Bugs

When Lily got her bugs out of the garden, I didn't realize the varied things kids can learn from having bugs in a container. Lily has mentioned to me how she likes to watch the grubs burrow (she even confessed that she woke up in the middle of the night and watched them for a while instead of sleeping, silly girl).

So she now knows that grubs burrow. And she has watched the different kinds of bugs and remarked which ones like to stay on top of the dirt and which like to be in the dirt.

I'm pretty sure we even watched one of the grubs chase an earwig into a hole. So she can observe the circle of life, somewhat.

We also caught a tomato moth (I can't remember the exact name) this summer and watched what it did. I learned so much just from observing it. We learned that when they have had enough to eat they then search frantically for a place to build a cocoon. We also learned that this particular type of moth builds its cocoon under ground. It was amazing to watch it burrow and see how fast it could dig. Then it happened to burrow right into the corner of the container (which was transparent) so we could look at it occasionally. We saw it shrink, we saw it change color, we saw it stop wiggling (and hoped it hadn't died). Then one day we saw a moth with very wet wings frantically walking around on top of the dirt. We put a stick in the container, and it climbed up, hung upside down and squeezed some weird green liquid out of its wings. It didn't just dry its wings. It wrung them out. Then we let it go and watched it fly. It was the coolest thing ever, and I will never forget what I learned about the moth because I watched it happen.

I'm sure each and every bug we observe will have many things we can learn about. I would suggest anyone who homeschools to get a cheap, clear cage and see what bugs they can find.