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SSR September 2011, 93(342) 45

Pagan biology at the Halloween HopRoger Lock

ABSTRACT Send your pupils into the autumn term half-term holiday with a task that requires them to explore more about the biology associated with Halloween. This article offers a fun approach, with a pub quiz format based on bats, skeletons, pumpkins and witches, that is suitable for lessons following the end-of-topic test, for STEM clubs or for PTA events, with an autumnal and biological flavour.

The origins of Halloween are in a pagan festival in Britain and Ireland associated with the Celtic new year and falling on 1 November. As well as preparing for winter, people believed that at this time the spirits of the dead and ghosts and witches mingled with those of the living. It was a time of bonfires, food, drink and celebration; even sacrifices were made to placate the spirits. The Romans added their own touches to the festival with cider drinking and apple bobbing to celebrate Pomona, the Roman goddess of the orchards.

Early Christian missionaries tried without success to suppress the festival, so in 835 Pope Gregory IV tried to ‘Christianise’ the festival by moving All Saints’ Day (which was also called All Hallows) from 13 May to 1 November. Celebrations took place the night before 1 November, that is All Hallows’ Even, and eventually the festival became known as Hallows’ Eve, hence Halloween.

Possibly because the Christianised idea was not closely enough related to the original tradition, many of the pagan ideas are retained to this day and seem to be growing in popularity. The notion behind the activities described here is not to promote pagan ideas but to suggest some engaging activities related to biology and to a festival that falls close to the half-term break in the autumn term. These activities can be a fun approach to a period when pupils and teachers are jaded and in need of something to lift the ‘spirits’ ready for the half-term break. If there is not enough class time then the activities described here could form part of a science/STEM club activity or, for the ambitious, a pupils’ and parents’ evening for the PTA with a pub quiz atmosphere.

Many world religions form a part of most school offerings in religious education lessons but it appears that beliefs whose origins run alongside these, and pre-date some, are less frequently explored. The activities suggested here might provide the stimulus for cross-curricular work.

Activities

All of the activities described here have a strong link to biology and to Halloween. In the tradition of the pub quiz, the activities begin with each team selecting an appropriate name for itself, ideally with a biological link such as the Fermenting Fungi or Bedevilled Bats. Points may be awarded for inventiveness. The rounds described here feature:

l bats;l witches and fungi;l witches’ brooms;l the human skeleton (including building the skeleton);l pumpkins and gourds.

The activities could be extended to include rounds on cats or other witches’ familiars, and spiders and rats. Central to the quiz, as ‘modern’ approaches to lessons dictate, is the PowerPoint presentation (available from the author on request) but other approaches, such as a worksheet for each round (some of which are used as boxes in this article), are possible. Adding appropriate graphics of witches, cats and ghouls, along with sounds such as creaking doors and cackling witches, to the presentation all adds to the atmosphere. Background music can also help to create the right mood, with my

46 SSR September 2011, 93(342)

Pagan biology at the Halloween Hop Lock

favourite, as a child of the 1960s, being Bobby ‘Boris’ Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers’ rendition of Monster Mash (1962) and its opening line ‘I was working in the lab late last night’. Other possible musical accompaniments might include Boris the Spider (1966) by The Who, Ghost Town (1981) by The Specials, Bat out of Hell (1979 and again in 1993) by Meat Loaf or Michael Jackson’s Thriller (1982). Decorating the room with a few balloons (Figure 1) is also a possibility.

Round 1: BatsWith team names decided and a suitable table (five rows × number of teams, with two extra columns for the team names and totals) drawn up on the interactive whiteboard, you are ready to roll. The bats round is a misleadingly easy starter, with true or false answers to nine questions. It is possible to make up your own but the one reported here (Box 1) comes from the Lawrence Hall of Science on the University of California, Berkeley, website (see Website).

A small slip of paper with a space for the team name and numbers 1–9, each with a space

opposite for a T or F to indicate the answer, can be handed out and then collected in so that the scores for each team can be determined and entered into the table while the second round is in progress. Answers to the true/false questions (also given in

BOX 1 Round 1: the Bat Quiz

Q1 Bats really are blind.A False Though they don’t see in colour,

they see more effectively than we do at night. Bats can ‘see’ by sonar.

