Insect investigation, a project which has occupied the children at the Early Childhood Education Center most of the fall semester, culminated in a Nov. 9 open house of their Insect Museum.
Starting with observing, collecting and sketching insects, the children used reference materials and interviewed a guest expert, biology instructor Greg Oseland, to gather information.
"I was very impressed by the creativity that the students showed and with the variety of things that they learned about insects," Oseland said.
Teacher Sallee Beneke explained that during his visit to the center, Oseland showed the children his collection of mounted insects. Once the children his seen his collection, they decided they wanted to display their collection.
Later in the week, Oseland sent them special pins to use for mounting insects. Five-year-old Mia Gumuski measured the Styrofoam for the base and her twin brother Joseph organized and mounted the insects.
Where to display the collection was the next problem. Joseph Gumuski suggested the center project area, the other children liked the idea, and the group decided to call this area the Insect Museum.
Once the museum idea emerged, children volunteered for teams to get the museum in order. Dalton Steinz and Lainey Koncor were on the Decoration Team. David Anderson, Tess Dimond, and Emmy Worsley were members of the Ticket Team. Michael Roeing-Donna, Joseph Gumuski and Whitney Phillips worked on the museum sign.
The completed museum displayed children’s sculptures of insects in several types of clay, drawings of insects, insects assembled from three-dimensional materials, reference materials, an insect habitat and a mealworm farm.
Beneke said the teachers added dated webs dictated by the children. The webs, Beneke said, show the dramatic growth in the children’s knowledge and understanding of insects.
Teacher/Director Ellen Bejster said, "I’m amazed at the in-depth learning that went on. I was so surprised at the ending that they could learn so much detail about insects."
When the museum was completed, the children invited Oseland to come back and see how much they had learned.
Beneke said, "The support of experts in the community helps investigation like the Insect Project to succeed. They lend authenticity to project work and provide information and insight that the teachers may not have."
For the open house, family members were invited to tour the museum.
Dalton Steinz, who gave his dad a tour of the museum said, "I showed him around; he liked the dragonfly."
12/10/98