Schools: STEM event inspired by Open Wide! Jaw-dropping mouths of the animal world

We are excited to introduce you to this STEM event delivered by science writer Letizia Diamante and inspired by her fascinating new book, “Open Wide!”, which explores the mouths of both people and animals in a way that can greatly enrich your school’s STEM curriculum.

Through games, quizzes and interactive discussions, Letizia will take your students on a journey inside the mouth to learn about teeth, tongues, and saliva in the animal kingdom. Her book provides a wealth of scientific information that aligns with primary schools’ educational goals.

Topics:
🦷The origin of teeth: Let’s look at some paleo-creatures to unveil the mysterious origin of teeth.
🦷From milk teeth to adult teeth: As children lose their milk teeth and their adult teeth grow in, they can learn about their teeth and compare them with those of their favourite animals (and some super weird ones, too).
🦷Evolution: Letizia will bring some incredible examples of evolution, such as a moth that evolved a 20-30 cm long tongue (proboscis).
🦷Beyond Eating: Understand how animals use their mouths for various tasks, such as carrying food or babies, building homes, or even climbing waterfalls.
🦷Animals that need a dentist: Animals face some unique dental challenges just like humans do.

Skills:
🦷Critical Thinking: The event encourages children to think critically and make hypotheses about the adaptations and functions of animal mouths.
🦷Science Literacy: Letizia will use and explain technical words applied to human and animal biology in an engaging manner.
🦷Inspiring curiosity: Children will be motivated to explore and ask questions about themselves and the natural world.
🦷Taking care: The event will also highlight the importance of taking care of one’s own teeth and living in harmony with nature.

In conclusion, “Open Wide! Jaw-dropping mouths of the animal world” will bring your class into the fascinating world of animal mouths, sure to educate and inspire young readers.

Please note, location must be within 1 hour of travel from Cambridge.

Get in touch

Publisher: What on Earth!
Author: Dr. Letizia Diamante is a science communicator and children's writer. After her PhD in Biochemistry, she worked as a science communicator for a variety of public and private organisations, including CERN and the University of Cambridge. She enjoys writing about great discoveries, taking photos, presenting at schools, organising events for science festivals and visiting science museums all over the world.
Book: Explore the most marvellous mouths of the animal kingdom, from the awesome jaws of the great white shark to the tiny teeth of the garden snail. Some animals sport tongues that are longer than their bodies, others have super-sticky spit that can speedily snare an insect snack. And animals use their mouths for lots of things other than just eating – to carry their food or their babies, to build their homes or even to climb waterfalls! Join scientist and author Letizia Diamante in her new book, Open Wide! Jaw-dropping mouths of the animal world, to discover some of the most important animal body parts that are often overlooked, even though they’re right under our noses!
Availability: September (not 13, 16, 17), October (not 25-29), November (not 23/24), December Open to discussion
Audience: 7 years old+
Event Type: Online
Author's Travel Constraints: Ideally within 1 hour of Cambridge by train
Fees: n/a
Technical Requirements: Large screen, clicker, microphone

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