Q2 The world’s smallest bat weighs less than a penny.

A True It’s the bumblebee bat of Thailand, the world’s smallest mammal.

Q3 Some bats’ hearing is so keen they can hear the footsteps of an insect walking on sand more than six feet away.

A True Many bats find their way and locate prey using the sound of echoes.

Q4 Bats are cruel by nature.

A False Some bats are so kind they adopt orphans and will risk their lives to share food with less-fortunate bats.

Q5 Vampire bats are the only mammals that feed on nothing but blood.

A True Vampire bats live only in Latin America, where most people will never even see one.

Q6 Bats hang by their nose.A False They hang by their toes.

Q7 Bats get tangled in your hair.A False People may have thought this

because bats fly over our heads hunting insects. If a bat flies by you, it’s probably chasing a gnat.

Q8 All bats live in attics and caves.

A False Some choose trees or other sites; tropical bats make homes everywhere from banana leaves to spider webs.

Q9 Bats are vicious.A False Bats pose little threat to people

who leave them alone; they will bite in self-defence if mishandled.

Reproduced with permission from Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkeley (see Website).

Figure 1 Halloween-themed balloons


Box 1) can be reported to the teams along with their scores after Round 2.

Round 2: WitchesThere are two parts to this round: Witches and Fungi, and Witches’ Brooms. Access to the internet is needed for this round as the information needed is likely to be outside the knowledge of pupils, although some, especially from rural areas, do already know about witches’ brooms and their biological links. It is a good idea to hand out a sheet (Box 2) that can help to structure the responses as this makes it easier to mark while Round 3 is in progress. A time limit is also a good idea as this encourages teams to work quickly and efficiently.

In the 1950s, the study of fungi formed a part of most A-level examinations and Claviceps purpurea was among them. This fungal parasite forms a sclerotium (a fruiting body) in the ovary of cereal plants such as barley. This is black or brown in colour and called an ergot; it sits in the ear of the cereal together with the uninfected seeds. If these were not spotted at harvest, the ergot would be ground with the seeds and the resulting flour eventually made into bread. The ergot contains alkaloids including ergotamine and these have effects on circulation and neurotransmission. In the latter case, they can cause hallucinations and involuntary twitching that may have been misinterpreted by some as signs of bewitchment. There have been theories, though disputed, that ergotism was the causative factor in the Salem witch trials. A possible mark plan, based on this information, is provided in Box 2 but this should be flexible and adapted to suit the needs of the activity.

Witches’ brooms are ubiquitous and are potentially visible to all who know what they are looking for. The ones in Figure 2 are on a silver birch tree in inner-city Birmingham. The distorted twigs are caused by a range of factors but principal among them are fungi and viruses. These infections cause a dense mass of shoots to grow together in close proximity (Figure 3), with the resulting growth resembling a broom. A fungus, Taphrina betulina, is the main cause of brooms on silver birch trees. Again, a potential mark plan is provided in Box 2, but bonus points can be given for those who know where examples, close to school, may be found.

BOX 2 Round 2: Witches; supporting worksheet complete with possible mark plan

Team name: ..………………………………………

Witches and Fungi

One possible explanation for witches is ergot poisoning. Note down below the biological explanation for this, including any physiological and behavioural aspects.

………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………

Possible mark plan:l fungus (1), Claviceps purpurea (1)l parasite (1)l barley (1), other cereal (1)l mycelium in ovary (1)l black/brown (1), ‘seed’ ergot (1)l make bread with ergot (1)l ergot produces alkaloids (1)l two alkaloids (1), lysergic acid ergotamine

and lysergic acid (1)l affects circulation (1), neurotransmission (1),

twitch (1)l symptoms of ‘bewitchment’ (1), e.g.

hallucination, vomiting, biting, increased sexual appetite (1 + n)

l link made to Salem witches (1), disputed (1)

Witches’ Brooms

Explain the link between witches’ brooms, birch trees and biology.

