Visit from the Butterfly Pavilion

This afternoon, the children were treated to one of the highlights of our summer arthropod unit, a visit from the Butterfly Pavilion. The Butterfly Pavilion has the distinction of being the nation's first stand alone non-profit invertebrate zoo. It features more than 1,600 free flying butterflies, more than thirty five species of arthropods, and a tide pool showcasing other invertebrates.
For our classroom, Dorothy, a volunteer with the Butterfly Pavilion's acclaimed Outreach Program, presented their Summer Bug Safari program to the children. Spirits were high all morning in anticipation of the impending visit. When it was time to gather as a group to view the insects, the children sat with rapt attention as Dorothy reviewed the basic characteristics of all arthropods, explained the difference between carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores, and explained the terms habitat, decomposer, and scavenger. Then, she showed the children some amazing examples of preserved exoskeletons.
The presentation began with a visit from a reticent hermit crab,
followed by the largest centipede I have ever seen.

Then, the children were treated to a visit from a gregarious millipede with forty legs,

and several Madagascar hissing cockroaches. The children were allowed to touch the cockroaches, to feel their hard exo-skeletons and hear the unique hissing sound they produce by forcing air through their spiracles.

While our study of arthropods concentrated heavily upon insects and their important role as pollinators, the predictable highlight of the presentation is always the arachnids. The children were treated to an up-close view of a Black Widow Spider and a scorpion- the latter was met with stifled gasps and a refrain of "I've never seen a real scorpion before," (to which our amused and gracious guest guest responded "How lucky that I brought one then").

Finally, it was time for the appearance of Rosie, the Chilean Rose Tarantula (or one of her numerous doppelgangers), the star of the show.

Ask any child who has been to the Butterfly Pavilion before for the highlight of their trip, and you are likely to get one answer: holding Rosie the tarantula. Unfortunately, when the Butterfly Pavilion came to the school last year, Rosie was in the process of molting and feeling too temperamental to be safely fondled by a classroom of preschoolers; this year, we were in luck- Rosie was amenable. Dorothy gave the children some quick instructions as to how to safely hold Rosie and tried to alleviate any fears the children might have had.

Then, to the great surprise of our guest, every child in the classroom willingly invited Rosie to crawl across their little palms and give them an arachnid "high five" with her furry little legs.

At the end of the presentation, our thoughtful guest took a few moments to ask me about the school and inquire into Dr. Montessori's theories about behavior and guidance. "The children were so well behaved," she remarked (to my visible delight). "Dr. Montessori believed strongly in the importance of instructing children in grace and courtesy," I explained proudly. We spent a few moments discussing how little attention is often given to these skills, despite the fact that most research shows that impulse control, the ability to delay gratification, and teaching children pro-social behaviors are among the most important skills we teach them, and the very foundation of future academic success.

For my part, I couldn't help but think, the presentation embodied the ideals of a Montessori education: our job is to present the world to children in a way which will arouse their interest, curiosity, and admiration.

We would like to sincerely thank Dorothy, our kind and knowledgeable guest, and the Butterfly Pavilion for bringing this amazing program to our school. For more information about the Butterfly Pavilion, please visit their website at: http://www.butteflies.org/.

Taxonomy and the Animal Kingdom: Mollusks- Part Two

"There is in the child a special kind of sensitivity which leads him to absorb everything about him, and it is this work of observing and absorbing that alone enables him to adapt himself to life. He does it in virtue of an unconscious power that only exists in childhood."

-Maria Montessori

The past few weeks, the science shelves have been stocked with lessons focusing on mollusks. The children have busied themselves with using puzzles to learn the parts of a snail/gastropod,

making labeled pencil and watercolour drawings of gastropods,




raising a dozen small freshwater pond snails (which began as a cluster of gelatinous eggs attached to the leaves of an elodea plant).

reading about mollusks,


and looking at some mounted specimens of mollusks.




The children were very interested in the classroom shell collection, in particular. Many of them were happily surprised to learn that the Harold Feinstein print which hangs in the classroom is a photograph of a nautilus shell (many of them previously referred to it as "the roly poly"- they automatically assimilated the image into conceptual schemes that were based upon more limited experiences).

