Bugs...

Let me begin by saying that I don't like bugs....and that is putting it very mildly. Any kind of creepy, crawly, slimey, leggy insect. There are many different kinds and not all are insects...so I lump them together into the category of bugs.

Bugs creep me out. I don't want them near me...and I especially don't want them on me. And I don't particularly like looking at them...far away or up close.

But that is what my task was today. This afternoon I left school early for a mandatory Science Cluster meeting. We were going to be trained on new digital microscopes. Our training involved an up close and personal experience with bugs.

The lessons we looked at today were covering ecosystems...our next unit of study. Ecosystems is a fun unit...bugs are not fun. So first we had to dig through leaf litter and get a lovely Petri dish of dirt and leaves. Then we had to dig through and try to find something that might have some little bug lurking inside. Lovely.

So after about 10 unsuccessful minutes of digging and looking under the microscope I found something promising. I had pulled apart a rotting nut...perfect place for bugs to hide. And I saw something white...could be some kind of egg sack or some kind of grub I thought.

So picture me...trying to pry this thing apart without accidentally touching that white thing that I was pretty sure was a bug. My skin was crawling...I finally employed my pen to help me out. I was rewarded with a little white grub...who turned out to be quite a fast crawler once he was pried from his warm little home.

So then came the looking part. Bugs are gross using normal vision...but put them under a microscope where we can magnify them and it gets worse. This thing had all kinds of hairs sticking off him...or her...or it...and once I finally got it to sit still you could see some major vein or artery pumping through its little white body. Gross...

And yet...it was all strangely fascinating. I kept fooling with the thing to try and see it's face. It was even more gross and creepy but I just had to see it. I guess I am truly meant for science after all. I mean...I hate bugs and here I am diligently working to see this strange little thing up close.

While I can't say my opinion about bugs has changed in the least...I love rediscovering my love for exploration and science. It reminds me of why I teach it and why I work so hard to get my students interested. Science is fascinating...even if I do find parts of it gross.