Bicycle Science

Taking advantage of the beautiful weather while out cycling last week, we had some amazing nature discoveries. While stopping for a rest, my dd looked beside her to discover brand new baby spiderlings that had just hatched. We stayed and watched them for a little while then carried on further up the trail only to later discover a very busy red ant hill. This was very entertaining to watch as we carefully observed what looked like the remains of a dragon fly being carefully worked over by ants who were carrying bits into the hill.

What I found particualry interesting was how much the girls remembered about these little insects and arachnids. Even though it had been a while since we had officially studied these little creatures, interesting facts about them were recalled and shared as I was educated by them. A quick glance to the right of the ant hill led our eyes to a variety of spit bugs which spiked curiosity in my youngest dd (who loves all things scientific). What’s inside the “spittle”? The insect or the eggs? This gave us something to further investigate when at home. (By the way, the answer is the insect) Did you know that the highest jumping insect is, in fact, the spit bug? I thought it was the flea.

So there you go, recreational bike ride turned into a discovery of nature, which lead to a discussion in life science. It doesn’t get much better than that.

“We are all meant to be naturalists, each to his own degree, and it is inexcusable to live in a world full of marvels of plant and animal life and to care for none of these things.” -Charlotte Mason