Mealworm Family

Our new mealworm family has sure been teaching us a lot!
The Life Cycle:

-the full life cycle can take up to a year!

Here is their home set up with a bedding of rolled oats, they also eat the whole grains. We started with 500 mealworms purchased from the pet store:

They also eat carrots, lettuce and cucumber (this is where they get all the water they need):

With a magnifying glass, the kids were eager to take a look:

After studying the mealworm family, it was their job to create a dictionary entry:

AM class

PM class

As with most things in life, you learn as you go!

Pets require a lot of responsibility, attention and care. There has been much discussion about this with the kids during their small group mealworm time. Even tiny creatures like these require upkeep! I have shared my adventures in "cleaning of the mealworm home" with the kids. This gets their attention and some are even surprised how much care is required. See book: Everybody Poops (My Body Science Series), by Taro Gomi and Amanda Mayer Stinchecum

Now that we have all three phases:

Mealworm, Pupa, Darkling Beetle:

The kids can really inspect close up the changes that have occurred. A few even pointed out how they can see characteristics of both the mealworm and the Darkling Beetle in the pupa stage.

Next comes a new home for the adult beetles. After they lay eggs in the current home, they need to be removed. This will be in another week or so. 

We will keep you posted!

-Teacher Jen