Mae Talks Harvester Ants

Mae has concluded her study of Harvester Ants in ELP. As a final product of her learning, she decided to create an informational poster that highlighted some of the most important facts she learned. While she learned a lot, we saw quickly that it would have been difficult to list all of those new facts. We instead synthesized our learning into the main ideas, as we saw them. Mae also carefully made a scientific drawing of a Harvester Ant, labeling the main body parts.

To share her work, Mae made the following video to share. The picture below the video is of the scientific drawing she made of the Harvester Ant, which is a little difficult to see in the video. Enjoy!

Mae's (impressive) scientific drawing of a Harvester Ant.

Futures Wheels

Our young futurists have been hard at work on their Futures Wheels. A Futures Wheel is a tool used by futurists to explore impacts of possible events. In this case, students are using the future invention they chose earlier as the "event".  They are tasked with first identifying the primary impacts of their invention, should it become a reality. They then let their creative thinking take over and explore tertiary impacts. The initial stage of this was more of a web than a wheel, with the goal of getting the students thinking about all possible scenarios, no matter how ridiculous (and they often were ridiculous!).

I'll post some examples on here soon so you can see how they look. The kids have now moved on to focusing their thinking into 4-6 primary impacts, and a single chain of possible events that could stem from each. Later, they will present their findings to their ELP group accompanied by their recommendations about whether or not the invention should become a reality.

Futures Studies: Aliens Attack!

Our futurists today took a look into the past to enrich our understanding of the future.  We've talked often about the role choices play in our futures.  We have also discussed that many choices are made based on our emotions.  The future can be a daunting concept to ponder, and anxieties can abound.

In 1938, Americans were seized with worries both domestic and global.  At home, The Great Depression, although moving towards its conclusion, still hovered over the collective consciousness.  Abroad, a guy named Hitler was ravaging Europe, seizing land and becoming more threatening.  It was an anxious time.

On October 30, 1938, Orson Welles unleashed his radio hoax, "War of the Worlds," on a vast listening audience.  With tensions already high, the public was quick to mistake the fiction for fact, and were led to believe that hostile lifeforms from the planet Mars had invaded Earth.  Mass hysteria ensued.  Although a bit comical now, we discussed in class how unnerving such a broadcast would have been given the broader context.  We began listening to a recording of the broadcast to truly understand its impact.  I had to remind the kids that 1938 was before TV, and that, aside from newspapers, radio was the public's primary means of staying connected to the larger world.  The new bulletins (and "new bulletins") they heard on the radio were taken very seriously.

We had a lot of fun listening, and look forward to finishing up on Tuesday when we meet again.

We will let this departure into history lead us to a discussion about our own anxieties about the future, and how they compare to those of people decades ago.  There's a wonderful picture book called Aliens Are Coming! that describes for kids the broadcast, as well as the broader historical context.  I highly recommend it as a shared read with your child.

Ants: Week Three

Mae making her Week Three observations.

Our ant colony continues to change, and Mae made some notable observations today.  Mostly, she reports on how filthy the farm has become.  Many ants have also died, though many (7+) are still thriving and working in their habitat.  They continue to move sand around, and are avid eaters when fed.  They also continue to care for their deceased, moving them to the same area they designated in Week Two.

We learned today that Harvester Ants will travel long distances for food in the natural world, sometimes as much as 25 miles.  They return their finds to their colonies and share their food with all.  Also, although our habitat consisted of around 20 ants at first, a normal ant colony will house upwards of 10,000 ants!  We were shocked to learn that.

As we read about Harvester Ants, we learned that they spend much of their time cutting small pieces of grass for use in their nests.  Mae pointed out that such behavior is like what farmers do with corn, and that they call that work a "harvest".  Great connection to enrich our understanding of of the origins of the name!

Futures Studies: Future Inventions Presentations

Kids have shared their future inventions, and did a wonderful job with them.  They focused on three things with their research:

• What it is
• What it does
• How it works

Beyond that, they told us anything else they thought we should know about it, which prompted some good discussion amongst the group.  I used a simple point system to award my "winner" in each group, tallying presentation components that dealt with the above criteria.  I also awarded extra points for creativity, originality, and other unique qualities.  I will tabulate and publish the winning advertisement here soon.  The kids know this was as friendly a competition as we could have, and I have commended all of them on their work.  Although our "winners" will get the stage with their work being published here first, all will be uploaded eventually.  They were that good!

Check back!

Ants: Week Two

Mae's Observations After One Week of the Ant Farm:

• Some ants have died
• The ants made a hill out of sand, and then took it apart
• The ants bury the dead ants
• The ants have made one tunnel
• The ants are always moving and making something

We'll continue to monitor the progress of the farm, noting changes as we go.  We're also going launch a search for information to help us answer questions we've thought of about Harvester Ants (like why all the constant moving?).

More Ants!

Not a great picture, but enough to see what the ants have accomplished in 36 hours.  They never stop!