Making Tracks with TeamMates

On Tuesday, March 24, 2026 TeamMates matches gathered at Irving Middle School for a whole lot of hands-on learning about the natural world. An award-winning educator from Nebraska Game and Parks shared skulls, skins, scents and snakes, through a series of engaging activities. The pelts of lots of animals that most had never touched greeted everyone when they came in the door. Matches had fun guessing which animal had lived inside that fur. Smells were a mix of pleasant and awful! Then, everyone had the chance to create their own book of animal tracks to take home. 

Live animals brought a lot of excitement, and a few squeals from those who didn’t want anything to do with a live snake or a slimy salamander! Even without touching the animals, there was plenty to learn about how turtles, salamanders and snakes native to Nebraska thrive.

One attendee who couldn’t say no to holding the bull snake was FredHead, who arrived to give everyone a free steakburger and chips from Freddy’s. FredHead also proved to be an expert naturalist, scoring a perfect 15/15 on the animal quiz (he may have had a little help from our staff)!