Insects from the order Orthoptera, such as crickets, katydids, and grasshoppers, rub two body parts together to produce sound in a process called stridulation. Insects communicate through song to attract mates, to give directions, to claim territories, or to signal danger. Hairs located on their bodies can pick up sounds and help determine where they are coming from. Some insects use vibrations felt in their leg joints to hear. Others have tympanal organs that process vibrati

Coyotes are smart and adaptable predators found across Illinois, even in cities. They look like medium-sized dogs with yellow eyes and black-tipped tails. Mates raise pups in underground dens. Coyotes eat almost anything including rodents, berries, and carrion. They are nocturnal and often howl at night. They communicate using sound, smell, and body language. Coyotes help maintain healthy ecosystems by controlling prey populations.

Opossums cannot hang by their tails for long because their tails are not strong enough to support their weight. They use them to climb and balance but not for sleeping upside down. One real but rare behavior is playing dead. When threatened some opossums enter a catatonic state and appear lifeless to avoid predators. This usually happens in younger animals while most prefer to run away when scared.

Dew is moisture that forms because of condensation, when water vapor turns into water. Whether dew forms depend on how cloudy the sky was the night before. Dew is most likely in the morning following a warm, sunny day that led into a cooler night with clear skies. Dew point is the temperature at which dew will form and varies depending on factors like air temperature, time of day and location. The dew point is the temperature air needs to be cooled to for the humidity to be 1

As eggs, larva and nymphs (also known as naiads), young dragonflies live underwater up until adulthood when their metamorphosis process is complete. Nymphs grow by molting and can take several years until becoming full grown adults. They breathe through their gills and use jet propulsion to move within the water. They are fierce water hunters and will eat anything they catch with the help of their powerful, fast, and hook-like lower jaw.

Shadows form when light hits an object and is blocked, creating darkness behind it. Shadows can be useful, like shade on a hot day and telling time and direction as they shift with the sun. You can trace shadows to watch them change or play games like shadow tag. For some fun, be creative and try making hand shadows or puppets. Shadows let us explore light and movement.

Spittlebugs are baby froghoppers that create frothy bubbles on plants to hide from predators. They feed on plant nutrients and produce spit-like foam as a byproduct. Inside the bubbles, you can find green or yellow nymphs with red eyes. As they grow, they shed their skin and become adult froghoppers that can leap impressively high for their size. These insects are harmless to plants and easy to spot in gardens and prairies.

Scientists who study dendrochronology use a special tool called an increment borer to cut out a thin chunk of a tree to count its number of rings to determine the tree’s age. Tree rings grow in relation to the weather, so a lot can be told about past climate conditions. You can use math to get a close estimate of a tree’s age by measuring the tree’s circumference to find its diameter. You can then multiply the diameter by the tree’s growth factor based off its species type.