One day, however, we decided perhaps we should study these little insects for our nature study.
Royal scooped up a specimen for closer inspection and observation.
We then proceeded to read a little about the mosquito and its life cycle in our Handbook of Nature Study.
We also used hand lenses for a more up-close and personal look at these tiny creatures.
Royal's nature journal entry about the mosquito larva:
It is small (about 1cm long) and hairy.
It has a greenish-brown body, a black head. Little hairs stick out the back.
Found in our front yard bird bath.
Egg sac floats on top of water.
Alice's entry:
It has bumps on its body, and hairy spikes.
We found it in our bird bath and we caught one.
It has a black head and it wiggles.
-----------------------------------
After leaving the larva in the vial for a few days, we came back to see it had transformed into a pupa. How cool was that?!?
Thus, another entry into our journals...
Royal's reads:
It is small and shrimp-looking.
It has a hairy tail.
It is about 1cm.
It has a big head with hairs sticking out.
It has a small eye.
It has about 3 hairs on each body section.
It is wiggly like the larva.
It stays at the top of the water a lot.
It breathes out of something called a trumpet.
Alice's reads:
It has a tail.
It is a little wiggly.
In 2 days it's a mosquito.
Yep! That's a mosquito, folks!
A.MAZING.
How neat that you followed and were able to sketch the stages! We've tried doing this with frogs before but our specimens have died before reaching frog stage. ;) I want to try it again! Maybe I will try mosquito also some time!
ReplyDeleteOh, yes, the mosquito was so easy! I wondered if it would survive without any food-source, but figured maybe there was enough sustenance in the pond water to make it last throughout the life cycle.
DeleteWe actually have tadpoles now in a fish tank to watch. It is crazy how they will eat each other! I hope they last for us to see the full transformation...
What a great study! I'll never forget the time when my daughter and I did a little study of mosquito larvae... she (at age 6) was so sure that what we had swimming in our sandbox/lake were fish and was so disappointed when she was finally convinced that they were actually mosquito larvae. That's really neat that you were able to watch it develop into a mosquito, as well as seeing the larva stage.
ReplyDeleteLol, Amber! How cute that your daughter thought those were fish, but really what better way to learn something than by observation, right?
DeleteI, too, am learning so much alongside my kids that I really feel "way behind" on the learning curve, but better late than never I guess!
Thanks for stopping by for a visit :-)
We did a mosquito study last year and the kids still remember it so well. It's such a good one because the mosquito moves through the stages so quickly, so every few days, there is something new to see. They did a great job with their sketches!
ReplyDelete