Ch ch ch changes!

3-28-12  6pm

All day, we've had our eyes on a little caterpillar that had hung itself in a "J."  Yesterday afternoon, it was busy with silk, stitching itself to the roof of an observation jar. 

3-29-12  10:44am

Today, it was a "J."  Its body got darker and it began to do some hanging abdominal crunches.

Just after school, I peeked in to find that its antennae had gone limp.  And while I was puzzling about how to carefully remove the lid to get a photo to show the children, the transformation from larva to pupa began!  In all my years of playing host to caterpillars, I've only managed to catch this stage one other time, and it is weird, weird, weird!







Really, who doesn't get the urge to crack off your head, unzip your skin, and then shimmy around until it peels off and drops to the floor?

3-29-12  3:56pm

3-29-12  3:57pm

3-29-12  3:58pm

3-29-12  3:59pm

3-29-12  3:59pm

3-29-12  3:59pm

3-29-12  4:09pm

A day of transformations!

There's a Book for That!
My Monarch Journal

It's a Boy!

9:55am

When a Monarch chrysalis turns dark and then transparent, the butterfly is about to emerge.  I know this, and yet I had never seen the actual moment of emergence . . .








until today!

10:16am

10:17am

10:17am

10:18am

10:18 am

10:21 am

1:59 pm

It's a boy!

There's a Book for That!
My Monarch Journal

Make a Blubber Glove

It's 9:30 at night, and I'm loading a 3-pound tub of Crisco, a 10-pound bag of ice, and a box of heavy duty Ziploc bags into my grocery cart. 

It's . . . Blubber Time! 












After a fun indoor predator/prey game, we had a wonderful discussion about animal adaptations.  Our conversation lead to penguins and then to blubber, and my mind turned to the Blubber Glove!

Scoop Crisco into a quart-size Ziploc bag.
(I chose vegetable fat and heavy duty freezer bags so that I can save the assembled gloves and re-use them another year.) 

Turn a second quart-size Ziploc inside-out, and insert it into the Crisco-filled bag.  Be sure the blue side of the second bag is facing the pink (or yellow) side of the first bag.

Wipe Crisco from the zipper area.



 





Zip the inside and outside bags together, and carefully press the Crisco to spread it evenly around the glove.

 Now you have an insulating Blubber Glove to protect your hand in icy water!

Fold packing tape over the top edges to seal in the Crisco (and keep out ice water).

Of course, if you've got a Blubber Glove, you also need a Control Glove.  Turn another bag inside-out and insert it into an empty bag.  Zip the tops together and seal with packing tape.

Ta-da!
It's Blubber Time!

'Possums in my purse

Our lovely new teaching assistant (also a friend, former HMNS educator, and current Houston Arboretum volunteer/employee) sidled over to me this morning and whispered, "There's something interesting in my purse.  I don't know if it's too exciting for the children or not." 

Oh, boy.  I was intrigued!  "What is it?" I asked. 

"There are 'possums in my purse."  Yep folks, baby opossums came to school today in Mrs. Z's purse.  It turns out they had met with a dog-disaster in her backyard last night, and she was able to rescue two of the babies (with plans to take them to a wildlife rehabilitation center where they could be properly cared for).  Virginia opossums are the only marsupials in North America.  They also have prehensile tails, allowing them to hang from trees.  These little guys are probably about six weeks old (based on this website) and should still be in their mama's pouch.