One of our favorite things about the A+ Award is meeting students from across Ohio who are excited about learning about the world around them. Mrs. Thomas’ third grade class at Westerly Elementary School, in Bay Village, has that excitement. This week's NewsDepth A+ Award goes to this group of third graders for all of their hard work learning about the life cycle of mealworms, and teaching us all about them!
“It was really cool learning about the stages in their life cycle,” Soren told us. “They start as an egg, then turn to a larvae, pupa, and then a beetle,” he continued. Several of Soren’s classmates told us they were surprised that the mealworms turned into beetles. Because they’re great scientists, they made predictions about what the mealworms would turn into when they matured. Some of the predictions were giant ants, butterflies, moths, and big worms.
They also taught us a lot about how to care for a mealworm. Norah told us that it’s important that the mealworms have fluids so they’re not thirsty and Clara told us that they like to eat potatoes, dried oats and carrots. Thanks for the tips!
Not only did we learn how to care for mealworms, but we also learned from Carter and Heidi that mealworms have six legs, their body has segments, and they can be brown or black. Rachel taught us that they can be in their pupa stage for 2 weeks or 2 years! Isn’t that amazing? Mallory added that they can also eat dog food and birdseed.
Mrs. Thomas’ class cared about their mealworms so much that some of the students, like Charlie and Mallory, built a playhouse for them so they wouldn’t be bored! Michael even ordered 50 mealworms for home so he could teach his family about the creepy crawlies.
When we spoke with the class, they did a great job of “talking like scientists” and using great vocabulary like habitat, pupa, and lifecycle.
This week’s A+ Award goes to Mrs. Thomas’ class for doing some top notch science learning and teaching us all about Hot Sauce, Ketchup, Bob and all the other mealworms. We’d also like to send a shout out to the staff at Westerly for earning a national Blue Ribbon award for all of their hard work!
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