Catching a Centipede

It's so interesting to see what emerges from the children's interests and imaginations! At arrival time the children found a centipede crawling around on the floor. A few were scared, but the majority of the children were interested in the creature. We found a large clear viewing jar and invited the children to try and catch the centipede so we could observe it at our science table. The children waited and waited but the centipede did not reemerge.

Wanting to capitalize on their interest, we headed down to the library to find some books that showed pictures of centipedes and provided some interesting information. We spent time looking through them and putting sticky notes on pages we thought had important information.

Discussing the books together.

They are looking for the centipede near the original sighting place. Notice the spy gear from the spy headquarters! It was interesting to see how the children became detectives, looking for clues as to where the centipede might be. 

Looking everywhere for that tricky centipede!

Some of the children were interested in creating a trap to catch the centipede. Miss Rahman helped them out!

We turned our sand center into a garden, complete with lots of plastic insects to play with.

The trap is almost ready...

One of the children decided to pretend that he caught the centipede by placing the plastic one from the sand center into the original viewing jar. Many of the children played along and were satisfied that their spy work had paid off!

Others still wanted to make their traps.  We read in one of our books that centipedes like to chase worms down their worm holes. We placed a 'worm' in the trap in order to attract the centipede. We also thought they might like leaves, so we put those in there as well.

Just before leaving we placed the trap on the floor near the original centipede sighting. The children are hoping to return to school on Monday and find their centipede! We can't wait to see what shows up in the trap!

2.5 interact cooperatively with others in classroom events and activities (e.g., offer and accept help in group situations, engage in small- and large-group games and activities, participate in democratic decision making)

2.1 demonstrate an interest in reading (e.g., expect to find meaning in pictures and text; choose to look at reading materials; respond to texts read by an EL–K team member; reread familiar text; confidently make attempts at reading)

2.6 use prior knowledge to make connections (e.g., to new experiences, to other books, to events in the world) to help them understand a diverse range of materials read by and with the EL–K team

2.10 retell information from non-fiction materials that have been read by and with the EL–K team in a variety of contexts (e.g., read-alouds, shared reading experiences), using pictures and/or props

2.1 select and use materials to carry out their own explorations

4.2 state problems and pose questions as part of the design process

4.4 select and use tools, equipment, and materials to construct things using the design process