There were lots of interesting dramas that took the stage from time to time along the way.
My arrangements for a bus for the nine visiting teams did not work out. An intense effort on my part with emails and phone calls over the weekend finally worked out. One team had parents bring their students, another team arrived via the school's driver's education car driven by the teacher (you will have to ask me about that one), another by a bus driven by a coach, and another missed the 9 to 9:30 orientation but met us at the Mississippi Natural Science Museum (more on that later).
A whole host of students rallied early in the morning to get everything laid out in the gymnasium. All the tables and chairs were in place thanks to a facilities request form filled out long ago and thanks to Mr. Harrison, the Assistant Principal in charge of those matters, following through in timely fashion. All registration forms were in, caterpillar and butterfly samples from Dr. Richard Brown at Mississippi State were laid out. My PowerPoint presentation was set up and the big screen from Central Office was in place (thanks to Ms. Mitchell, her Excellency, the principal). Part of the Powerpoint was a video prepared by one of my physics superstars, Melissa. When I previewed early in the morning when she brought it to me I have to admit my eyes got a little misty. Nametags were commandeered by Ms. Robinson, my colleague and chemistry mentor friend. And pictures were taken of each of the fourteen teams (five were from MC) as they entered and throughout the day by Katie, one of my physics students and annual staff person who I recruited. Most all of the people were approved for participating in the project (you will have to ask me about that one, too), and field trip approvals were gained via individual phone conversations (do not ask). Beat sheets and beat sticks, freezer bags and markers, and other collection items were ready to be picked up on the way to the collection site. And the two office angels, Ms. Olander and Ms. Laxer received the lunch while we were collecting to be enjoyed after the field trip (next time I will tell the vendor to bring cups and ice).
On the way to the Mississippi Natural Science Museum I got to visit with each of the teams. This included a team of three fifth graders from Madison Crossing
and my youngest team, three second graders from Madison Station.
These were the three cited in an earlier post that wrote persuasive essays to be selected for the project. I told them they would be famous since I was going to publish their work on my blog. The older students were awed and said they still had not been published. I also got to welcome back four teachers who participated in the project from last year - Ms. Howe, from Velma Jackson, Ms. Jenkins who helped me plan the day from Madison Middle (after being transferred from East Flora Middle that closed), Ms. Stroud from East Flora Elementary and Ms. Green from Northeast Madison Middle. Also I got volunteers for four planning teams for the project - the Public Relations team for dealing with all the paparazzi, the Wikipage team for maintaining the webpage, the Celebration team for planning the end of the year banquet, and the Project team to oversee and to catalog all the individual science projects and to enter all the project's caterpillars and host plants in the data base.
We arrived at the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science on time and Mr. John Davis, whom] I had talked with a few weeks before greeted us at the bus. He had made all the arrangement with the Museum so that we could collect on their site, and, as arranged, he gave a brief opening talk and distributed sample vials for any caterpillars oviposited with wasp or fly eggs.
After all that we got to do what we came for - collect caterpillars. I must say I was overwhelmed by the enthusiasm. You know you have seriously pricked the scientific curiosity of students when they move with determination and searching eyes through the woods in spite of high Mississippi humidity and heat and the state "bird," the mosquito trying to bite at every juncture. Hannah collected the coolest caterpillar
A Southern Puss keyed out (identified) with the help of Mr. Hackman, an MC colleague and friend, and Mr. Davis pouring through the field guides.
But at the end of the two-hour collection time, all teams had caterpillars and their host plants sealed in freezer bags and marked with their group number and date. We had fourteen teams of three students from seven different schools in our district that participated in the project. The teams collected 87 caterpillars with host plants. Each team took their caterpillars and host plants back to their individual classrooms to rear out to moths and butterflies.
It was a very good day for science.
Go to http://www.micproject.wikispaces.com/ for more details.
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