………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………

Possible mark plan:l distorted twigs look like brooms (1)l in birch caused by a fungus (1) and virus (1),

in other plants as a response to aphid, mite or nematode attack (1)

l the brooms cause no serious harm to the tree (1)

Lock Pagan biology at the Halloween Hop


Round 3: The human skeletonSkeletons feature strongly in the artefacts available in shops and supermarkets around Halloween. These vary from full skeleton suits to T-shirts showing just the rib cage. The main activity in this round is to spot the errors in the skeleton compared with actual human skeleton structure and there are lots of opportunities for differentiation. Using a child’s suit (Figure 4) gives lots of possibilities

whereas an adult’s T-shirt (Figure 5) can look misleadingly close to the actual structure.

Figure 2 Witches’ brooms

Figure 5 The author at the Halloween Hop

Figure 4 Lola at Halloween

Figure 3 A close-up of a broom



A good time to buy these resources is in the period immediately following Halloween in preparation for the following year, as shops such as supermarkets make big price reductions in order to sell off their surplus stock. However, they can also be readily found at jumble and car boot sales. Skeletons are also available in life-size cardboard form and as small plastic models.

Local fairs around Halloween may have fairground rides where Houses of Horror or Ghost Trains (Figure 6) feature skeletons, and suitable pictures, incorporated into a PowerPoint presentation, could be a resource on which this round is based. Further differentiation can be provided in the form of a textbook diagram against which the flawed skeleton artefact can be compared. Those schools that possess a full-size skeleton can use this. If you want to make this round difficult then there is the possibility of not providing a resource against which to compare the artefact but to bring out the school skeleton at the end of the round. Swapping answer sheets between groups and doing a bit of peer assessment is a possible scoring strategy here too.

The favoured approach for the author (Figure 5) is to wear the T-shirt under a dark shirt and tie at the start of the quiz and then, with possibly some appropriate music of the burlesque genre, to remove the shirt and tie, revealing the skeleton T-shirt. The quiz teams have been known to call a stop before the trousers are removed to reveal the skeleton pyjama bottoms; if the latter were also removed, the boxers with hip girdle would be revealed. If needed, the author also has a pair of socks with the bones of the lower leg, ankle and foot shown but, as these are anatomically correct, they are rarely used except

as a ‘red herring’ to catch out the former medical students who are retraining as science teachers.

The skeleton illustrated in Figure 5 has three pairs of ribs missing. There are nine pairs when there should be 12. The T-shirt shows five pairs of true ribs where there should be seven pairs that go from the vertebral column to the sternum. There are three pairs of false ribs shown on the T-shirt that run from the vertebral column and join into the bottom true rib. This is accurate but it should be rib pairs 8, 9 and 10 that do this. The T-shirt has a single pair of floating ribs when there should be two pairs. The clavicle and scapula on the T-shirt are fine, as are the five lumbar vertebrae. Only half of the pelvic girdle is present. Readers are left to form their own mark plan for this round as the correct answers will depend on how detailed and how full a skeleton is involved.

If you wish to tax older students engaged in more advanced study, the goblet shown in Figure 7 provides such an opportunity. There are two errors in this resource: the first, and most obvious, is the point of articulation of the thumb to the carpals, while the less obvious is in the number of carpal bones – seven where there should be eight. The numbers of phalanges and metacarpals are correct.

Figure 6 Ghost train art


Figure 7 A goblet containing fake blood


To make false blood, which is edible, I added some red food colouring to milk plus one or two drops of blue food colouring. An alternative recipe is as follows:

l 230 g of golden syrup;l 15 g of red food colouring;l one or two drops of blue food colouring;l warm water;l cornflour.

Add warm water to the syrup to thin it down and then add the food colourings. Stir well. To make the blood more opaque, add cornflour. This substance can be used to drip ‘blood’ from syringes over the prizes and refreshments, as shown in Figures 8 and 9. Take care with the food colouring as it will stain clothing and may temporarily discolour skin. Risk analyses are appropriate here. Bonus points may be given for the ‘bush tucker trial’ activity, with the first team with an empty goblet getting bonus points; however, for those who think there should be no ‘hand to mouth’ operations in science laboratories at any time, this may be a no-go activity.

Round 3 provides opportunities for peer or self-assessment, if required, but the quizmaster could also do the marking.

