' winter behavior
By JAMIE KELLY


Bears don't hibernate.

No, no they don't.

They hunker down and they get cozy and they live off their fat for winters at a time, but guess what?

"What they do is called ‘denning,' " said educator Alli Depuy to about 80 kindergartners at Rattlesnake Elementary on Wednesday morning, upsetting - just a bit - the supposed common knowledge held by even adults.

Depuy, an education outreach specialist with East Missoula's Alter Enterprises, appeared almost by magic on a giant screen in a kindergarten classroom via a remote uplink.

From a small studio with a green-screen background, Depuy showed the sea of little kids - they could see her, and her them - the winter sleeping habits of a bruin nestled into his den. Video footage of the bear stretching and sniffing out a rodent encroaching in his den and - gasp! - actually leaving the den pointed to only one conclusion, she told the children.

"Bears do not hibernate," she said. "They slow their bodies down, but they wake up. And they move around, and they even leave their den during the wintertime. So bears aren't really hibernators."

The event was coordinated by the Missoula County Public Schools district and Ryan Alter, owner of the company, which develops and builds high-tech devices for field biologists, including a patented remote bear trap, and records wildlife footage through dozens of field cameras.

The educational wing of the company links students from across North America with Depuy, who delivers classroom lessons from Alter Enterprises' tiny, green-screen-painted studio.

Wednesday's presentation was the first within MCPS, but won't be the last as the district pursues "21st century" education - real life meeting real students in the classroom.

The uplink was a teaching moment not just for the kindergartners, most of whom have been reading about bear "hibernation" from their children's book "Bear Snores On." But it was also a learning moment for the teachers, who themselves discovered that bears do not, in fact, hibernate.

"I learned something new today, too," said kindergarten teacher Emily Endris, after the hourlong presentation.

Using video footage from remote wildlife cameras, including some installed in makeshift bear dens, Depuy showed a skunk making its way into the den as the black bear slept, only to be scared off by the bear's awakening.

The bear also pawed at straw placed in its den, trying to uncover a wayward rodent looking for respite from the winter.

All of it means that bears do not always "snore on," despite what the kindergartners' book says. Sometimes they wake up, stretch for a while, or even leave the den looking for some easy food.

Ryan Alter and his company work with wildlife biologists, government agencies and schools, providing wildlife observation and classroom lessons - from kindergarten to college - for schools across the country.

"This is the culmination of a lot of research and development, and a lot of data collecting," said Alter. "We then put it together for education, kind of packaging it."

The company also has an energy and conservation component, and may also soon connect with schools for art education, as Depuy's background is in art.

Endris, the teacher, was happy that her students got a dose of reality to go along with the story they've been reading about bear "hibernation."

"I think the kids really got into it," she said. "We've been reading this story, so it was fun to see the real animals, along with the fictional story we've been reading."