A few summers ago we were chasing crickets in West Virginia. I was back home for a visit and the pet frogs were hungry. My mother started to water her flowers and crickets were running from the flood. It was a good evening for the frogs. After they had eaten their fill, we still had about two dozen crickets and I thought, as teachers often do, "Hey, we could study crickets!" After a little surfing on the net, there was even back up information on how to raise the little critters.

So we loaded up the crickets and brought them home and made a special abode for them. They chirped and lived out their little cricket lives and left many eggs for the next generation. The kids loved to watch them and they were delighted with their music.

This makes a great science project, but I will warn you... It takes time. The crickets were in their special environment and soon laying eggs in August. The eggs started hatching right before Thanksgiving. As of the first week in February, there are still crickets hatching out. Not that Lanky, our legless lizard, minds, but this project is well into it's sixth month. So, it's an interesting project and there is a good deal to learn. Check out the links on the right for extra information.

Have fun!

~Ms. Coleen