“Look everybody! It’s a luna moth!” Rowan’s enthusiasm for any insect on the planet always keeps us on our toes, but today’s discovery has everyone jumping for joy.

When May rolls around, we are often blessed with the arrival of a luna moth on our classroom’s backdoor screen. Upon landing, the luna moth clings to the screen, affording us hours of enjoyment as we get a close-up look at this lovely winged creature.

Luna moths are nocturnal. Like many moths, they are attracted to light, which is why they are often found on screen doors beneath porch lights. Luna moths are easy to identify by their white bodies, long pinkish legs and large, translucent lime-green wings.

Our back door gets a lot of use, so whenever I find a luna moth clinging to the screen, I joke that there are much more peaceful places for this winged creature to stop and rest awhile. But I am always thankful that Mother Nature has blessed us with this learning opportunity.

Today’s luna moth discovery has set our curriculum in motion, with Rowan as our guide. “See those big, beautiful eyespots and that long tail?” she asks. “Those eyespots will trick predators into believing the moth is bigger than it really is.”

When Rowan asks if we can measure the luna moth’s wingspan, we carefully measure the width of its wings. Four-and-a-half inches—almost five!

“Will it bite me?” asks four-year-old Parker.

“No,” laughs Rowan. “It doesn’t have teeth. It doesn’t even have a mouth! This luna moth will only live for seven days. It doesn’t drink or eat. It is only alive to make new baby moths.”

This is pure preschool science—and the children love it! The rest of our day will be spent discussing luna caterpillars as Rowan continues to educate us. At nap time, we will bring out photos of other luna moths, as well as books. Our favorite book at the moment—Beauty the Luna by Julia Welch and Jymann Merritt—is a beautifully illustrated story about the life cycle of the luna moth.

In the coming weeks, we’ll be on the lookout for the luna moth’s eggs: tiny white ovals attached to leaves with a sticky brown adhesive coating.

     
  We’ll also be keeping an eye out for luna moth caterpillars (below).

Rowan’s love of insects is likely due to the influence of her mother, an associate professor of biology who studies insects. Lucky us! We have our own entomologist just a text message away!

Rowan’s mother observes our luna moth over the course of the week and alerts us when the moth is nearing the end of its life cycle. She gently removes the moth from the screen door and guides our young learners through a close-up investigation of the moth’s anatomy.

We count legs, antennae and eyespots. We observe the luna’s markings and compare them to different shapes we’ve learned about. Each child has a chance to hold or touch the luna moth before Rowan’s mother encourages the moth to fly to a more peaceful haven for its final hours.

Last September, we received an email that a graduate of our program (second from right in the photo above) had found a luna moth caterpillar and created a habitat for it with a repurposed Ikea clothes hamper.

As the luna moth caterpillar munched on a meal of walnut, hickory and birch leaves, this junior entomologist told her family that, when threatened by a predator, the caterpillar would rear up on its hind legs and make a clicking sound before puking out a bad-tasting liquid. (We often find that the grossest facts are the most likely to be retained by little brains.)

Within days, the caterpillar had spun a cocoon inside the hamper. Leaves and small branches are often woven into luna moth cocoons to camouflage the cocoon and protect the vulnerable larvae as they metamorphose into moths.

This particular luna moth caterpillar spun its cocoon on the underside of the tag in the hamper below!

Then the waiting began. Caterpillars who cocoon early in the season generally emerge as moths after three weeks, but many weeks passed without a metamorphosis. The hamper was put away for the winter and the family assumed that their luna caterpillar had died.

When spring arrived, the family pulled the outdoor play items out of storage and returned them to the yard (including the hamper—cocoon and all).

On May 20, a full eight months after the caterpillar had spun its cocoon, a luna moth emerged! What happened? It turns out that, if the caterpillar spins itself up in a silken cocoon in late autumn, it “overwinters” and does not emerge until spring.

Opportunities like these may crawl or fly into your classroom on any given day. This is one of the great joys of early childhood education. When STEM opportunities arise, put your planned curriculum on hold and take advantage of the rich learning environments that are literally right outside your door. Incorporate math into the learning experience as you introduce concepts such as size, shape, probability and data collection. Tap into technology for a wee bit of research. Kids LOVE facts that they can retain and share with others. Meet your early learning standards for science when you add topics such as weather, seasons, earth science and life science.

Sightings of luna moths signify new beginnings. But there is a bittersweet symbolism in the arrival of these magical creatures in May, just as our oldest students are about to leave us and move on to kindergarten in the fall.

Nonetheless, the arrival of a luna moth brings endless opportunities for STEM investigation and exploration. Keep your eyes peeled for this magical creature during the month of May, and let the learning begin!

In order to seize the “teachable moment” we need to be prepared.  If a child runs up to you with an earthworm she has dug up and she wants to measure it, it’s never going to happen if you have to go back inside the building to find a tape measure or ruler.  Although we can’t be prepared for every hypothetical math opportunity, we can maximize our chances by creating this math kit, and adding to it, as needed.

