Summer School

 Summer school was in session this past week in southern Snake Valley, with quite a few kids attending. They worked on some school topics, had recess, snack, and then a special presentation each day.

 For one presentation, a student was turned into a spider with eight legs, eight eyes, and special mouthparts called chelicerae, which deliver the digestive juices into the prey so that the spider actually starts eating its meal before it even ingests it.

 Then it was time for the students to take turns being flies. They tried to get through the spider's web without vibrating the strands, which would alert the spider of a nearby meal.

 It was tricky!

 All on their own, the kids located a spider web and spider outside on the school building.

 Then it was on to playground physics, learning about gravity, momentum, and friction. Above, a magazine and a cardboard box are being tested to see which has the least amount of friction. The students repeated the experiments several times (well, enough so they could all go down the slide!) to decide the winner and see if their hypothesis was correct.

 Then it was time for more friction experiments to see which round object would reach the bottom first.

It was hot, but it was a fun day! Thanks to all who helped make summer school a great time!