One of my favorite events of the year is almost upon us: March Mammal Madness, lovingly MMM hereafter. MMM is an annual virtual competition that pits different animals against each other in scientifically plausible but hypothetical battles. The competition is designed as a bracketed game, much like the sporting event of similar name, but aims to teach participants about new species and environments through creative storytelling.
I’ve been in love with MMM since I first took note of some tweets with the hashtag on my Twitter timeline a few years ago. I’ve been an avid fan and participant every year since. I love learning about the combatants while I fill out my bracket and follow along with the stories. I love the creative storytelling of the narrators and how they tie in the scientific literature. I love the art work. I love the trash talking. I get pretty emotional about it, actually. The whole competition and the community around it encompasses everything I believe and hold dear about information, communication, and education – three things I also love. The organizers know that open research literature allows for more expansive access to scientific knowledge. They know the literature is only one way to communicate science and that other methods are needed to understand our natural world and to get humans more engaged with it. They know we need to use the vast breadth of disciplinary and traditional ways of knowing and sharing to fully appreciate this world and our relationship to it.
I’m gushing, yes, and absolutely biased and possibly misrepresenting the organizers’ beliefs. But this is what I see when I read their excellent article that just dropped and what I feel when I participant in the games.
This year, as I gear up for another exciting MMM, I can’t help but wonder how MMM can be used for environmental education, a field whose goal is also to educate and engage audiences in the natural world. Many of the MMM combatants are rare species from around the globe and sometimes from times long past. This poses a challenge for environmental ed, which tends to focus on place-based learning and getting audiences engaged with their local environments. But this challenge is also a great opportunity to stretch our definition of place-based, and to tie our local environments to the planet we all share. I’ve done some brainstorming and created a small selection of activities for environmental educators to consider to get involved with the MMM phenomenon.
Activity Ideas
Firstly, there are already a lot of amazing educator materials for MMM freely available. Many of these, especially the official materials, can be adapted for environmental education. Use your imagination or combine some of the ideas below with these:
- March Mammal Madness Educator Materials
- 2021 March Mammal Madness K-5 Species Info Slides
- Crowdsourced Educator Resources
Secondly, these ideas aren’t fully formed lesson plans or curricula. They’re merely a brainstormed list of activity ideas that you can expand on in ways that work best for your learners.
List of Ideas
- Find species that are endemic to your location. Offer programming about that species -their adaptions, their place in your local ecosystems, threats to their environment, etc. If the species is common enough you could go on a hike to see the animal (or evidence of the animal if more appropriate), or do a social media photo or story campaign. Of course also relentlessly cheer for them during their battles.
- No good species in your area? Check your nearest AZA accredited zoo or natural history museum. These organizations can offer education materials in addition to a chance for learners to see the species (or its remains, as the case may be) in an appropriate way.
- Consider the habits of the combatants, near and far. Have learners consider how different species would manage in your local environment. What adaptations would help them? What challenges would they face? This is an especially relevant activity given that the location of each MMM battle has big influence on the outcome. Home court advantage can give an underdog an enormous leg up.
- Look at some of the combatants that are endangered, at risk, or threatened. Consider what factors contribute to their status and how those factors impact your local environment and species or how your local community and lifestyle is contributing to or helping with the problem.
- Use the descriptions of the species to compare them to your local fauna. You can use their adaptations and physical features, diets, active hours, or other aspects to highlight similarities or differences. If you want to get more scientific, you could look at phylogenetic trees to find the closest relatives in your area to different combatants.
Resources
Official March Mammal Madness LibGuide
March Mammal Madness Educator Materials
2021 March Mammal Madness K-5 Species Info Slides
Crowdsourced Educator Resources
Hinde, Katie, Carlos Eduardo G Amorim, Alyson F Brokaw, Nicole Burt, Mary C Casillas, Albert Chen, Tara Chestnut, et al. “March Mammal Madness and the Power of Narrative in Science Outreach.” Edited by George H Perry, Penny Bishop, and Michelle Bezanson. ELife 10 (February 22, 2021): e65066. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.65066.
Margaret Janz - Hermit Warbler 