We rolled into Urbana last night, and got an early start this morning, pulling the bus into the Leal Elementary school driveway. We had about 10 clases of 20 students each on the bus today, split into two halves. Ric led discussions about the (cellular) meaning of life with half the class while I showed them the differences between bacterial and animal cells inside the bus. It was a beautiful warm sunny day and we ran off the solar-panels all day long.
We got a pile of letters from the students which was really nice – here is one of them:
Dear Bio-Bus
We are so happy that you came to Leal School to let us learn about bacteria and animal cells. Looking into the microscope was the best part. Seeing the bacteria was like watching little worms squirm around. The cheek cell looked like a smooshed and crumbled candy wrapper or a piece of sand.
Sincerely,
David
P.S.
How do cells make completely different cells?
We will work on answering all the great questions that came up over the next few days!
Tomorrow is another day of students, ranging from kindergarten to 5th grade. I expect hat Ric and I will have a great time tomorrow too, in spite of the rain we’re expecting.