Over the past few weeks, children have been bringing shells (conchs, abalone, limpets, etc) to me and asking questions about the invertebrates that lived in them; I kept responding that the animals were very similar to a snail (having a muscular foot, tentacles, a radula, and eye stalks). Unfortunately, I knew that the answer was a little unfulfilling, given that we seem to have reared the most inactive pond snails I have ever seen (they seldom came out of their shells at all, even with the enticement of food).


So, over Labor Day weekend, we set up a small saltwater aquarium in the classroom. My obliging husband built a small platform for the tank so that it would be the perfect height for the children (so they could easily see the entire tank and so they could sit on their knees for extended viewing). So far, it is stocked with a large Turbo Snail, four Turban Snails, and a Spider Conch. It also contain a few non-mollusk companions (a Mandarin fish, a Midas Blenny fish, a Chocolate Chip Starfish, a Red Tipped Hermit Crab, and a Striped Cleaner Shrimp). After the aquarium has become established, we hope to add a few more interesting creatures for the children to observe.

Needless to say, the aquarium is very interesting to the children. At practically all times of day, one or more children can be seen crowded around, carefully observing the activity in the tank. I have been tremendously impressed with the quality and exactitude of some of their observations (one four year old boy remarked that the cleaner shrimp liked to stay in the cave and asked whether it might be more active at night, when it was dark- a quick flick of the light switch in the tank and he was able to both test his hypothesis and get a hands on demonstration of the term "nocturnal"). I am very excited about this new addition to our classroom (and happy to have found more interesting snails!).

Taxonomy and the Animal Kingdom: Mollusks- Part One

"All art is autobiographical; the pearl is the oyster's autobiography."

-Federico Fellini

Being landlocked, many of our students have rather limited experience with mollusks. Mollusks are one of the most diverse animal phyla (in terms of both size and anatomical structure). They are second only to arthropods in numbers of living species. The term mollusks dates back to Aristotle's description of "the soft things;" they are generally characterized as having a soft, slimy body, a muscular foot (which secretes mucous to aid in movement), and a mantle, with a significant cavity used for breathing and excretion. Many mollusks also have shells which consist of chitin hardened with calcium carbonate that the mollusk has removed from their environment. The vast majority of mollusks are marine organisms, although there are freshwater and terrestrial mollusks as well.

Most mollusks (nearly 80%) are gastropods (slugs, and snails), although cephaloapods (octopus, cuttlefish, nautilus, and squid), and bivalves (oysters, clams, scallops, and mussels) are also common.

We began our unit on mollusks with a concrete experience with some familiar specimens; the children went out to the garden after a recent rainstorm and found some slugs happily feasting in the mulch pile. Although banal, slugs are one of the best examples of mollusks for children to interact with; the children can safely hold them, the animated slugs willingly crawl across their hands, and the children are able to see the basic structures of a mollusk (the foot, tentacles, and eyes) very clearly due to the absence of a shell.

Then the children began rearing some pond snails to learn more about the lifecycle of mollusks. Our pond snails began as a gelatinous cluster of eggs loosely attached to elodea leaves. Young snails hatch from the eggs; the juvenile snails already have shells which continue to grow over the course of their lives.


Finally, the children were treated to a hands on experience with some living specimens of oysters, clams, mussels, and squid. The children gathered in small groups to feel and observe the creatures as we discussed their general characteristics and anatomy.




After these experiences with living organisms, the children were ready to begin working with some independent lessons. Many children were very interested in exploring pearls and some beautiful specimens of mollusk shells (including a nautilus shell, several beautiful conchs, a volute, and a lionspaw scallop). They used some classroom resources (including The Shell Book
by Barbara Hirsch Lember, a lovely out of print guidebook of North American shells written for children that consists of beautiful still life photographs) to learn more about the shells and the mollusks that made them.

Many of the children also enjoyed matching sea shells to their names and two dimensional ink drawings of them. The older children were also able to classify the shells into gastropods, bivalves, and scaphopoda based upon their characteristics.

The children also enjoyed matching three part cards featuring mollusks

and reading books describing mollusks, their general characteristics, and their lifecycle (there are more children's fiction and non-fiction books about mollusks than you might imagine!).

Although I admit to being envious of Montessori communities that can go on an outing to the shore and explore a tide pool, there is no doubt in my mind that even those amongst us that have never even set foot on a beach share some fascination with these interesting creatures and an appreciation for their beautiful creations. What a pleasure to watch these young children in the process of discovering the beauty and wonder of the natural world.