I am crazy sleepy today. I have no idea why. My throat is scratchy, too, so either I am having weird allergies (entirely possible as I spent the morning outside), or I'm getting sick. And if I'm getting sick, so help me, I'll ... I'll... rest?

So, I spent the morning teaching fourth graders at the waste water treatment plant and marsh. They were a really good class! They asked lots of questions and seemed really excited about everything they saw. Also, I did the dip-netting section again, where the kids look for pond life using little, green, aquarium nets. Last week, even though I told every single group of kids that it was slippery and to be careful, one child (or more!) from every group got mud up to their ankles, or water up to their knees, or some combination of the two. I even said to the fourth and final group, "If none of you falls in, this will be the first group all day that hasn't fallen in the water! Make me proud!" How could they resist that? Well, somehow, they did. Apparently, ten year old boys love mud. Alert the media!

So this week, I made my usual, "It's more slippery than you think. Do NOT fall in!" speech. And lo and behold, not a single one of them fell in that water! Of course, it was windy as all get-out today, and all of us were chilled, so I think the kids knew they'd be freakin' miserable if they did happen to slip into the water. So they stayed dry, and I was thrilled. That is, until I said to the fourth and final group, "Okay, everyone, we're done, come on over!" And in response, a little girl called out, "I dropped my net in the water!"

I just sighed. Then I went over and stuck my whole arm in the pond. I actually picked up the same twig about twenty times until I finally thought to move the damn thing. I fished around with my hand, and with the very large net I brought, but to no avail. Then I was all muddy and wet with nothing to show for it, and I was sad.

Speaking of sad, one boy found the completely intact body of a deceased, adult crayfish. It was so soggy that when I tried to pick it up, it fell apart into three pieces: the head, the body/legs, and the outer shell. I gently rinsed off the mud and brought it back to the main meeting area, where I put it in 2 separate petri dishes. The head still had attached antennae! One of the boys saw it and said with a gleeful smile, "Sick!" His disgusted happiness totally cracked me up, and I didn't even know how to respond!

I was actually completely fascinated! I'm not normally one to handle dead animals, but I actually got to see (and show the kids! I didn't forget to teach!) the entire body structure and how the shell fits OVER the legs. The inner body is so soft and delicate compared to the outer shell. It was really cool!

It was also a little worrisome, because normally the adult crayfish are eaten by otters. They don't just die of old age. We found a few dead snails, a dead slug, and some more crayfish shells, totally intact. All of the water from the waste water plant is treated organically, but if things go down the drain, such as paint thinner, oil, etc, those can't be cleaned. So they go out into the marsh and affect the animals there. The smallest pond life are the most sensitive, and therefore the most indicative of a problem with the water treatment process. So as I looked at the interesting shells of crayfish and snails, and as I carefully laid out the body of the adult crayfish for us to learn from, I also pointed out the importance of thinking twice before sending anything down a drain.

But despite the death and loss of a net, it was still a really cool day! We saw a female mallard with about 5 tiny ducklings trailing behind! They swam really fast across a short pond and disappeared behind some reeds. It suddenly looked as if they'd never been there, and I realized if we hadn't been facing that direction at that moment, we would have totally missed it. It made me wonder about all the other hidden wildlife around us.

We also saw the most beautiful black and white insect. It had six legs (meaning, it was not a spider, as the children had originally exclaimed in high volume), and was splotched with really interesting patterns. I imagined what it'd be like if it were some sort of tiny alien version of a cow. (I know, I'm a freak.) I used one of our bug jars to scoop it off of the mount the kids had been looking at, and let it go in the grass. As I was doing so, one of the chaperones said, "Meghan, can you come to my house?" I laughed. Since I was a child, it's been my duty to scoop up and rescue whatever little creature had made its way into our home. And it is still my job today! Bug Girl, to the rescue!

So, all in all, another educational and fun day at the water treatment plant! I really love it out there!