Liberty Baptist Academy

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
Proverbs 22:6 KJV

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Some of Our Projects


One of our projects so far this year, has been adopting a Praying Mantis. Sarah, our oldest, was studying Insects in Science, and one of the last ones she studied was a Praying Mantis. Call it fate, call it a miracle, whatever you call it, we weren't really looking for a Mantis, although she wanted one. But one day, as I was outside on our front porch talking to a friend on the phone, our youngest daughter, Hannah, looked up at our outside wall and said, "Mommy, look! A Praying Mantis!" I told her to go get Sarah and the rest, as they say, is history! We adopted it, and got a "creature keeper" for it, and named it Manny. Manny has been a lot of fun to have around, and certainly a big learning expericence. We had read articles about the Praying Mantis, and most said that they didn't live much past October or November in captivity, but so far, Manny's holding her own! It may sound silly, but we will be sad, when Manny's gone.

Praying Mantises are most unusual creatures. They are one of few insects that actually look at you, while you are talking to them! I call Manny our "alien" bug, since she has a triangular-shaped face. She really does look like an alien! Manny eats things like fresh fruits, and crickets, which we keep her supplied in, from our local pet store. We have read that you can actually train a Mantis to drink out of a spoon, but we have not been able to do that yet. We get her out of her cage to walk around sometimes, but I don't set her down anywhere. She crawls on my arms and hands. We were afraid if we set her down, we'd lose her to our dog, Willie! He likes to play with insects!

Two things we had Sarah do, were: take notes on the Mantis' behavior, what she eats, etc, and then to write an essay on it. We have enjoyed our little project, and wanted to further it, by having her write a paper on it. This has been such a wonderful learning experience for all of us! I have included on this page, some links to other websites that contain a great deal more information about the Praying Mantis. I have also included Sarah's essay. If you are fortunate enough to find a Mantis or to be able to purchase an "egg case" from a local pet store, you won't regret it.! Have fun!

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page updated: February 2004