Learning in a fun and interactive way

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Students at Floyd B. Watson Elementary School learned about their bodies in a fun and interactive way during a visit from ventriloquist Steve Petra and his puppets.

Petra’s “It’s Alive” show on Jan. 5 in the gymnasium taught the students about the body’s different systems and how they work together harmoniously to help us function. There show was broken up into four different topics, including the brain and nervous system, the lungs, breathing, nose and wind pipe, the heart and blood vessels and the digestive system.

“It’s Alive” was an Arts in Motion assembly that was sponsored by the Watson School PTA. The show complemented Watson’s yearlong focus on STEAM education through this year’s Endless Possibilities initiative.

The show is presented like a huge science class, and student volunteers went on stage to help demonstrate how the different organs communicate with one another. They helped the brain deliver messages to the parts of the body, learned what causes itchy noses and saw how the heart pumps blood through the veins and arteries.

Four students also helped Petra stretch 20 feet of intestine across the stage.

Dressed in a white lab coat, Petra illustrated his lessons with the use of puppets. There was a brain attached on a spinal cord, two lungs that conversed with each other and a stomach and heart. The students got to interact with the puppets and laugh when they made jokes at the host’s expense.

There were also original songs and music throughout the show.

According to his web site, Petra trained at the National Theatre of Puppet Arts and at Jim Henson Productions in Manhattan. He is a full-time professional ventriloquist and puppeteer performing his own scripts, songs and music. Previously, he worked as a professional musician. He now specializes in curriculum-based assembly programs for elementary schools.