Totally Buggin' Out!

Elementary School Program Takes On a New Theme

For the past month, small groups of TWS members have been going out to elementary schools to teach kids about various aspects of wildlife. Usually, old stations from Kids' Go Wild or 4-H Youth Field Day are brought in. However, on November 9th something a little different was done. The 5th graders at Houserville Elementary were lucky enough to have four members come out and introduce them to the world of macroinvertebrates and stream ecology. Buckets of stream water were brought in, and the students had the chance to sift through the water to see what was collected. They used dichotomous keys to key about species, and had to determine the quality of the stream based off of the macroinvertrebrates found in the water. They have been learning a little about stream ecology in their classes, but on this day, everything they have been learning about was brought to life! The students were thrilled (and a little nervous) of all the little creepy-crawlies as they scurried about the containers. The program was a complete success, and one of the highlights was Sara Mueller coming to teach the class in full on stream gear! It was definitely a lot of fun seeing how excited the students were leaning about all these new creatures, and just as fun for the members as well.

 Interested in learning more about, or volunteering with our Elementary School Programs? Contact our Community Service chair Bethany Thomas at blt5084@psu.edu with any questions that you may have.