When the Jim Thorpe third graders come out to the center for their field trips, I like to make the lessons fun and meaningful for them.

We play “animal games” where the students have to try to take on the roles of various animals and try to survive by finding basic needs: water, food, shelter, and space. During the games, at least one of the students doesn’t always find what they need.

Truthfully, I “rig” the games so I have at least one animal die off for our discussion. So that leads us into a conversation about what happens when an animal dies in the environment.

I get a variety of answers until finally someone realizes the animals that don’t survive are either food for other animals or they decompose. One student threw her hands in the air and simply stated, “You are food, or you are fertilizer!”

I like to tell them that it doesn’t take long before the FBI arrives on scene! Now, this statement gets their attention.

Of course, I have to explain to them that I am not talking about the good guys who chase bad guys.

I mean things like fungi, bacteria, and invertebrates. (Insert groans from students here).

Insects, such as flies, are attracted to carrion in search of a place to lay eggs.

Beetles arrive and begin scavenging on the flesh, followed by vultures, opossums, crows, raccoons, and other carrion eaters.

Bacteria help break down the rest of the body and the waste from the scavengers, returning the remaining nutrients back to the soil which can is used by the fungi. The lesson is about how nature recycles!

That’s where the scavengers and decomposers become crucial. So, the decomposers then convert the dead material into usable nutrients, like nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon.

Our lesson includes information about how the energy from the sun results in photosynthesis in plants (producers).

Inside the plant, the energy from the sun converts carbon dioxide and water into oxygen and sugar.

This sugar provides the energy needed for plant growth.

Herbivores (primary consumers) eat the plant energy for their own energy, health, and growth. Carnivores and omnivores (secondary consumers) such as foxes, coyotes, and hawks then eat the primary consumers for the same reasons. This is known as a food chain.

When more than one secondary consumer is eating the same primary consumer, this is known as a food web.

It happens without much fanfare and has been going on for millions of years but here’s what I don’t understand.

If these animals and organisms provide such an essential role in the ecosystem, why don’t they receive the same appreciation as other animals?

Scavengers throughout history have been associated with death. This association influences folk tales, myths, and pop culture references. Scavengers and decomposers are the cleanup crew, and they do an essential job recycling nutrients and energy.

They aren’t as pretty as a butterfly or as dashing as a peregrine falcon but like I told the woman on the phone who was going on about how ugly turkey vultures are, “We can’t all look like Cindy Crawford!”

Jeannie Carl is a naturalist at the Carbon County Environmental Education Center in Summit Hill. The center rehabilitates injured animals and educates the public on a variety of wildlife found in the area. For information on the Carbon County Environmental Center, visit www.carboneec.org.