The wasp container is on the back counter and during the day the kids report to me that two wasps have emerged. The last class of the day is my garden class elective. We couldn't go outside Monday because the fires, in the east and the west, have adversely affected the air quality. So the kids do homework, work on puzzles, or help me with recycling the bottles and cans that had been turned in to me that day. A student, Christian, who is in my homeroom in the morning and also in the gardening class, has been keeping an eye on the wasp nest all day. He's asked me earlier about the wiggling larvae inside the uncovered chambers. They have a black dot in the middle and look like an odd, small eye as they move. I told him that I thought they wouldn't become adult wasps because I thought that they needed adult wasps to build the white covering over the top of the chamber. But Christian called me over to share his observation. We watched as the larvae built its own covering to the chamber, starting on the outside edge of the chamber and working around and around towards the center to build its little dome. By the end of the 5o minute period the opening was completely covered.
One of the other students watching this asked if I knew that the nest was paper. Sure, I knew. And I was glad he did, too. I have a container filled with old wasp nests and I pulled one out so we could look at it. There is a microscope right there on the back counter and Christian wondered if we could look at the white material under it. Of course! He carefully pulled some off the top of the old nest and put it on a slide and then a slide cover over it. It was great. The edges were frayed and you could see its fiber structure. The day before I had shown my science classes an old National Geographic video called "The Invisible World", explaining and showing the inventions that has allowed humans to see beyond the limits of our unaided eyes. One of the views we had was of intertwined white strands. As the camera pulled out I asked the students what they thought it was. No one guessed and they were all surprised when the final shot revealed someone writing on a piece of paper. Paper, paper wasps, and a handy microscope. I love all of the connections being made by a curious student.
When I opened a drawer beneath the counter, looking for the slide for Christian, the students near me could see my insect collection, in a variety of small containers. One of the students, Jordan, was delighted to see them. He said he does that, too. And his parents say he's crazy. "What do you want to do with all those dead insects?" he said his mother asks. I told him that if he's crazy I must be, too. We were both pleased with out common interest.
Tuesday morning cars left outside had a thin veil of ash and soot from the fires. So the gardening class had to stay inside again. Again the students found various activities to occupy their time. They're a good group of kids. If we have to stay in Wednesday I will bring out seed packets that I have and we'll take a look at how to read them; when to plant, how deep to put the seeds in, how far apart, what thinning means, and so on. But during the indoor time today Jordan took the opportunity to tell me that he has a wasp nest at home and would like to take it down. I told him the procedure that I use, but asked first if he had talked to his mother about it. He said he'd told her about the nest at school and she was fine with him asking me about this. I really like this young man. He's interested, polite, friendly, bright. And I have a picture now of his home life. His parents may call him crazy for having an insect collection but they allow, maybe even encourage, this interest. This has got to be one of the reasons he's such a fine person.
I was thinking about retiring last year as the school district was offering an incentive package to encourage teachers who have worked 15 years or more to retire. It would help the district in this time of economic woes. I decided not to, for a variety of reasons. And Tuesday I experienced two of those reasons. One, because when I teach I also learn. After all these years of collecting wasp nests I learned how the larvae chamber is covered. And two, it can be a real delight to get to know young people.
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