Home schoolers get prairie lessons
BRADY TWP — Surrounded by a prairie of goldenrods at the Jennings Environmental Education Center, children wielding magnifying glasses and worksheets carefully studied plants in search of insects.
Roughly 20 home-schooled students, along with family members Thursday learned about insects, bees and monarch butterflies in particular. It is part of a home school educational series at Jennings.
Michelle McKnight, along with her three children, Walter, 8, Elia, 7, and Samantha, 5, scoured the prairie in search of insects.
Her daughter Elia was able to spot one of the first bugs: a grasshopper on a goldenrod plant. She quickly sketched what it looked like on her worksheet before the insect hopped away.
“We're really enjoying it,” said McKnight of Portersville. “We are studying animals in our science curriculum, and we start insects next week so this was perfect.”
Not long after the grasshopper encounter, Elia and Walter spotted a butterfly.
“It was like orange and white with black spots around it,” Walter said.
Since the monarch population is low this season, McKnight told her son that it probably wasn't a monarch he saw, but another insect that mimics the same physical qualities for protection. Monarch butterflies are poisonous to animals when eaten.
All of those items were discussed in the classroom that morning.
“We're learning about the different roles that insects play,” said Miranda Crotsley, a program coordinator at Jennings. “These projects are a great way to learn about science.”
Other activities included eating a snack made up of foods that exist because of pollinators: honey, apples and almonds; digging in the dirt for bugs; guessing what each bug does, and playing hands-on games to show the challenges the monarch butterfly goes through when it migrates.
Most of the children liked digging in the dirt most.
“They like getting their hands dirty,” said Nicole Wilson of Butler, who brought her three daughters, Paige, 14, Rachel, 11 and Alyssa, 7. “They get to see different habitats. And it's close enough that we can come often.”
If they did come across any monarchs, the group planned to tag them, to track their migration patterns. Crotsley said tracking is an important part of biological science, and it's something anyone can participate in, including children.
“Jennings is a great resource for learning activities,” said Margaret Brown, who brought her two grandchildren, Isiah and Callie Etheridge of Beaver Falls. “It's a rare opportunity for kids.”
Later this school year, Jennings will host other programs for home-schooled students, including a bird watching activity.
Jennings is the site of three to four home school field trips each year.
