We had 3 praying mantid oothecas in the classroom all winter. The ootheca is a foamy egg nest that the adult female praying mantid creates. She places her eggs inside and then it hardens so the eggs are safe throughout the winter. With the warmer weather, the mantid nymphs chewed out of the ootheca using their mandibles and dried. Students investigated the nymphs and created a notebook entry observing both behavior and physical characteristics.