After 17 years the Cicadas are back on the East Coast!! Now that the weather has reached above 64 degrees, these bugs are climbing out of the ground at a rapid rate, ready to crawl, lay eggs, mate and die! While outside for recess, my students have been noticing these bugs. Some students want to touch them, and the others are deathly afraid! I used this as a teaching opportunity, and we went inside and looked them up on the computer. Good old Wikipedia..
Next, I made sure to show my student that they are not harmful to humans, and that they do not bite or sting (unless they sit on human skin for an excessive amount of time and mistake the human for a tree..)
One of the first grade teachers was nice enough to share this diagram with me. It shows the cicada in the form of the nymph, and what it looks like after it sheds its skin and turns into an adult. I showed this to my students; they were initially freaked out but then after lots of reassurance that the cicada was not alive, they were able to take a look (from about three feet away!) I have to admit, this diagram is currently sitting on my desk, and every time I catch a glimpse of it, I jump a bit. I think it's time to return it to first grade...
Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone!!
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