First, find a small to medium-sized backpack.  It doesn’t have to be pretty or new.  Pull one out of the old lost and found bin and use that. Label it in some way, so it is clear that it goes outside with the group and that it is for math (and science) opportunities.

Now, fill it with supplies.  This is a short list of the items I would choose, but if you have additional ideas, please put them in the comments section.

2 small tape measure

2 small rulers (or full-sized rulers)

a small bucket balance

several small, lined notebooks

pencils 

a camera (if you dot have a spare that can be left in the bag, be sure to bring a phone with a camera, or the classroom camera.)

markers

 

small thermometer (This is an analog thermometer.  You may want a digital one.)

 

 

 

 

small field guide to birds (I like this edition.  It is designed for young bird watchers and costs $4.95)

and a small field guide to insects and spiders

Here are some ideas of how to use the Math Kit with the children.

Before bringing it outside, introduce the kit to the children during group time.  Take out each of the items and let the children explore them by passing them around the group.  Allow them to ask questions.  Once you gather the supplies back together, explain that the bag will be accompanying the group outside and the children can use them whenever they want.  You can then go through each item, one by one, and provide concrete examples for how they might be used.  Ask the children for their ideas as they will probably think of things that you never even considered.

I would imagine that depending on where you live, there are ample opportunities to look for birds and bugs in the great outdoors.  Even if you have a small outdoor space, there are probably places to dig and explore.  You probably have a few children who Howard Gardner would categorize as having a Naturalistic Intelligence.  People who are nature smart, have a strong affinity for the outdoors and are very interested in human and animal behaviors.  These children may know where to find bugs even when you don’t.  You can support these observations by using the field guide books to help in identifying the species and the names.  Encourage the children to draw pictures of what they find, take pictures of the bugs or birds, and then help the children think of ways to document their experiences.  Keeping records of their discoveries is a great way to encourage early math skills. Have the children keep count of how many they have found using tally marks, and then how many of each species.  That way they need to think of sets and subsets.  They can sort their categories by attributes (brown birds, red birds, small birds, big birds).  This will also encourage them to categorize their discoveries as they look for similarities and differences.

Use the outdoor thermometer to chart the temperature.  Begin using the thermometer simply.  Have the children look at the gauge and show them how to read the temperature.  Older children will have an easier time with this.  For younger children, you can use permanent markers to show where the “hot,” “warm,” “cool,” and “cold” ranges are.  That way, if they can’t yet read the thermometer, they can tell the range of the temperature.  Keep a daily record of the temperature in one to the little notebooks.

Use the tape measures and the rulers to measure all sorts of outdoor stuff.  Encourage the children to use these tools whenever an opportunity arises.  You may have to remind them that you have these tools in the math backpack and suggest some measurement ideas from time to time.  It might be fun to bring out a longer tape measure and try to measure things like how high the children swing, or how far they can jump. Make accurate records of these measurements in the notebooks and help the children compare the numbers.  Who jumped the furthest?  Who swung the highest?

What other ideas do you have for your Outdoor Math Kit?  Send them along!  See you on the playground.

This month, we are going to explore manipulatives that have versions developed specifically for infants and toddlers.  The materials used to create the products are usually different (softer or easier to clean) than the version for older children with no small parts that could create a choking hazard. Thought is given to small and large motor development and durability, so they can withstand the level of use and abuse from smaller people.

As a wrap up to last month’s look at insects and bugs, this sorting toy is specifically created for very young children.  The insects are soft and light and have a variety of materials inside that make crinkly or squeaky noises when handled.

The set also comes with big, beautiful flowers that come in pairs of matching colors.  When the pails are filled, they can be carried around by the large handle.  Children won’t get hurt if a bug is thrown or the pail is hurled across the table.  Nothing will break if it falls off the table.  The children won’t choke on the insects or the flowers.  If they end up in a few mouths – no problem, it can all get thrown into the washing machine.  You can see how the entire production of this manipulative considers all the areas of development of infants and toddlers.

See how it differs from the sorting set below?  They have the same purpose – to support early math skills – but have very different qualities.

For young children, there is the Elizabeth Morse Genius Children’s Garden where children can roam freely through the exhibit.  There is a huge seed for climbing and a slide for coming back down.  While climbing about, there are larger-than-life insects for children to explore, plants with unusual characteristics, and a variety of beautiful flowers all around.

In addition to all of this wonderfulness, there is a permanent area for crawlers so you can bring your mixed-ages without a worry.

But….my absolute favorite thing about the Garfield Park Observatory is that is a really warm and inviting place all year long.  It is the perfect place to take your children in the middle of the winter when it feels like the cold will never leave your bones.  You enter this wonderland and are warmed from the inside out.

