Homeschool Entomology Lesson

This morning, one of the kids' cousins saw this praying mantis attack and stun this cicada/locust creature. They watched him (or her, as the kids told me it had to be female; maybe they pay more attention to the bug lesson than I do) suck out the inside of said bug. They were totally fascinated by this visual demonstration of the food chain we have been reading about in our science studies.

Kirsten brought this bug-eating creature into MY HOUSE to show me that she was holding it. Of course, my first response was, "Get that out of the house!!" Kirsten, being my child, said to me, "Don't you want to take a picture of it first?" She knows me so well, and of course, I had to get the camera out to document this occasion.

The mantis sat on her hand for quite a while just eating away at this creature. You could watch is disappear a little at a time. I am sure that this lesson will stick with the kids far longer than anything we learn about bugs in our textbooks.