WADESBORO – Wendy Efird removed a frozen mouse from a freezer, thawed it out a little and dried it with a hair dryer. She then placed the mouse and a corn snake in a terrarium. The corn snake was a little shy because there were so many people sitting around watching her, but she eventually decided that her hunger outweighed her shyness and she devoured the mouse.

Efird is the director of the Rotary Science Center and Henry H. “Punky” Morton Planetarium, located in the old Central Elementary School cafeteria and auditorium on Camden Road. The people watching this exhibition were part of a Compensatory Education class from South Piedmont Community College. The class is composed of adults with a diagnosis of intellectual disability or traumatic brain injury and meets at the Lockhart-Taylor Center in Wadesboro.

Efird explained to the students that the mouse would satisfy the snake’s hunger for about a week. She also encouraged the students to watch the mouse as it moved through the snake’s body as it was digested.

This was just one of the things that kept the students entranced during their recent visit. The animal room was their first stop. Efird hoped that touching or holding some of the animals would reduce some of the fears that students might have.

Snakes made up a large part of the tour and students were encouraged to touch and even hold some of the smaller ones. The ball python, however, was considerably bigger than the other snakes and was not available for the hands-on experience. Everyone was surprised that the snakes had such smooth underbellies and did not try to bite them. Efird pointed out to the students that these snakes are not like the snakes they might see out in their yards or on the roads. These snakes are more like pets and were born in captivity.

After the snakes, the students saw a hissing cockroach from Madagascar. It was about 1 ½ inches long and hissed loudly whenever touched. Some of the students were brave enough to touch him, but the hissing made it a daunting experience. Also included in the hands-on exhibits were a hamster and a gecko.

After the animal room, Efird took the students to some other exhibits that were a little less nerve-wracking. In the Life Science area, there were many animal pelts and more than 50 mounted animals, including a huge Alaskan brown bear, an elk and a wild boar. This area was visually stunning and appeared to grab the students’ interest.

“The Lives of the Tree” was an area in the Earth and Environmental area. In this exhibit, students were allowed to visualize a tree’s canopy, an erosion table, tree ring counter and magnetic ant bed.

The NASA exhibit features images from the Hubble telescope. There is also a large display detailing the life and work of John Kiker, an Anson County native and a NASA engineer.

For students interested in exploring the human body, including heart rate, eyesight, DNA, human skeletons and lungs, the Anatomy and Physiology Exhibit, provides plenty of information.

The final exhibit was the Starlab Projector. This round room with a domed ceiling has the capability to seat 30 visitors at a time and can show 17 different presentations. After the students entered the room, Efird turned out the lights and turned on the projector. Everyone was amazed. On the ceiling were the shapes of Zodiac signs. Efird explained to everyone how the Zodiac signs got their names and pointed out the diagrams of the stars and how they were arranged in the sky to look like the shapes of the Zodiac signs.

The students who visited the Planetarium were Neal Carpenter, Shelisa Cash, Daniel Davis, Ivory Phillips and Keena Tillman. The instructor for this class is April Watkins.

For more information about Compensatory Education at South Piedmont Community College, contact Scott Rivers at srivers@spcc.edu or 704-272-5468.

To schedule a visit to the science center and planetarium, contact Efird at 704-694-7016.

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Media inquiries: Rosemary Britt, 704-272-5342, rbritt@spcc.edu