Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Highlights...Bug Camp - 6/27

TODAY DOREEN, A BEE-KEEPER, CAME. WHAT A GREAT BEE-KEEPER!

She taught the children about the different bees in a honeybee hive (queen, drone, and worker bees).
Thepicture below shows a smoker. If you want to relax the bees, you use this smoker.
This is what you use to extract the honey. This hot iron melts off the wax to the cells full of honey. The flavor of honey depends on the flowers the bees have extracted the nectar from.
This is the spinner that pulls the honey from the hive. Mmmmmmm!
The children observe the bees in the observational hive unit. They could hear them whir angrily inside the glass. We tried to figure out why they were angry. It was interesting to see how their body moves when they are angry.
The children wrote and drew in their observational journals the things they learned or thought interesting.
At centers, the children measured out the ingredients needed to make corn-bread. We had the corn-bread with honey for snack today.
At the sensory center today, the children sniffed different smells and tried to identify them. The children have had specific interest in the way that bugs smell, taste, see, hear, and feel.
At the writing center, the children began writing articles for our community bug newspaper (to inform the community about bugs and what to watch for).