We are in the crazy season right now where two broods of cicadas are currently mating and flying around everywhere there is a tree! I’ve even heard hilarious stories of lawn care companies that get dive bombed because of the sounds of their machinery – even a woman in one of my gardening groups talked about being swarmed with cicadas while operating her pressure washer on the side walk!
With this being such an unprecedented time and a nature occurrence that I want my kids to remember, we spent a couple days learning about the cicadas and adding them to our nature journals! Feel free to explore the links and find the interesting information that you want to cover in your nature lesson.
Picture book about cicadas https://archive.org/details/cicada0000hutc/page/6/mode/2up
I really like how it explains how the broods were named. You can log in with a free account and borrow the book for an hour to read to your kids!
2004 News Report video where the 2021 emergence is mentioned
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkAUYRLLllU
I really like this video to learn about the life cycle and stories behind the history and knowledge of cicadas. The specific video is about brood X but it still is a great video to show students!
Hilarious video about the life cycle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SmnXlpWmLg
My kids loved this one and narrated the life cycle on their journal pages after watching the funny video!
GREAT video about the current broods
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y5yTNdVb68
This video is longer (20 minutes) but is put together very well and would be a great video for older students. I also really like the maps she shows for each region and brood that is emerging.
Information on how to be a Citizen Scientist with the cicadas this year
https://www.cnet.com/science/cicada-double-brood-is-coming-and-is-already-buzzing-in-some-regions/
You can download an app to help scientists record information about the cicadas!
Another interesting video about the mystery of how cicadas count time can be found here: https://fb.watch/sgn18s4d1y/
It is so interesting to know how loud they can be – a rock concert is usually around 120-129 decibels. In Tennessee, an audiologist registered the cicadas at 116 decibels! Louder than a power lawn mower that is usually around 90 dB!
If you do spend a lot of time learning about the cicadas this year, your kids might enjoy a little treat for the end of the lesson! (chocolate ice cream, sprinkles, waffle cones, and red M&Ms!)
KIND + CULTIVATED 