This installment, titled “Six Legs or Eight Legs?” had kids looking at real spiders, cockroaches, butterflies and other creepy-crawlies to learn about the world of arthropods.
Graves taught students about the way insects shed their exoskeletons like a snake sheds its skin, and how a scorpion with tiny pincers probably had strong venom to make up for them. But she mostly gave kids a chance to look at the animals themselves, from seeing how many legs a walking stick has to finding the differences between male and female butterflies.
Some of those hands-on moments had unexpected consequences.
“Aah!” yelled Omar Mendoza, 7, as he peered into a box and found a cockroach the size of his fist. “I thought there was nothing in there!”
Some moments were less scary and more heartwarming, as when Graves pulled out a tarantula named Rosie and gave all the students a chance to pet her furry abdomen. While children shuddered and shook their heads, most went through with it, some even taking a liking to Rosie.
“It was very hairy,” Ruby Garcia said after she touched the spider.
She was more effusive when she told the story to her friends: “I’m freaking out now, but I like that tarantula a lot!”
KIDS TALK BACK
What was your favorite creature from the class?
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“My favorite was a beetle because they have bumps on them.”
Ivanna Zuniga
7, Costa Mesa
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?
?
?
“The spider because he looks cool to me.”
Omar Mendoza
8, Costa Mesa
?
?
?
?
?
“The tarantula because it was hairy.”
Nathan Hayes
7, Costa Mesa
?
?
?
?
?
“The spider because I got to touch him. It was fuzzy. That was nice.”
Michelle Diaz
7, Costa Mesa
?
?
“The spider because it was so soft and because she didn’t bite.”
Ashley Flores
8, Costa Mesa
REPORTER MICHAEL ALEXANDER may be reached at (714) 966-4618 or at michael.alexander@latimes.com.
