978-1-4222-3405-1

Summer Buzzin’ Have you ever heard a

cicada? If you have, you probably wouldn’t forget it. These insects are the noisiest insects anywhere. One male can make a noise of over 100 decibels. A jet airplane traveling 1000 feet in the air only makes a noise of 90 decibels! Now imagine thousands of male cicadas making that same noise. Every 13

to 17 years, some species emerge from underground, make a huge racket, mate, and then lay eggs in the ground. That is the entire life cycle. But they sure make a lot of noise while they are here.

Try It Yourself!

Years ago, a book called The Farmers’ Almanac published an equation which can be used to find the approximate temperature based on the num- ber of cricket chirps. To find the approximate temperature in degrees Fahr- enheit, count the number of chirps for 14 seconds and then add 40 to that number. This will give you approximately the correct temperature.

Is this accurate? Try it yourself and see.

Materials

• Stopwatch • Outdoor thermometer • Outdoor crickets or purchased from pet store • Evening between 55 and 100 degrees F

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