Evans, a teacher at Wake Forest Charter Academy (WFCA), welcomed parent Mary Christie into her classroom for the second year in a row to share the wonders of microscopic life. Christie, an instructor of biology at Vance Granville Community College, introduced the middle schoolers to the microscopic world of pond water.
It wasn’t long before one student exclaimed “Oh my gosh! That’s a water mite!”
Christie’s own children attend WFCA, so she reached out when she saw the class was studying single cell organisms. She brought in some prepared slides for them to look at, then offered up a new experience: a bucket of pond water.
Wake Forest students look through the microscopes at pond water samples.
“They were able to put the pond water on slides themselves, which was really cool for them,” Evans said. “Once they realized what they could see, they were trying to get the good stuff at the bottom of the bucket to put on the slide. It was like an explosion of light bulbs going off!”
The students watched as the water mite raced back and forth on the slide, which was captivating for some and gross for others.
“I was freaked out immediately, I was terrified,” Evans said with a laugh. “The mite was zooming around the water and the kids were stoked. They got to look at all the lovely little things and saw some things that we never even discussed during the water curriculum. They sketched it all out and wrote down what they saw in their books.”
What thrilled Evans the most was the excitement the students showed for wanting to learn more. Many approached her, asking if they could open their laptop computers to help identify the many things they saw through the microscopes.
Students prepare slides with drops of pond water.
“So now they're wanting to do their own research, and they were Googling and they're looking for things, and asking me if I knew this or that fact. That was priceless for me because they were really taking control of their own learning in that moment.”Her hope is that moment will stick with them for a lifetime.
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About Wake Forest Charter Academy
Wake Forest Charter Academy is a tuition-free, public charter school in Wake Forest, North Carolina, serving students in kindergarten through eighth grade. It is part of the National Heritage Academies (NHA®) network, which includes more than 100 tuition-free, public charter schools serving more than 65,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade across nine states. For more information, visit nhaschools.com.
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