Teacher-naturalist Colleen Noyes from the Connecticut Audubon Society Center at Fairfield visited with the different kindergarten classes at Head O' Meadow Elementary School on Monday, January 9.

Ms Noyes brought different creatures with her to the school for the presentations.

In Miryam Kuligowski's classroom, Ms Noyes sat in a circle of students as she introduced each insect, amphibian, mammal, and more to the students.

While holding a Madagascar hissing cockroach, Ms Noyes explained the insect can protect itself by camouflaging with its environment, thanks to its dark and light brown colors, and it hisses when it thinks it is in danger. The hissing can scare predators away.

Thanks to a yellow-spotted salamander, Ms Noyes taught the students how some animals have a mucuslike layer protecting their bodies. The amphibian, she said, can be found locally.

Ms Noyes placed a box turtle in the center of the circle of students, and the kindergartners were surprised with how fast the turtle was. Ms Noyes explained the box turtle they were meeting is about 50 years old. Students learned about warmblooded and coldblooded animals.

When Ms Noyes brought a light brown and furry rabbit out, the students were all excited. As the presentation came to a close, she described how the rabbit uses its long ears to capture sounds and more, as students asked a range of questions.