The School Janitor Also Took Part in the Research

Moshe came into the classroom, suggested sanding the edges of the boards, handed out sandpaper to the students, and demonstrated the activity. He then took each group in turn to his room to drill holes in the boards, and returned to the classroom to explain and demonstrate how to connect the boards with zip ties. Before connecting the boards, we painted the two outer thirds of each board with charcoal, and in the middle we attached a transparent wallpaper liner, leaving the backing paper on it until placement in the field so it wouldn't get dirty. We connected them with zip ties again, with Moshe accompanying us during the lesson, showing the students how to work properly with zip ties and finally how to trim the excess. Moshe came to the lessons happily, full of enthusiasm and, I would say,  pride that he could share his knowledge with the students. Turning to the maintenance worker eased my anxiety about starting the project, since I don't know much about types of wood or building shelters. Moshe put my concerns to rest and eagerly took it upon himself to guide both me and the students. At the end, each group went home with a small mammal track tunnel.