Teaching children to be gentle and safe with all living creatures is an important goal, one that I think can be reinforced by creating an activity like this one.  Taking care of those who are smaller than us is a life lesson that starts early.  If you do choose to place bugs on children’s wrists, be sure to encourage the children to play gently with their bugs.  Explain that they are fragile creatures and the goal is to release them back into the great outdoors after they have the opportunity to observe them.

Some bugs fly (butterflies, ladybugs, bumblebees), some bugs crawl (spiders, beetles), some bugs hop (grasshoppers, cicadas), and some bugs slither (worms, caterpillars).  Using these attributes, children can sort themselves into groups who move the same way. Using your giant bucket of bugs, have the children close their eyes and pick one out.  They can then decide if their bug hops, crawls, slithers or flies.

At group time you can introduce the song about Sammie. It goes like this.

This is a story about Sammie.

His father sent him out to buy bread.

But Sammie didn’t feel like walking,

he wished he could fly instead.

“If I was a  butterfly (pick a bug that flies), I would fly to the store, fly to the store, fly to the store.

If I were a butterfly, I would fly to the store to buy bread.”

 

This is a story about Sammie.

His father sent him out to buy bread.

But Sammie didn’t feel like walking,

he wished he could crawl instead.

“If I was an ant (pick a bug that crawls) I would crawl to the store, crawl to the store, crawl to the store.

If I was an ant I would crawl to the store to buy bread.”

You continue this until all of the bugs have had their turn.  Sammie is an absolute favorite and a great way to get the kids moving.  Remember to discuss how the bugs are the same and how they are different.

This got me thinking about how confusing it is for young teachers to plan an activity and to really pinpoint what the goals are and what learning is taking place.  Her thinking was that the children would be exploring “ants” as a part of their study about insects.  So I asked her, “What will they learn about ants?” and she looked at me rather confused and said, “But it is called Ants on a Log.”

A food experience can nearly always involve math.  There is measuring, filling, emptying, separating, and combining. When preparing Ants on a Log, children can choose how many ants they want to place on their log. They can eat some of their ants and then add some more, and they can saw their own logs into shorter pieces and add lots of cream cheese.  It is also a food experience that allows children to do nearly all of the preparation, with little to no need for adult help.

It is NOT a study of insects.

It is fun.

It is NOT a science activity.

It is a math activity.

It might be a health activity, depending on the focus of the conversation surrounding it.

Here is a really nice video of a young teacher working with her group as they make their own Ants on a Log.

https://vimeo.com/59275152/settings/privacy

So, why write about stickers?  Stickers are a wonderful and inexpensive way for children to participate in activities, as a viable option to drawing or writing.

If you were at the dollar store and came across a rack of stickers, I would buy them up, especially if they were thematically organized.  Imagine having a wonderful set of insect stickers such as these.

Your children can graph their favorites, play a matching game, (create this game using 3 X 5 notecards and 2 sets of the stickers), describe their attributes, identify their parts, look for patterns, etc.  The list goes on and on and can be replicated with any good set of stickers.

Using stickers to enhance your study of Bugs is a cheap and cheerful child favorite.

As always, introduce the new materials in large group and then allow the children to play with these before you ask them to do anything specific with them.  Let them discover for themselves ways to use the bugs the way they want to, and give them plenty of time to do so.

After a couple of days, you can introduce one other tool that children can explore with the bugs.  Perhaps an egg carton with a pair of large tweezers so the children can pick up the bugs as scientists do, and then place one bug in one egg space.  The next day, introduce a magnifying glass for closer examination of the bugs.

If you find that your children are enjoying these manipulatives sit with them and turn it into a game.  Take the egg carton and place bugs randomly on one side.  Ask the children if they can find the matching bugs and have them put them on the other side.  Then switch it up. Have the children put the bugs in first and you can do the matching part. Even very young children can try this and find success.

There are other collections of really beautiful, more realistic bugs that are made for classrooms.  These can get very expensive.  I saw some many years ago at the Chicago Botanic Gardens that were magnificent but cost about $100 for a set of 10-15.  For our purposes, these will do just fine.

If you find creepy crawlies unbearable, you may have to fake it for the sake of the kids. The children will watch your reactions to see how they are supposed to feel about unfamiliar experiences or things.  You have all seen children running and screaming from a couple of buzzing bees.  They learned this from somewhere.  It is an unnecessary overreaction to bees.  For the most part, bees will not hurt you (unless there is an allergy- – which is a whole other  situation).

The children in your program will love studying bugs.  There are so many mathematical concepts in the world of bugs.  All insects have 3 body parts, 2 antennae, and 6 legs.  This alone is a good starting place.

On Mondays, I am going to introduce you to all sorts of cool bug manipulatives, on Tuesdays we are going to explore counting and how we can use insects as a place to work on early counting skills.  On Wednesdays, we will explore a few websites with fun bug games or teacher materials to supplement your bug exploration.  On Thursdays, we will look at ways to develop an integrated curriculum study on insects, and on Fridays, we will talk about good parent newsletters as a means of communicating about the thematic insect unit.