Bugs!

So I have to admit that we are not very fond of insects around here. We don't like to find them, pick them up or even read about them much. And although we covered Life Science last year in school, I'm pretty sure that insects go the shaft. So when our local science and nature center offered a homeschool class on insects, I signed the girls up as fast as I could.

After an introduction about the characteristics of insects, the kids went to the "Critter House" to examine some insects close up. My favorites? The mealworms and the humongous hissing cockroach. That would be the nice creature seen in the picture above, that all the kids TOUCHED.

Next they went out into nature to find some insects. They observed in a grassy field and in the woods. Here are the girls thrashing the grass to find some specimens! In the woods, we found dozens of millipedes and ispopods (that's rollie-pollies for all you fellow non-insect lovers).

Kayla actually has a millipede on her spoon in the picture below, but when he started to climb up her arm, she dropped everything. Here it is post-drop, still OK we're happy to report!

My favorite part of the class was that the kids charted all of the insects they found on a giant graph on a flip chart. You have never seen kids so exited to mark an X on a piece of paper! Since the class, Kayla has decided we should graph almost everything. Her last analysis was of the colors of the fall leaves. Yes, she's 3! Both girls are loving science this year (and I didn't
even have to touch any bugs!).

Until next time,

Marcia