Praying Mantis Egg **Update**

Picture a classroom of 24 first graders.

They are completing their Phonics work and then head out to the restroom.  As they trickle back into the room they see 3 of their classmates with huge grins and sparkly eyes.  The children are trying not to laugh and their teacher {me} keeps telling them not to tell the secret until everyone is back in the room.  Once all the students are back at their seats a few have already noticed what the secret is and are as excited as the other few kids.  Can you imagine what the room looks like and sounds like with 24 first graders once they realise that their Praying Mantis egg casing has hatched?  Well let me tell ya the office down the hall probably could hear us. 

We didn't have as many nymphs as we have had in the past with these but we still had a lot.  We kept them 2 days and then took them outside to release them around the school.  A few of them refused to come out of the bag so I took those home to have my husband release.

I always have one of these at home with my own kids to observe and we were lucky that it hatched yesterday.  We actually got to watch the nymphs swarm out of the casing.   At first I thought they were dead but it didn't take long and they were running and jumping all over the sides of the netting. Sorry the picture isn't very clear but here they are as they are coming out of the egg.

Where do you get one of these wonderful egg casing?

I'm glad you asked:)

I buy mine from Insect Lore.  I love this site.  I have bought several Praying Mantis eggs over the years and I also get my Painted Butterfly Caterpillars from here too. I have only ever had trouble with one Praying Mantis egg and they were wonderful with sending me a replacement for the one that didn't hatch.  Insect Lore also has lot of other wonderful items that I am looking into getting to broaden my Science Center. 

 

So if your looking for something easy and exiting to do with your kiddos I would highly recommend a Praying Mantis egg. 

You and the kids won't be disappointed:)

Writing Animal Research Reports!

Hey All! I am a first grade teacher from Fall Into First and I wanted to share the fun way that my students learned to write research reports that centered around our amazing class pet! 

We are working on Informative Writing and we are about to begin writing our ZooPals Animal Research Reports! Before I let my students begin their own report, we write an animal research report together from beginning to end so that I can model the steps to informative writing. 

Our whole-group research report is about desert tortoises because we have a desert tortoise as a class pet!  (Did I mention I live in Arizona?)

Meet Shelldon! 

(For the record he has had that name long before the TV show The Big Bang started)

Shelldon became part of my class about four years ago. A former family called and asked if I was interested in adopting him because they were moving and needed to find him a new home. FYI a tortoise is a GREAT classroom pet, they are super low maintenance,  and the kids LOVE him! 

I went to the library and found several easy-read non-fiction book about Desert Tortoises.

(Desert Tortoises by Christopher Blomquist, Desert Tortoises by Sophia Lockwood and Desert Tortoises by Elizabeth Thomas)

We brainstormed the topics we would like to research and wrote them on our planning sheet. We decided to write about:

• what a tortoise looks like
• what a tortoise eats
• where a tortoise lives
• cool facts about the desert tortoise

Each day we read through our non-fiction text looking for facts that fit our topic. The kids did a great job. We tackled one page a day so we spent about one week researching and writing. 

 

Page 1 - A desert tortoise has a hard shell that covers its body. Their back legs look like little elephant feel. An adult tortoise is nine to fifteen inches long. 

Page 2 - A desert tortoise is a herbivore. They eat cactus, wildflowers and dried plants. They get water from the plants they eat.

 Page 3 - A tortoise lives on land. They dig burrows to stay cool. Desert tortoises live in Arizona, California and Mexico.

Page 4 - Desert tortoises live up to 100 years. They are in danger of dying out so laws protect them. A hatchling is about 2 inches long.

I wanted my students to get the FULL report writing experience so we did revisions then "published" our report by typing it in the computer lab! 

(I love technology and try to incorporate it whenever possible, this was NOT my students first experience using Microsoft Word) It took a little time and patience but when they typed their report but they were so incredibly proud of themselves!

 

We made this cute little tortoise art project by painting a bowl brown and gluing on tissue paper.

