Buggin' at school

Well, after an extremely long day yesterday, I've almost made it through today.

So, there was some exciting news around the school today. It looks like two of our former students made some news. Yup, first thing I was told today was "check out page 2B, two of our former students made the paper."

Now on to the actual topic I wanted to discuss today.

I believe that all aspiring science teachers (especially those in small schools) should take an entomology class. Because I'm the only science teacher in my school, everyone (staff and students) think I'm an expert when it comes to any science or technology topic. I have teachers and students walk into my room and ask me questions ranging from, "What is a carbohydrate, and how can you tell them apart?", to "Will a hurricane ever hit us here?", to "I was driving to work today, and saw this really bright star in the sky. Do you know what star it was?"

But probably the most common (and my least favorite) question is: "Do you know what bug this is?" But here's the problem, I have never taken an entomology class before. Usually, the best I can do is go, "Yup, that's an arthropod, looks like a spider. Pretty ugly one too." Teachers frequently bring in critters found in their classroom. Elementary, Junior High, and High School students frequently bring in "bugs" from home or found outside. Even people in the community stop by (usually with Black Widow spider) and offer it to me.

So, people ask me what critter they have found, and I do my best, but usually I ask them to come back later. In the mean time (between teaching my classes, getting ready for school activities, and prepping for upcoming classes and labs) I look in books and online for any little bit of help I can get. Most of the time, the interested individual comes back and collects their critter, still not knowing what exactly it is. I will give them my best guess (and I tell them I'm just taking a good guess), but that does little for them.

Well, at the beginning of the week, a sophomore brought in a critter (picture above is just an example of what was brought in), and I thought, "Oh boy, here goes, another damn bug that I won't be able to identify." The sophomore dropped off the bug. (I was pretty certain it was a bug, because it had a noticeable exoskeleton, head, thorax, and abdomen). I did have some trouble with the specimen because the sophomore found it dead, missing several appendages (including its antennae, and three legs.)

After a bit of hunting around the internet, guess what, I was able to at least make a good guess. The sophomore brought in a Jerusalem Cricket. I had never seen this type of bug before, and most web sites agree that I never should have as they are normally found in the southwest, and along the pacific coast. Well, I wasn't 100% certain until a 7th grader looked on my desk and proclaimed, "Hey, is that a Jerusalem Cricket. I haven't seen one since my dad found one, and took it to this guy at the college and asked him what it was."

So, now I'm just feeling good that I've identified 1 critter in the 5 years I've taught here.

So here's my advice to all you aspiring elementary and science teachers. Study entomology. It will make life much easier, or at least watch plenty of Buggin' w/ Ruud. ( Man, that guy is crazy. He gets just a little bit too excited when he sees a bug. And what sane person lets themselves be stung by Killer Bees.)

Below are two more pictures of a typical Jerusalem Cricket, courtesy of Bugguide.net.