{"id":3670,"date":"2013-05-13T08:00:31","date_gmt":"2013-05-13T08:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/esc-sec.ca\/wp\/2013\/05\/13\/kids-like-bugs-entomology-outreach-in-elementary-schools-part-2\/"},"modified":"2019-11-14T21:43:06","modified_gmt":"2019-11-14T21:43:06","slug":"kids-like-bugs-entomology-outreach-in-elementary-schools-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/esc-sec.ca\/fr\/2013\/05\/13\/kids-like-bugs-entomology-outreach-in-elementary-schools-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Kids like bugs: entomology outreach in elementary schools (Part 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week, Chris Buddle and\u00a0Paul Manning<\/a>\u00a0posted the first of a two-part series on outreach activities in elementary schools.\u00a0That post focused on the \u2018why\u2019\u00a0<\/a>– this one (also written by Chris and Paul) is about the \u2018how\u2019<\/em>.<\/p>\n

How to talk to kids about bugs:<\/strong><\/p>\n

First thing about talking to elementary school kids is\u00a0stay calm and don\u2019t worry<\/strong>! \u00a0If you have any University-level training in Entomology, you are qualified \u2013 Now, this doesn\u2019t mean you have to be able to speak about all aspects of entomology: play to your strengths! If you are a taxonomists working on\u00a0Syrphidae<\/a>\u00a0flies, bring in your flies and talk about them these magnificent animals.\u00a0 If your experience is broader and less specialized, browse some notes, look on-line, or peek at a textbook: do a short overview of the main Orders of insects and their characteristics. Although most kids get some entomology in elementary schools, it\u2019s not usually very much (although ALL kids do seem to learn about monarch butterflies!).<\/p>\n

One great way to speak to kids about bugs is to make the session thematic.\u00a0 In addition to bringing in a drawer or two of insects,\u00a0link the specimens to biology<\/strong>. For example, one of us (Paul) has recently used \u2018metamorphosis\u2019 as a focal point for discussion. The transition from larvae to adult is a biological wonder, and acts as an excellent focal point for discussion. It brings together different facets of biology, from hormones, to physiological development, behavioural adaptations, through to discussion about life history strategies. \u00a0Paul brought galls into the classroom, and demonstrated that there were larvae living inside.\u00a0The students screamed with excitement<\/strong>\u00a0when they saw the larvae living within the gall. One student described it as a \u2018cute white blob<\/strong>\u2018. Several students asked if they could bring the larvae home (wouldn\u2019t Mom and Dad just LOVE that!).<\/p>\n

\"Kids<\/a><\/p>\n

Kids like bugs. And they like to draw them.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be afraid to say \u201cI don\u2019t know\u201d<\/strong>.\u00a0 In fact, kids find it refreshing to hear that an \u2018expert\u2019 doesn\u2019t know all the answers.\u00a0 Turn it around to illustrate that the world of entomology is so vast that there are a lot of unknowns out there, and many questions still to be answered.<\/p>\n

Have patience<\/strong>. With younger grades, asking kids questions, or having them answer questions, can quickly turn into \u2018stories\u2019 from young, enthusiastic students. For example:<\/p>\n

Q:<\/strong>\u00a0Does anyone know what kind of insect a ladybug is?<\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 [Hand shoots into the air…]<\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>A (from a 6 year old):<\/strong>\u00a0Um, yes, I know a lot about those things.\u00a0 Once, when I was 4, I remember that I saw a beautiful bug flying by my garden \u2013 it was really big and black and I think it was a ladybug and my granddad told me about how ones like that eat trees and kill the trees and that makes me sad because we have a big tree in our front yard that I really like but sometimes my little bratty brother hides behind it and scares me when I am walking by. But I really like all bugs especially ladybug ones that are red but they smell funny sometimes and my mom said they can bite \u2013 will they bite me if I play with them? why do they smell funny? why are there so many spots on them? do their spots get bigger when they grow\u2026.<\/i><\/p>\n

Give kids a chance to tell you these stories, but know that it will take patience\u2026. but heck, if bugs get them talking and excited, that can\u2019t be a bad thing!<\/p>\n

(as an aside, most elementary school teachers will typically coach students so that they will ask\/answer question instead of tell stories)<\/p>\n

Bring a few props<\/strong>: If you can do an event outdoors, try to bring a few sweep nets and vials.\u00a0 We will often bring extra vials from the lab and give students the vials to keep (heck, plastic vials cost very little!). For MONTHS afterwards, parents will often tell us about how their child packed that vial full of insects and carried it around obsessively for weeks. That\u2019s a great way to inspire entomology.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Beetle galleries are easily found in wood, and can be a great prop to bring to an entomology session with school kids.<\/p>\n

If you are doing an indoor talk, make sure to have a lot of photographs of interesting insects, and whenever possible, discuss\/show or use examples from your\u00a0local fauna<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 this will allow kids to connect to things they have seen on the playground or in their own yards \u2013 this connection between the content you are discussing and the insects they are seeing on their own, is very powerful.\u00a0 With a smaller group, you can certainly bring in a few drawers of insects \u2013 if you don\u2019t have any, this becomes a great excuse to make a little synoptic collection of your own to use for educational purposes. Or, ask your local entomology museum, or local naturalist club, about borrowing some specimens.<\/p>\n

Whenever possible, bring a few \u2018real\u2019\u00a0field guides<\/strong>. One of us (CB) ran a\u00a0biodiversity challenge<\/a>\u00a0at an elementary school and managed to convince the school to buy a couple of sets of field guides. The kids LOVE the look and feel of real field guides and will thumb through them with delight. Part of our own\u00a0passion about natural history can be traced back to field guides<\/a>\u00a0in our houses when we were young.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

A\u00a0field guide to insects<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 suitable for all ages!<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t dumb down the material<\/strong>: Too often we think kids need to be talked down to, but nothing is further from the truth. As mentioned above, kids are sponges for information and in our experience they want to hear the details. You will want to avoid jargon, but other than that, provide the details whenever you can. Again, doing a \u2018thematic\u2019 talk with school kids becomes quite important because you just won\u2019t have time to cover anything in-depth if you try to cover too much.<\/p>\n

Finally, and most importantly, be\u00a0passionate and enthusiastic<\/strong>. Kids will feel your positive energy and love of entomology; they will feed off of this, take it home with them; they will start asking more questions, start to dream, and fall further in love with the world around them. Spending a bit of time in a classroom is perhaps one of the most important kinds of outreach activities to do.<\/p>\n

________________<\/p>\n

Cross-posted from:\u00a0http:\/\/arthropodecology.com\/2013\/04\/26\/kids-like-bugs-entomology-outreach-in-elementary-schools-part-2\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week, Chris Buddle and\u00a0Paul Manning\u00a0posted the first of a two-part series on outreach activities in elementary schools.\u00a0That post focused on the \u2018why\u2019\u00a0– this one (also written by Chris and Paul) is about the \u2018how\u2019. How to talk to kids about bugs: First thing about talking to elementary school kids is\u00a0stay calm and don\u2019t worry! […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[473,493],"tags":[526,711,529,722,723,568,724],"class_list":["post-3670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog-fr","category-outreacheducation-fr","tag-children-fr","tag-chris-buddle-fr","tag-outreach-fr","tag-paul-manning-fr","tag-public-outreach-fr","tag-students-2-fr","tag-teaching-fr"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/esc-sec.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/esc-sec.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/esc-sec.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esc-sec.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esc-sec.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3670"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/esc-sec.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3670\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5607,"href":"https:\/\/esc-sec.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3670\/revisions\/5607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/esc-sec.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esc-sec.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esc-sec.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}