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Can you tell them what it feels like?
A "hands-on" experience with a cockroach might not sound like all that much fun to you,
but to a second grader, there's no better way to spend an afternoon.
Because I love insects and cockroaches.
The University of Minnesota's Bell Museum is bringing cockroaches,
along with a host of other insects, invertebrates and small animals,
to Apple Valley's Cedar Park Elementary School.
Our mission is to educate the public of Minnesota about the natural world.
It's called the BUZ room.
That's short for Building Understanding Zone.
Inside this BUZ room in Apple Valley, Bell Museum Education Curator Kevin Williams says he
and others from the U of M will spend the next couple months,
helping the students design their own experiments with the animals.
For years, students have been coming here, to the Bell Museum, for field trips.
The BUZ room is the same idea as a field trip, but instead of the students coming
to the museum, the museum goes to the students, where they can experience it every day.
And Cedar Park teachers are thrilled to have the Bell in their classrooms.
You know, we've really tapped into the resources that the Bell has been able to provide,
because they're really the experts in this field.
And so as educators, it was fun to partner with them,
put our ideas together with their expertise.
Jamie Holtz says her students are more interested and engaged
when they can touch and feel their science lesson.
And Williams says that engagement with animals also teaches the students important lessons
about respect.
If we can get kids to interact with animals in a respectful and responsible way at an early age,
then that will carry on then to how they interact with other students.
Who knew a hands-on experience with a cockroach could be such a good thing?
It's super fun and I wish I could just be here all the time.
For the University of Minnesota, I'm Justin Ware.