 

Next, my students worked in a small group to write their own ZooPals Animal Research Report! Click here to read all about it!  They turned out AMAZING!

Click here to get my Animal Research Report packet!

Thanks for reading! Stop by my blog to find more ideas and resources for your primary classroom!

{insect invasion} mealworms, crickets, and caterpillars!

Well, we are officially opening up a zoo in Mrs. Lamb's class!
not really
but it feels that way
we have always used several insects for observation during our life cycle unit
it just seemed to happen all at once this year!
Everything came within 2 days
rather than spaced out like we had planned
but I am nothing if not flexible!

So first things first-we began with our mealworm study
the caterpillars were fine in their cup
the crickets were in the closet
and the incubator was warming up waiting on the eggs

I thought I would try to supply to with some management tips if you alo teach life cycles!
one: everything needs a home and a label!

all eggs get a number and an X and 0 for turning purposes

all mealworms are in a personal habitat labeled with parent names

these are solo cups and lids. 

I've had lots of inquiries! 

Caterpillars actually stay in the container they arrive in. If you order a butterfly kit, this is how it will arrive.

You transfer them to the butterfly tent when they form their chrysalis by attaching the paper towel to the side of the tent. 

and for the lap of luxury

here's the cricket condo!

We attached 2 liter bottles to each side of a central container

one side is filled with moist soil for egg laying (which was all day long!)

and the other with dry sand

if the middle is the "play area" or "living room" 

haha

it just has paper towels and pieces of cardboard to prevent the inevitable cannibalism

now, don't get me wrong

it's a lot of work on my part

but if my class was a tad more well behaved, it would have been easy to do this with them!

they did set up their mealworm habitats

this is the creature they interact with the most

and they are by far the cleanest!

and they can survive falls from desks

and they can't hop too quickly to get away

you get the picture

so here's a peek at what we've done this week in science

these are our birth announcements

Next year I will do some for each insect

but this year they are all mealworms

these are included in my file as well as everything below

and lots of observing and recording

so if you'd like to observe some little creatures with a complete metamorphosis

mealworms are definitely the way to go!

widely available at your local pet store

cheap in large quantities

and clean and easy!

I'm also adding a few more ideas to my unit as we go

I keep finding new ways to explore these boogers

so snatch it up now!

One Egg Lots of Babies

My class is very excited about our new pet egg.
This little egg isn't like any other egg.
It doesn't have a soft baby chick inside.
It doesn't have just one baby in it either.
It has anywhere from 75-200 babies in it.
It is a Praying Mantis egg casing.

These egg casings are much like a spider's egg that when it hatches lots of babies will come out.
Praying mantis are great for gardens and farms.
They eat all the bugs that harm plants.  And they even eat those pesky bugs that bug humans like mosquitoes. 

Once our egg hatched we will only be able to keep them about a day and then they will have to be released in our park.  After that one day the babies will start to eat each other or just die without food like aphids {which I don't have lying around handy}.

The Praying Mantis are known to stay around where they are born or released as long as there is enough food for them.  In the years past that I have had these with my students we have been able to find babies weeks later in the park in the bushes.  The kiddos are always so excited when they find them and always have to show them off to the Kindergarten kids that we have recess with each day. 

We have had our egg casing for about 2 weeks now so any day this next week are so we should have lots of babies to observe.  I know we are excited to see these amazing creatures and learn more about them. 

I would love to hear if you have had any unusual pets or visitors in your classrooms.

Introduction to Squeaky the Rat

Hello Critter Lovers!!

My name is Heather Byers and I'm the author of The Busy Busy Hive blog.  I am so excited to be able to share on this wonderful blog.  I {Puffy} Heart animals, especially ones in the classroom.  I have an unusual pet in my classroom { at least my kiddos' parents think so}.  I have a pet rat.

I think it's his tail that sets people off to rats.  Squeaky is my 3rd classroom pet rat.  He loves to snuggle, be held and he acts a lot like a cat.

