Monday 9 January 2012

Wasp studies



Yesterday morning this wasp appeared in the children's cloakroom at school. At first it wasn't moving and appeared to be dead. I was worried it would still sting me so I trapped it in a petri dish with  the intention that if it was dead I could maybe keep it. It didn't move straight away so I taped the petri dish and left it for a while. It started to move and I realised that it was still alive and knew that Little-N would love some time to observe it.  

Little-N kept it on his desk next to him and began to research in his books to find out about the wasp. He was fascinated when he saw it open and close its mandible [mouth].


 He then worked on drawing this very detailed picture of a wasp and labelled the different parts.

3 comments:

Annicles said...

That's a beautiful diagram. Now, could you ask Little-N to find out for me, what job wasps do in the natural world? I have no clue what there function is, other than be a pain in the backside!

Blu Blessings said...

It's been a while. No updates, no word. How are you? What's new in your world of teaching?

Jessica said...

That is so neat - and braver than I would be! I have no problem collecting other sorts of creatures, alive or dead (treated respectfully) - but wasps or anything with a stinger? I'm sweeping that thing up and flushing it away!

We currently have a butterfly in a petri dish in our co-op - the children LOVE to do the butterfly puzzle and examine for the real parts with a magnifying glass.