All about beetles!
The snow has been falling and Autumn has officially been in the valley for several weeks now. With the outside garden to rest, the inside of Bonni's Garden is starting to see seedlings for cool-season crops. Our lesson plans have been moved inside to take advantage of the warm greenhouse.
This month, Bonni's Garden would like to thank our special guests from the Sawtooth Botanical Gardens for helping us with programming. Kristin and Ilana have been so gracious to share some programming with our after school club twice a week at the Wood River YMCA.
This week Kid's Club has learned all about beetles!
Fun facts about beetles:
there are over 1 million species of beetles
1 in every 4 animals on Earth is a beetle (ex. lion, human, frog, beetle)
beetles have survived since the dinosaur ages
Using a felt board, Ilana went through the anatomy of a beetle with the students.
Ilana demonstrating that beetles use the tiny hairs on their legs to smell
After learning about anatomy and all the different shapes, sizes, and colors of beetles, Kristin and Ilana surprised the students with live Rose Chafer Beetles.
Most of kid's club was VERY excited to see this harmless beetle... but some of the kids were not happy to see the insects at all!
The students learned how to gently pet the beetles' abdomen and describe the outside of the body.
Overall, it was a very fun and engaging lesson about beetles. Many thanks to the ladies from the Sawtooth Botanical Gardens, Kristin and Ilana!