The Return of the Cicada

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Have you ever imagined what it would be like to be an animal that hibernates or an insect that goes DORMANT for an extended period of time? The most common animal that comes to mind when we think of HIBERNATION (the condition or period of an animal or plant spending the winter in a dormant state) might be a bear. More specifically, the average GRIZZLY BEAR will hibernate for five to seven months during the winter. This may sound like a long time, but not compared to the BROOD X CICADAS of 2021. Five to seven months is a short STINT (a fixed or allotted period of work) compared to Brood X Cicada’s seventeen years of living underground. Their return will be quite the COMEBACK.

Group Spell: DORMANT GRIZZLY BEAR COMEBACK
Today’s lesson is about Brood X __________. CICADAS
Bears go into _________. HIBERNATION
Hibernation occurs during what season ________. WINTER
Tell me the length of time I mentioned in the above passage. MONTHS, YEARS, FIVE TO SEVEN MONTHS, FIVE MONTHS, SEVEN MONTHS, SEVENTEEN YEARS
If you had a choice, would you hibernate for a period of months or a period of years? What is the group consensus?
Everyone, pretend you are getting out of bed in the morning. Stretch your arms as high as they will go.
Give me a synonym for stint. STRETCH, SPELL, PERIOD
If the 17-year cicadas are here in 2021, what is the next year in which they will emerge? 17 + 2021 = 2038 YEARS
If you had the option to hibernate, where would you go, and what would you take with you?

If you live in the MID-ATLANTIC region of the United States, you might need to prepare yourself. These INSECTS are just waiting for the soil to reach the OPTIMAL temperature of 64 degrees until they arrive to crash our above-ground party or make it more interesting, depending on how you feel about these large, flying bugs. It is estimated that BILLIONS- you heard that right- billions of these insects will EMERGE and fill rural forests and more developed urban areas like neighborhoods alike.

Group spell: OPTIMAL EMERGE INSECTS
What area in the United States should be prepared for the arrival of the Brood X cicadas? MID-ATLANTIC REGION
Tell me one area I mentioned that these cicadas fill. FORESTS, NEIGHBORHOODS, MID-ATLANTIC REGION
Rapid fire: What is the preference for the majority of this group- RURAL or URBAN?
Split the group into two teams to discuss a few good aspects of each: rural & urban.
Rub your hands together quickly to create heat, and notice the change in temperature.
What is another way of saying crash your party?
What is something that crashes the party when we are learning as a group?
What kind of party would you like to crash?

Have you ever heard of the BIBLICAL (relating to or contained in the Bible) LOCUSTS? They are often what people compare to the Brood X cicadas, which are among the geographically largest of the cicadas that make their DEBUT (a first appearance or performance in a particular capacity or role) every 17 years. If you are familiar with the biblical locust, you may know that they were not anyone’s favorite as they would CONSUME fields of crops precious to farmers and communities. Thankfully, Brood X cicadas are not here to eat our food supply and are RELATIVELY harmless to humans.

Group Spell: LOCUSTS RELATIVELY
A first appearance or performance in a particular capacity or role is called a ____________. DEBUT
Rapid fire: Categories! Tell me a kind of crop starting with the letter “C,” and keep going around the group until we run out.
If we had three fields of crops with 4 of the same different crops in each field, how many different crops would we have? FOUR
Rapid fire: Was the previous question a trick question?
What is something you previously thought was scary but is actually harmless?
What is something that people may think is harmless but is actually scary? Split the group into two and discuss.

Brood X cicadas typically stay around six weeks before going dormant again. Although they are only here for a short amount of time, they make their PRESENCE known. Their sheer numbers are enough to get them noticed EN MASSE (in a group, altogether), and their beady red eyes are quite the striking feature. Perhaps their most infamous quality is the high volume of their mating calls. These insects provide a CHORUS of buzz to alert the area of their arrival. At times it can be as loud as 80 to 100 decibels which compares to the volume of a lawn mower. The male cicadas, especially, are the ones making the big fuss in hopes of finding a female cicada to mate with. Their MELODIC presentations are ENTICING, and once the mating occurs, the female cicadas are prepared to lay over one hundred eggs.

Group spell: PRESENCE CHORUS EN MASSE
Masses of cicadas can create a noise loud enough to be compared to a _________. LAWNMOWER
Tell me one-way cicadas are identified. SHEER NUMBERS, VOLUME, RED BEADY EYES
How great is the range of decimals in the noise created by the cicadas? 100 – 80 = 20 DECIMALS
If each person in this group represented a range of 20 decimals, how loud would we be?
Birthday parties that do not want guests to bring gifts will often request your PRESENCE, not your what? PRESENTS.
When people say this, what are they communicating about what they value?
Rapid fire: Do you prefer presents or presences?
Watch this video on Youtube to see and hear the 17-year cicadas. Title: “What the 17-year cicada sounds like INDIVIDUALLY and as a Group”
How do you like to make your presence known?
What would someone close to you say you are famous (or infamous) for?

The CYCLE continues when the eggs hatch and out pop young cicadas called NYMPHS. These tiny beings, no bigger than a screw in your glasses, have a big job to do. They find their way down to the ground and burrow themselves into the soil to spend the next 17 years and prepare for the next EMERGENCE. While the NYMPHS set out for a SUBTERRANEAN life until 2038, the adults who parented them will eventually die and leave behind their outer shells. After their six weeks of activity, they litter the lawn with reminders of their short but productive time above ground.

Group spell: SUBTERRANEAN CYCLES
_________ is the term for a young cicada. NYMPH
Name one part of a nymph’s job. FIND THEIR WAY TO THE GROUND, BURROW INTO THE SOIL, AND PREPARE FOR THE NEXT EMERGENCE
In the year 2031, how many years will the Brood X cicadas have been underground? 2031 – 2021 = 10 YEARS
What does subterranean mean? EXISTING UNDER THE EARTH’S SURFACE
What is an antonym for subterranean? ABOVE GROUND, SURFACE LEVEL
Name another living creature that is small but mighty. BEE, SCORPION, ANT
What part of the cycle are you in? Options: A PLANTED SEED, A GROWING GRUB, AN EMERGED BEING, SOMETHING ELSE

Collaborative Writing:
Where do you see the state of the Spelliverse in 17 years?

Resources:
https://earthsky.org/earth/17-year-cicadas-broodx-2021
https://yellowstonebearworld.com/how-long-do-bears-hibernate#:~:text=Black%20bears%20can%20hibernate%20for,between%20five%20to%20seven%20months
https://www.google.com/search?q=hibernation&oq=hibernation&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i67j0i433j0i67l3j46j69i60.2795j1j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8