Prof. Jayne Yack
The following story was written by Laura Paquet.
Did you know that some caterpillars make sounds? That’s just one of the intriguing facts that students from Dr. Jayne Yack’s Insect Neuroethology and Bioacoustics Lab shared with several very young but very keen audiences in April.
Yack is a renowned butterfly expert who has had research articles published in many prestigious journals.
The presentations were tied into the Mermaid Theatre’s production of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, based on the classic 1969 children’s book by Eric Carle. Because the show was running at Nepean’s Centrepointe Theatre, the theatre contacted biology departments at Carleton and the University of Ottawa to see whether students would be interested in doing caterpillar-themed presentations for kids in the weeks before the show.
Four of Dr. Yack’s students—Melanie Scallion, Amanda Dookie, Chanchal Yadav and András Dobai—rose to the challenge. Using materials created for an earlier event at the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum, along with some new items they developed, the four gave presentations to two groups of kindergarten and Grade 1 students at Hopewell Public School, and a presentation at the Centrepointe branch of the Ottawa Public Library.
Many of the children in the audience had already had some close encounters with caterpillars and were eager to talk about them. “I was surprised at how much they knew,” says Scallion.
The presentations included a game where children could match pictures of six insects on a poster board to the sounds those animals make, as well as videos and stories. “They were totally mesmerized to learn about how many different kinds of caterpillars they could find in Ottawa,” says Yadav. The talks described how caterpillars eventually became butterflies, which gave students the chance to promote Carleton’s annual butterfly show as well.
Feedback from the theatre and the school was very positive, and the Carleton students also had a great time. Both Scallion and Yadav say they would jump at the chance to do similar presentations again.