 

I was first intoduced to rats as classroom pets when I was teaching 5th grade my 1st year as a teacher.

My partner teacher had 13 rats {yep 13 that wasn't a typo}as pets in her classroom.  She also talked about how calm and wonderful they were as pets and the kids loved them.  That year I had gerbils and hamsters as class pets.  Needless to say both of those types were not my ideal pet.  The gerbils were too fast to handle and the hamsters kept escaping out of their cage.  Not that hamsters and gerbils don't make good pets.  They just weren't the right ones for me and my classroom.  When I started teaching 1st grade I decided to try a pet rat.  I had found my ideal classroom pet.  I will probably always have a rat in my classroom now. 

Squeaky eating his snack.

His favorite part  of the day is snack time.  He always ends up with some banana or apple from someone's snack.  Squeaky is quiet and very good with the kids.  My own kids love it when its Spring break or Summer Vacation because they know that Squeaky will be home.

 

Do you have anything good to eat?

Thank you for reading this little intro to Squeaky.

Squeaky and I look forward to sharing even more

about our classroom adventures and happenings in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

C&C Guinea Pig Cages

 My guinea pigs, Daisy and Chrysanthemum,  live in a huge C & C cage.  You can purchase them on the Guinea Pig Cages Store website or read about how to make them on Cavy Spirit's Guinea Pig Cages website.

Yes, that is a litter box in the corner and yes they use it!  They don't use it like a cat would.  They really just use it because it is in the corner they want to use as a bathroom.  The trick is to put something they would not want to defecate on in the other corners.  This "trains" them to go in the litter box.  I place the houses, food, and water bottle in the other cornes.  I use basic non-clumping cat litter for the litter box.   Guinea pigs do not jump, so they do not need a lid on the cage.  They do climb or hop on top of their houses.  The cage is still high enough that they cannot get out.  

I use Carefresh Natural Pet Bedding to fill the cage.  Before I place the bedding in the cage, I line the cage with chart paper.  This makes it easier to clean at the end of the week.  I also use a dust pan to get out the old bedding.  

I hope you liked this peak at my piggies' palace!  You must check out some of the creations people have made!  This lady has a guinea pig room...those pigs are living the life!

Birds in the Classroom: Part 1: Introduction

My name is Maya and I am a preschool teacher from O'ahu, Hawaii, with a passion for birds.  Previously, I have always had fish as pets because they have been easiest to care for and were the only realistic pet I could keep in past classroom environments.  My classrooms in the past have either had no ventilation or light (wooden jealousy windows) when I wasn't there or have been at a location that did not allow pets other than fish.   

This school year I was moved to a campus where I have my own portable with central air, many large windows, and is a space where I can have more than just fish.  I didn't intend to have birds as classroom pets because they are a very big responsibility - and I will discuss this in detail later - and I have my own parrot at home but, through a long and sad story of people who couldn't keep their birds anymore, I ended up with little bundles of feathers in my class in August 2012.

Meet Froot Loop, an American Cinnamon Pied lovebird.

Meet Crunchberry, a Medium Green (split to Orangefaced) lovebird.

If you are thinking of a bird as a classroom pet, there are many things you will need to think about.  Some questions to ask yourself:
- Will the noise of a bird(s) distract your students or disrupt learning?
- Are you financially able to provide for the bird(s) care and vet bills?
- Are you willing to cook for the bird(s)?
- Are you able to designate a space in your classroom for a large cage and activity area?
- Will you leave the bird(s) in the classroom or take them home at night, on weekends, on breaks?
- If you plan to leave them in the class, does your classroom provide ventilation at night and light on weekends?

While birds are absolutely adorable, they are a very big responsibility - think two year olds that never grow up - and can be a big financial burden.  In coming blog posts, I will go over what should be required in order to have birds as classroom pets.  Part two will discuss the diet these feathered friends need.

To be continued...