Creepy crawlies


Look at the size of them!

The live samples came in so I finally created the terrarium with the students. I have to say that the 3 types of bugs were disgusting. The pill bugs weren't so bad because they were tiny and when you got near them, they would roll into a ball, hence the name, roly-poly. The millipedes, yeah....really long and lots of legs, freaky! However, the scariest one was the bess beetle (which you can see in the picture)! They were huge and made a raspy sound when you touched them. My co-op was standing 20 feet away the whole time saying that she couldn't handle it. I was like, "I am so not comfortable with this as well, I'm usually hysterical!"

They had fun creating it though, they each had a turn putting something in. It was a really great hands-on activity that allowed me to assess their ordinal skills as well. In all honesty, putting things in wasn't as bad as having to take them out. Each day we had to observe one of the bugs. I dropped potatoes in and the pill bugs started feeding on them so they were easy to take out. The beetles were difficult because by the next day, they had dug themselves into the bottom of everything. So I had to dig them out. As for the millipedes, they were impossible to find. Each time I overturned something, it would beetles crawling out, never what I was looking for. Seeing them crawl out like that just sent shivers everywhere. As gross as the millipedes were, I have to admit they're pretty cool to look out. I got them to crawl on a long skewer and letting the kids watch how the legs move in synch was awesome.