I got full marks and a commendation in front of the school
When I was about 10 I did a school project on bats. I read up on them and produced an amazing* piece of literature on the native bat species of the UK, with diagrams, tables, pictures, the works. That wasn't what got me such a high mark, however.

We rented a caravan out on the Welsh borders, and one year when my dad was moving the big gas bottle, he'd found a dead bat** beneath it. Because the space under the caravan was really dry, the poor thing had been effectively mummified - it certainly didn't smell or anything, so I'd tucked it away in a box and kept it in the loft.

Anyway, at a loss as to how to finish my project, I dug out my dead bat and stuck it to the cover. The headmistress certainly wasn't expecting that, but was sufficiently impressed to give me top marks.

*so it seemed at the time
**a Daubenton's bat, no less. See, I did learn something.
( emvee cruor deo cruoris, Tue 18 Aug 2009, 17:32, Reply)