Lots of little things emerging!

First of all, let me say that my pictures posted backwards from how I loaded them. Why? Who knows?
Friday was a very exciting day in our Prekindergarten classroom. We got to see the chicks in the 2nd grade classroom and how they had grown. They were going home to their farm that day. We had a turtle and 3 ducklings for show and tell, also.
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Read on for the rest of the exciting news.

If you double click on the pictures they will enlarge. You are looking at praying mantis. They began hatching Friday during class. Of course, you can imagine the excitement of the children as they watched the progression of the praying mantis emerge from the egg.

As we were watching and talking about what was going on my associate said "Did one just bite the head off one?" Yep. Because this all was happening on Friday we told the children what was going on and then we headed outside and found a secluded corner in the yard that was semi protected, yet had lots of decomposing leaves where there would be many tiny types of bugs and insects for them to eat.
Praying mantis are carnivorous critters and when there are no other sources of food available for them to eat, they will turn and eat one another. That is the way God made them. They are an insect that are not only harmless to humans and their environment but are fundamentally good because they will eat bugs that damage our food crops.

Our butterflies (Painted Lady) also emerged from their cocoons earlier in the week. It had been way to windy to let them fly so I brought in some Sweet Williams for food until we were able to let them fly. I grow them in my garden at home. Four cocooned and all four emerged, but not on the same day. Two flew and two we will release on Monday. As we teach about the butterflies they also learn about bees and pollination, which they both do.
You can see 3 of 4 in the last picture. The red is not blood but a type of fluid/ink that is part of their metamorphoses

The silk worms are tiny and growing. I will take them in on Monday. The children are eagerly anticipating the worms. I have read the book, we have discussed the pictures. I have taken in some cocoons that didn't hatch last year, and will take in some more that did, for them to pick up, touch and pull off some silk strands.

These are such visual learning and teaching instruments, and the children remember so much when they can see what is happening. It is fun to watch and listen to the children as they huddle around the containers in the science area, discussing this among themselves. It is such great language, especially for the children who are learning English.

This also allows me to talk about some of the creations God made and the who, what and whys of these critters. I do themes on snakes and spiders also, especially since my school is in the country and there are rattlesnakes and black widows in abundance around here. We had a baby rattler in the boys bathroom four years ago, and black widows in the shed in our yard. They can be very scary. I try to teach the children they do not need to be afraid of these creatures and yo have a healthy respect for the creatures: and why they should not touch things they don't know what are or could be very dangerous for them.

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When my older children were little we lived in the community known as Big Sur. They had so many opportunities there it was unbelievable. Because we didn't have reception and satellite TV did not exist my children had no TV for 4 years, so we did a lot of reading and different outside things including exploring. There was so much community involvement in the school that their learning experiences were expanded way beyond the classroom. I think in a way I try to keep some of that learning and bring it into my classroom. That is one of the reasons I do some of the things I do.