Science Friday - Mealworms

Our new monthly theme is "Circle of Life". We began by brainstorming what that may mean. The students immediately thought of how people get born, grow up, and die - but then new babies get born and the cycle starts all over again. (Luckily, I happened to have a short DVD called All About the Human Life Cycle which we watched and discussed.) Beyond that, we talked about how many things could repeat and never end - the seasons always go in the same pattern, and recycling and composting were mentioned as well.

This will be a science heavy month. One of our big projects will be raising and experimenting with mealworms, particularly related to their own "circle of life". We began our studies yesterday. Each child received their very own mealworm, and are fascinated to observe and document all of the changes. There were several exciting escapes (this was due to weak planning on the part of the teacher!) but I hope the mealworms are more settled now. Students practiced making close observations, making predictions, using magnifying glasses, and doing careful scientific sketches. On Monday, we will see if anything happened to our mealworms over the weekend!

I am looking forward to our nature walk with Faye Stoner on Thursday afternoon, and we will look for more signs of the circle of life in our beautiful park next door.