Praying Mantis

Yesterday one of the students found a praying mantis on the playground and we scooped it up to study inside.  Today we read information about praying mantids (as they are also called).  We discovered that praying mantids are predators of butterflies, moths, aphids, and other insects.  We also learned that birds, bats and other praying mantids will eat a praying mantis.  The kids discovered that a praying mantis has jointed legs to help it bend, and then we looked at some of the joints on our own bodies.
After the kids drew what they had just learned we went outside to search for some insects to feed our praying mantis.  It was a fun learning experience dictated by the interests of the kids, my favorite kind of teaching.