Bugs Magnified!

This is a picture of a bee's tongue. Today Mrs. Routten's 5th grade class participated in an exciting lesson with a team of entomologists (bug scientists) at the University of Illinois. We had signed up for a project called Bugscope. We collected bugs to send in as specimens and then today we had a session to view these bugs and others with an elctron microscope. The students were able to log in to the interactive site where we could control the electron microscope that zoomed in on insects so the creatures were magnified thousands of times. There was a chat feature enabled and the students could ask questions to the entomologists who were able to respond. For an hour and a half these students were completely engrossed in learning about the various insects. They now know way more than I even knew was possible about a variety of insects. This was all around an amazing experience and I know after I shared it with the other NNPS TCISs that many other schools will be following our lead with this project.