Round 4: Pumpkins and gourdsThe carved pumpkin is a traditional Halloween feature (Figure 10) but too little is known by young people today about the biology and botany of these interesting members of the cucumber family. I well remember my old biology teacher, Mr Searle, setting his Scholarship level (S-level) group an essay entitled ‘A cucumber is like a pregnant woman’. I opened my response with a joke told by Ken Dodd about cucumbers, letter boxes and Martians before going on to make comparisons of embryos, food sources and protection. I never did sit the S-level exam!

Pictures or the artefacts themselves (Figure 11) are needed for this round, which I offer as a form of table completion activity (Box 3). Differentiation can be achieved through removing/leaving the country or origin sticker on the fruit, making the internet available, or adding/deleting more information to or from the table.

There is time for this round to be marked by the question setter as Round 5 takes at least 4 minutes to complete.

Round 5: Build your own skeletonThis round requires the team to cut out and assemble their own skeleton. Suitable skeletons

Figure 8 Halloween biscuit treats

Figure 9 Finger, eye and brain sweets

Figure 10 A carved pumpkin lantern



Figure 11 Pumpkins and gourds

for this round are available on the internet but, if you are stuck, a C4 stamped addressed envelope sent to the author will secure you one that is copyright free. Teams are provided with paper fasteners to join the various parts of the skeleton together, scissors for cutting out (at least two pairs for each team) and Blu-Tack to display the finished article (Figure 12). In the spirit of assessment for learning, teams are provided

before the start of the activity with the criteria by which this performance will be judged. I usually give speed of task completion, neatness of cutting out and accuracy of assembly as the criteria, but it is also possible to combine this activity with Round 3 by asking for the bones to be labelled and the inaccuracies to be identified. This round generates a real sense of urgency and competitiveness with other teams (Figure 13). As

BOX 3 Round 4: Where’s the pumpkin?

Team name: ..………………………………………

Complete the cucumber family table

Plant Butternut s----h Gourd Plant Melon

Fruit Round

Colour Orange

Food type Vegetable Starter or Sweet

Country of origin


Figure 12 Completed skeletons

Figure 13 A team in action


it takes some time to complete, it is possible to have the score table updated before this round is marked. This allows the interest in who has won to build up as the scores for Round 5 are added one criterion at a time to the totals.

It is not difficult to find appropriate prizes for the winning team, with items such as candles, masks, key rings with skeletons and leg bone pens being readily and cheaply available. I tend to see them all as winners, with plates of appropriate biscuits (Figure 9) and body-part sweets such as brains, eyes and fingers (Figure 10) liberally sprinkled with edible blood being available for all teams.

Another possible activityThere is one further activity that I have undertaken with resources available at the same time of year and this involves the genetics of maize that is sold in supermarkets under the name ‘Indian corn’ (Figure 14). The ‘Indian’ here means Native American or Mexican as this is the region in which the maize was first cultivated. I varnish the cobs as this protects them and allows them to be used year after year. With the Indian corn I challenge the groups to identify the number of different phenotypes among the specimens and, following this, the ratios between them. This is quite a difficult task and the ratios found are rarely familiar ones: I have found a 9 : 7 ratio that may actually just be 1 : 1, as I do not have enough other examples to replicate the experiment. I do, however, still have two other sets of specimens, originally sold by Philip Harris, that permit students to work out the ratios of the phenotypes and those come to ratios of approximately 3 : 1 and 9 : 3 : 3 : 1.

Conclusion

The ideas suggested here first arose when I worked for a head teacher who believed that we should always go out with a ‘big bang’ at the end of every term or half-term. This was easy for my chemistry colleagues but required more

imagination from biologists. Over the years, the ideas have developed, with a few falling by the wayside, such as bobbing for apples in the laboratory sinks – although this might not be such a bad idea in some schools that I hear tales of, where (with apologies to the Getting Practical project) it would mean that at least the sinks would be used once a year!

Website

Bat Quiz (Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California; Berkeley): www.lawrencehallofscience.org/kidsite/portfolio/bat-quiz.

Roger Lock was a lecturer in science education at the School of Education, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT. Email: [email protected].

Figure 14 Indian corn


http://www.lawrencehallofscience.org/kidsite/portfolio/bat-quiz

http://www.lawrencehallofscience.org/kidsite/portfolio/bat-quiz

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