Dead Beetle Sketch

Dead Beetle: Atelier Discussion: 12^th July 2012

Anna (3yrs 6 mths); Leo (3yrs 10 mths); Jem (4yrs 0 mths); Evie R. (4yrs 1mth); Esther (4yrs 4 mths); Lewis (3yrs 4 mths); Thomas (4yrs 5mths)

The Thursday Forest School group were leaving for the woodland and noticed a dead stag beetle on the stairs leading to the minibus. Leo and Jem believed this was a cockroach that had escaped from the Atelier (we have Madagascan Giant Hissing Cockroaches in our Atelier). On their return from Forest School, Leo came into the Atelier and told Angela he saw one of the cockroaches that escaped. He looked in to the cockroach tank to see if it had returned.  Leo saw some of the cockroaches sleeping and asked, “Are they dead?”

“There’s one that’s dead that is a baby one. It’s so small and dead but it’s not bone yet” Anna

“Where’s it gone?” Leo

“It’s gone somewhere different.” Anna

“Goes somewhere else.” Jem

“Maybe someone carries it away?” Anna

“If we give the cockroach over there which is dead some water then it might come back again” Evie R. (Referring to the dead stag beetle in a petri dish in the display case)

“When you die you never come back and you will cry because you will never never never never never never never never never never never see your mummy.” Esther

We get the tools to experiment with water and the dead stag beetle which had been in the display case.

“It will take 13 drops!” Evie R.

We count together.

“It won’t come back to life.” Jem

“When the cockroaches are dead, we can put water on them and it moves them back to life.” Esther

“He might float, won’t he?” Jem

“He won’t float or fly, he’ll go up in the sky.” Esther

“It is hard, why is he hard?” Anna

“Because we put water on it, he’s gone all coldy and shrivelled up” Evie R.

“He’s moving! He’s moving!” The children shout as the water pours in and the beetle spins around.

“No, he’s floating!” Jem

“He’s walking!” Evie R.

“He’s not alive…” Lewis (getting upset)

“When he’s alive he might be a cockroach” Evie R.

“He’s got dead legs” Evie L.

“He’s not going to fly ever again” Anna frowns and looks down at the table

“He’s going to get really big and fat with all that water” Anna

“We should leave it and wait” Evie R.

“How long is it going to take?” Jem

Thomas joins the group “Is it the beetle that we saw when we went to Forest School?  Is he dead because he doesn’t like the rain?” Thomas

The beetle is now in a jar in water on the shelf in the Atelier. We will be checking regularly for any changes...