Reproduction and Harvest

For the last few weeks we have been watching flowers bloom and mature. In the process we have come across many creatures in and above ground, mating, laying eggs, incubating eggs, completing life cycles.

The chickens and ducks that were hatched in the classrooms are now in the chicken coop and (in my laundry room) growing and eating all the delectables insects and grasses the students can bring to them. We've found the chickens really love waterbugs(roaches), grubs(larva of beetles), and worms.

Mrs. Uskovich's class hatched ducks. Some of them didn't hatch. After most hatched she waited a little longer and decided the ones remaining weren't going to make it. This presented an opportunity to explore the interior of a developing duck egg. We opened the eggs and found baby ducks in arrested developement. A few were farther developed than others, but something inside them was wrong and they stopped growing, and died. It was sad to see life ended, but it was also interesting to see developmental stages of the growth inside the egg.

We have been beseiged by potato and cucumber beetles. Both are pests, but attack the plants differently. The potato beetle larva seem to be the most aggressive in eating leaves of potatoes. The adults also eat leaves, but seem to spend most of their time mating and laying eggs. The cucumber beetles eat the leaves and spread diseases. The cucumber beetles are hard to catch as they fly the second you go after them. The potato beetles are easier to catch. They move slowly, preferring to drop to the ground and play dead. Some teachers are taking them into their classroom to observe their behavior there. We are catching more everyday.

We have found crab spiders on coreopsis, and a female with an egg case wrapped in a potato leaf. She really didn't like us prying into the leaf to observe her with our USB camera. She is now residing in a plasic container with her eggs. We hope they hatch soon.
(photos: Barbara Uskovich)