July 19, 2007

The Bug Days

The past two days I would consider the "Bug Days." Our insect and bug exhibit was a big hit with the day camps around us. Yesterday we went to Wilson Park Recreation Center to present the critters. We interacted with the children to teach them about worms, giant millipedes, tarantulas, and the Madagascar hissing cockroaches. They were educated on the habitats needed, the amount of body segments each has, and how to handle them properly. Many of them were hesitant to touch and hold the insects, but they soon warmed up to the bug and even wanted to name them. The most surprising thing to us was their amount of knowledge before we even gave our talk. They understood that insects had an exoskeleton and even body segments such as the thorax.

Today was very similar to yesterday, but with many more kids to show our petting zoo to. There were children from the UIC Day Camp and there were about 120 of them. I love the interest that they have in what we had to say and show. Though many were frightened they were still curious about the critters, which made our experience so much more worth it.

Posted by Ron Wolford at 8:10 PM |