Today’s random object is a grasshopper. I had not seen a grasshopper in years until one showed up on my table, bright green and life-sized.
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Growing up in Oklahoma, they were everywhere in the summer, jumping out of the grass with every step. Down here around Houston, they seem almost gone, so spotting one felt strange. I joked about how they used to swarm us, and now you just do not see them much anymore.
Turns out, these little jumpers have been around a lot longer than me or you, about 250 million years according to the fossil record and have made their mark on every continent except Antarctica, which I figure is more about the fact that no one is looking there.
They are spring-loaded, with those back legs always coiled and ready. When they land, they back up a little, which sets the tendons so they can spring forward without thinking. A grasshopper can jump twenty times its own body length, then open those wings to glide even farther. That is a whole lot of power in something the size of your finger.
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Also, if you, or a friend, would like a 20-30 minute lesson plan about grasshoppers, feel free to download and share this one:
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