Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Squish Inspires Science Exploration!

Through the wonder that is NetGalley, I was able to read an ARC of Squish: The Power of the Parasite.  Squish, ever the superhero, is battling his way through problems.  As I laughed my way through this rather unique graphic novel, it occurred to me that my students would likely LOVE the opportunity to see microscopic organisms.  I tracked down a great site Nikon MicroscopyU that has some wonderful microscopy video of a wide variety of organisms that live in ponds.

Cool Amoeba Video
I set up a laptop at a table and the kids have been having a blast watching amoebas, parameciums, nematodes and many other fun critters zipping around.  Kids love to see them zooming or oozing around.




I couldn't get any real pond water and super powerful microscopes, but I contacted a fourth grade teacher that is doing a unit with microscopes.  She had extras!! She loaned me three small microscopes & I put salt, glitter, and poppy seeds in well slides.

With some nature items and a few magnifying glasses, now we had a really cool place to hang out and explore stuff.  I added some non-fiction and it was ready to go.  Thanks to inspiration from Matt and Jenni Holm, we have a great new spot in the library.








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