Day 13 6/14/14 A Day in the Classroom

My Caterpillar  I Set Free

Michelle Examining Our Specimen 

 Today was really relaxing. For a change we were in a classroom setting discussing biodiversity with Toby. It was really nice to have a day to just relax after being on the go. Also I can not believe I am saying this but I missed sitting in a classroom! Prior to class we had to read an article about biodiversity and we had a really heated discussion in class. Us as humans are not trained to think in the long term and while thinking about biodiversity this is something you need to do. We discussed the topics of how many kids a person should have and questioned if it is okay to cause a species to go extinct to build a new business that would create so many jobs and cause the economy to prosper. Honestly I think there should be a limit on the amount of kids a person can have. I come from a family of 8 but I think there is not any reason to have that many kids. People try to use the religious beliefs as an excuse but the bible just says "be fruitful and multiply" and does not give a specific amount of people. After this discussion we examined our specimen under the microscope. I was surprised to see that my caterpillar was still alive after being in the refrigerator for two weeks. It was really hard looking at the caterpillar under the microscope because it kept moving and trying to get out of the dish. After we were done I brought him outside I set Herman (my caterpillar) on a leaf. He seemed so happy. After this we went to lunch and I was so happy because for once they had fruit! I ate strawberries and grapes which are my favorite.

Mirror in the Historical Society

Wall Paper Found in the House

After lunch we walked over to the Historical Society in Troy located on Second Street. I really liked this tour because for once we were allowed to sit instead of standing the whole time. Also when we entered the house that had all the artifacts in it, we were allowed to go into each room and write questions about what we were interested in. I really liked this because most tours will ramble on about stuff we do not care about. Two things that really interested me were the mirrors located in the parlors and the wall paper found in the entrance hallway of the house. The tour guide explained that the mirrors were so big and there were so many because they were really good reflectors of light. I thought this was really creative and to me I just think of a mirror as something so I can see myself in, not a way to increase lighting. The wallpaper located in the hallway was so pretty. I liked the flowers because I am the type of person who loves flowers. The wallpaper represents different countries around the world which I though was really cool.