OUTREACH PROGRAMS "Bugs-On-Wheels"

Programs for Students and Groups

Workshops for Educators

Mobile Minibeast Museum and Tabletop Zoo

Visit the Minibeast Zooseum and Education Center

* Live in Michigan, or planning a trip to the Lansing area?

 Why not stop in and visit our

Minibeast Zooseum and Education Center.

 Click here for more information.

INSECT, SPIDER, AND MINIBEAST PROGRAMS

Bugs-On-Wheels provide groups with a chance to learn how tiny invertebrate animals such as insects, spiders, scorpions, millipedes, centipedes, crustaceans, and other arthropods actually run our world!  All Bugs-On-Wheels programs feature live native and exotic minibeasts such as insects, spiders, scorpions, or millipedes (depending on the topic), bizarre and beautiful specimens from around the world, and other scientific artifacts. The unique props and visual materials, exciting activities, enthusiastic presentation, and interactive nature of the program will enhance your group's minibeast studies and involve them in an experience they will talk about for a long time to come. Bugs-On-Wheels programs are as entertaining as they are educational! We have worked with kids of all ages, as well as adults -- a combined audience of more than 131,680 people in the past 15 years! Our sessions are tailored to meet the educational and developmental level of your group and we take great pride in our success with young students (ages 4 to 9).

WORKSHOPS AND TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR EDUCATORS

Our inservice workshops and training programs were developed to provide educators with basic knowledge about insects, spiders, or other minibeasts and the critical role they play in the environment. Learn the facts from an entomologist through a lively presentation, demonstration and visual materials, hands-on activities, and live arthropods. The workshops promote the use of insects as science education tools and show how they can be integrated into many of the essential goals and objectives for science education, as well as other curriculum areas. You'll have a chance to practice some exciting and innovative methods for teaching young people about insects, arachnids, and myriapods. You'll quickly discover that studies of the minibeast world lend themselves very well to self-exploration and practical, direct observation. This hands-on suitability will appeal favorably to young people of all ages.

All workshop participants will gain practical experience with selecting and implementing simple, effective, and exciting ways of integrating arthropod studies into their curriculum or other educational program. Participants will actually have an opportunity to try for themselves a variety of activities and projects. Many of the highlighted activities are process-oriented, hands-on, and involve use of problem-solving skills. As an added bonus participants will have a chance to network with other educators, and to share ideas and information.

As part of the workshop, each participant will receive a collection of handouts and a certificate of completion. Also, an informative handbook is available for each workshop topic, and can be supplied to each participant for an additional charge, if desired. Workshops also generally include an on-site "resource fair", featuring materials from the Y.E.S. Minibeast Merchandise Mall.

Workshops are structured to fit a half-day, one day, or two day format and can be held at your location or ours (click here to see Zooseum calendar of events)

MOBILE MUSEUM AND TABLETOP MINIBEAST ZOO

Our traveling minibeast zoo was designed to provide people of all ages with an opportunity to see live insects, spiders, and other minibeasts, and to help them appreciate and better understand these fascinating and important invertebrate animals. As a potential host institution for the Minibeast Zoo you could become an important partner in this educational outreach effort. Our live minibeasts (tropical cockroaches, exotic beetles, tarantulas, giant whipscorpions, scorpions, giant African millipedes, land crabs, and more) have proven themselves as great crowd pleasers, and are popular with both children and adults. The minibeast zoo is perfect for use at zoological parks, nature centers, science museums, natural history museums, shopping malls, garden centers, pet shows, county fairs, schools, and community festivals.  If you run a Bug Day, Insect Fair, or similar educational event, we have a mobile display of live insects and other arthropods (insects, arachnids, millipedes, crustaceans, worms, and more), insect and spider artifacts, and educational materials that will give your participants some really "buggy" sights to remember!