African Insect Workshop – Media Team Report

Category: Biology, International Fortnight, Media Team, News, Students write

These 2 weeks have been very special. There have been many activities happening in these few weeks. Can you guess why?

It’s International Africa Fortnight.

International Africa Fortnight is the acceptance and understanding of the huge achievements Africa has accomplished and learning more about the different regions of Africa spread across 2 weeks (a fortnight.) At AGGS, we warmly welcome and appreciate diversity, so we have included ourselves in many activities.

On Monday the 11thand Tuesday the 12th, all of Year 7 took part in an African Insects Workshop. As the students walked into the Lab, they were greeted by a very nice lady called Rebecca, who brought her little ‘animal friends’ along with her. Across the front bench there were many different African insects, from tarantulas and millipedes to giant snails and crabs!

Here are the animals the students learnt about:

Speckle And Cherry.
The students got to meet and hold Speckle and Cherry, 2 very interesting millipedes. Speckle is a Speckled Leg Millipede. Speckle comes from Ghana, which is in West Africa. Cherry is a Red Spotted Flat Millipede. Cherry comes from Nigeria, which is also in Western Africa!

Shrek And Jigsaw.
The students then got to meet and hold Shrek and Jigsaw, 2 gigantic snails! Shrek is Jigsaw’s mother, and both of them are Giant African Snails. They both come from around Eastern Africa.

Vinny.
Next the students got to meet and hold Vinny! Vinny is a species of Freshwater Crab, who comes from Zimbabwe/Malawi. These are the eastern parts of Northern Africa! The students also held an old exoskeleton of Vinny, and some of his old limbs. They were very fragile and students had to take extra care!

Hissandra.
After that intriguing crab, the students got to meet and hold Hissandra! Hissandra is an African Hissing Cockroach (hence the name Hissandra…) She comes from Madagascar, which is in Southern Africa. Hissandra uses her hissing sound to ward off unwanted predators.

Medusa.
Next, the students got to meet and hold Medusa. Medusa is a stick insect who is also from Africa. The students also took a look at a deceased male version which was inside a block of resin!

Einstein.
Finally, all the students met Einstein, an African Tarantula. Einstein is from Central Africa, and he has very hairy legs. He uses them for defence, and his hair also keeps him very warm in cold climates. Only a few people were allowed to hold him as he gets disturbed very easily. Gloves were worn for extra protection too.

“It was really cool and it was really interesting to see all those animals and learn about them.”~ Suha Al, 7-1

“It was very interesting and the animals looked very different. I didn’t really want to touch them but I enjoyed learning so many facts about the animals. The animals had so many details on their bodies and I really enjoyed the experience.” Aminah A, 7-1

Thank you Science Department for arranging this wonderful experience! Thank you Rebecca for bringing so many little animal friends and teaching us about them. And thank you Mrs Hulme for supervising the whole time!

Special credit to Aminah A and Soumya L in 7-1 for providing the pictures.

Written by Zaynab K, Y7
AGGS MEDIA TEAM