Students get bugged at local school
By Melissa Muntz Community Reporter

Northborough - A thirdgrade teacher can create all of the exoskeleton diagrams, creepy-crawly spelling lists, and "count the spots on the ladybug" math activities you can imagine while teaching students about the wonderful world of insects, but few, if any, are going to go outside and catch a praying mantis to really drive the lesson home.

This is why the students at Lincoln Street Elementary School in Northborough are lucky to have Parent Enrichment Coordinator Christine Thomas, who makes sure that the students have access to many diff erent and special activities throughout the year.

"Bugworks" allow students to stare down the nose of an insect, looking straight into its bulging eyes and feel the green scaly skin of a creature that they would usually run full speed in the other direction from.

The one-hour, hands-on class experience uses insects as the central focus to cover a variety of topics in biology, including ecology, evolution, taxonomy, life cycles and metamorphosis, anatomy, feeding strategies, locomotion, habitats, and anti-predator defenses.

Bugworks instructor Maire Anne Diamond gives third-graders Sumati Rangaraj and Nick Casapulla a very close-up look at a praying mantis during a presentation at Lincoln Street School April 16. PHOTO/MELISSA MUNTZ

"The kids love seeing the live animals and insects, which helps them to learn more about them and re-emphasize what they've already learned," Thomas said.

When choosing programs to bring into the school, Thomas said she looks for things that will provide the students with experiences they will always remember, and that they may not ever have again.

"The teachers are fantastic,"

" Thomas said, "but they aren't going to bring in live bugs for the kids to touch so you have to ask, 'When will they have this opportunity again?'"

Thomas is responsible for coordinating three or four programs for each grade level throughout the year. Aside from just looking at programs that tie in to the class's curriculum, Thomas said she also looks for activities that can cross over into the kids' realworld experiences as well.

"We are doing Bugworks now, for example, because it's spring, so the kids are going to be outside and be seeing insects," she said. "This program gives them information before that starts to happen so they know what to look for."

Other programs that Thomas has coordinated for the kids include bringing in musicians, storytellers, authors and a traveling planetarium.

Thomas said she gets input from the teachers about what types of new programs the students might want to see and makes sure to bring back programs that have been particularly popular among students in the past.

More than anything, Thomas said, she tries to pick programs that will really provide a fun and often needed break in the standard classroom education process while contributing to the students' overall understanding about a particular subject area.

"The kids are very curious when you come in and give them more information about a topic they've already learned quite a bit about," Thomas said. "It helps keep the kids' attention and makes the lesson plans more interesting when you have someone from the outside come in with visual aids."