Caterpillars, Mealworms, and Ants – Oh My!

The study is crawling with critters since the heroes created three habitats this week. There are four ant farms, four mealworm habitats, and fifty Painted Lady caterpillars awaiting a new home when the time is right. It is exciting to see the ants working together to build tunnels, mealworms awake and feeding on food, and caterpillars beginning to spin webbing within their cup. Each group has elected a daily caretaker for the ants and mealworms, and everyone has started journaling their daily observations. You will get to see these journals and habitats at the upcoming exhibition!

Caterpillars, Mealworms, and Ants – OH MY!

See if you can find all three habitats in this picture.

Today we were blessed to have another real-world expert visit the studio. Wendy Overbeek, the overseer of the Butterfly and Caterpillar Exhibit at Frederik Meijer Gardens (FMG), shared a wealth of information with the heroes. She discussed how caterpillars from all over the world get shipped to FMG, how they are cared for, and how she knows by weight and feel when a chrysalis is or is not healthy and well. She also brought up the reason why it is important to “turn” as we exit so no non-native species enter our habitat. The heroes made a connection to one of our previous discussions about the devastation stink bugs have had on our crops.

During civilization, the heroes were divided up into groups to discover more about Nicolas Copernicus, Isaac Newton, Galileo Galilei, and Johannes Kepler. They had a discussion about Galileo’s choice to obey the church and state the earth was the center of the universe? Many heroes felt he was genius for this incredible paradigm shift. This brought up another discussion that left some heroes believing paradigm shifts are more important scientific method while others debated the other way around. Which one do you believe is more important?

Have You Asked Your Hero:

1. What habitats they created this week?
2. About our circle prayer we did on Tuesday?
3. How many heroes were in the studio today?
4. About the song, Love and Faithfulness?
5. What they are creating for their Passion Project?