July 12^th, 2003

Spurlock Museum volunteer and former Illinois Natural History Survey staff member Kathy Zeiders led kindergarten and first grade students in the Spurlock's first Discovery Day, Spying on Spiders. Discovery Day replaces the Saturday Safari program and will emphasize the connection between the natural and cultural worlds, and use the Museum's collections and exhibits to explore these ties.

Quicktime Movie Clips
Participants were amazed by the dozens of specimens that showed the range of shapes and sizes of spiders.	Kids found out how unpredictable wind travel can be for spiders by using balloons to simulate their spinnerettes.

To find out how to make your own spider glider, visit the website of the Science Museum of Minnesota.

Spiders eat, live, and move in various ways. The discoverers learned about silk spinning, web weaving, and how spiders sense their prey. They learned that certain spiders "balloon" to get from place to place. They climb a tall piece of grass, raise their spinnerettes into the air, and release a strand of silk that catches the wind, dispersing them into new territory. Spiders appear in stories, arts, and human artifacts around the world. Humans can learn from spiders, too. Research scientists try to replicate spiders’ strong yet pliable silk for use in protective garments and medical procedures.

After making their spider gliders, the day ended with a trip to the Museum’s gallery of American Cultures where children saw an intricately carved Inuit ivory pipe depicting a spider along with other northern animals.

Kathy points out the differences among various species of spiders.