I think it's a wonderful idea that you're going to do your project on herps. If it were me, and you're not, I'd suggest doing it specifically on snakes. Then, I'd possibly narrow it down to your country of origin...that is, if your country of origin "houses" snakes. I don't think Alaska has any. ^_^
Then, if your country of origin has snakes, I might narrow it down to your snake. There are wonderful books out there on snakes in different snakes. Justin and I just picked up a book, Snakes in Virginia or something like that. Then, talk about the environment, how we can protect them, etc, etc, etc. OR...do the pet approach. Take pictures of your scalekids. There's so many things you could do for this...I'm jealous.