“Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.” – Dorothea Lange
A few days, while at recess, my students ran up to me to tell me that they saw a random bug. I went over to check out, and it was brown mantis. I have never seen a mantis this color before. I snapped some photos, and when I got home last night, I decided that I could make this photo a teachable moment. Right now, we are learning about ecosystems and the role different organisms play in them. I showed this photo from the school’s playground the next day, and talk about the mantis’ role in an ecosystem.
Since I had never seen a brown mantis before, I decided to research a little more about him. The brown mantis in this area is known as the Carolina Mantis. He lives primarily in the Carolina’s. He is smaller than the green Praying Mantis, and eats other bugs in his area.
Below is a video a made for my teacher friends at the end of last school year. It’s work checking out.
Through Griffin's Lens 