The Brood X cicadas that have swarmed parts of the United States in recent weeks emerge every 17 years, which scientists believe could be a survival tactic that helps them avoid matching their predators’ life cycles.
For science teachers around the country who live and work in the regions where the periodical cicadas have come out this year, the timing is perfect: After a year of virtual lessons, flagging student engagement, and ongoing stress, a real-life science lesson has crawled out of the ground—and started singing.
For Nancy Murtaugh, a fourth grade math and science teacher at Fairfield North Elementary in Ohio, the cicada unit was a “golden moment” at the end of a long school year.
“Everything just came together and I felt like, this is our class, we’re back,” she said.
“They were engaged in learning, they were 100% in. And that’s when you make the brain connections,” Murtaugh said. “If you’re not actively involved in something, and you don’t care about…
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Source : fastcompany.com
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