About This Book

Welcome to Investigating Science—Insects! This book is one of ten must-have resource books that support the National Science Education Standards and are designed to supplement and enhance your existing science curriculum. Packed with practical cross-curricular ideas and thought-provoking repro-duc-ibles, these all-new, content-specific resource books provide pri-mary teachers with a collection of innovative and fun activities for teaching thematic science units.

Other books in the primary Investigating Science series:• Investigating Science—Amphibians & Reptiles• Investigating Science—Environment• Investigating Science—Solar System• Investigating Science—Plants• Investigating Science—Energy• Investigating Science—Mammals• Investigating Science—Weather• Investigating Science—Rocks & Minerals• Investigating Science—Health & Safety

Cross-curricular thematic units found in this book:• Insects• Butterflies and Moths• Ladybugs• Bees• Grasshoppers and Crickets• Ants• Pesky Pests

Included in this book:Investigating Science—Insects contains seven cross-curricularthematic units, each containing• Background information for the teacher• Easy-to-implement instructions for science experiments and

projects• Student-centered activities and reproducibles• Literature links

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InsectsYour students will go buggy over these

incredibly fun insect activities.

It’s an Insect’s Life!(Determining Previous Knowledge, Vocabulary)

Introduceyourstudentstotheworldofinsectsanddeterminehowmuchyourstudentsalreadyknowaboutinsectswiththefollowingactivity.Inadvance,cutfromalargesheetofbulletinboardpaperonelargecircleandtwolargeovals.Beginbyexplainingtoyourstudentsthatanentomologistisascientistwhostudiesthemorethanonemillionspeciesofinsectsontheearth.Next,brainstormwithyourstudentsalistofinformationtheyalreadyknowaboutinsects.Labelthetopofthelargepapercircle“Know,”andrecordtheirresponsesbeneaththeheading.Thenaskstu-dentswhattheywanttolearnaboutinsects.Labeloneofthelargepaperovals“WanttoKnow,”andrecordtheirresponsesbeneaththeheading.Whenstudentsareoutoftheclassroom,assemblethethreepiecesofpaperonabulletinboardandaddsixlegs,antennae,andeyestocreateaninsectasshown.Labelthesecondlargepaperoval“Learned.”Alsolabelasentencestrip“Ms.ImaInsect.”Postthestripabovetheinsectmodel.Later,introduceyourstudentstoMs.ImaInsect,theirclassroomentomologist.PointouttoyourstudentsIma’sthreeinsectbodyparts:head,thorax,andabdomen.Informyourstudentsthatastheylearnmoreaboutinsects,youwillrecordthatinfor-mationonthe“Learned”sectionofImaInsect’sbody.

Background for the Teacher

• Fossilsprovethatinsectshaveexistedontheearthforover�00millionyears.

• Therearefourtimesasmanyinsectsasthereareallotheranimalscombined.

• Insectshavethreebodyparts—thehead,thetho-rax, andtheabdomen.

• Someinsectsarebugs,whichhavepiercingmouthpartsforsucking.

• Someinsectstastewiththeirfeet.• Insectshaveavarietyofdefensesrangingfrom

blastsofchemicalstoimitatingthorns.• Insectsarebothbeneficialandharmfultoourearth.• Insomecultures,insectsareadelicacy!

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LearnedWant to KnowWhat is the biggest insect?

What do they eat?

Where do they live?

Buzzing sound

Fly

Bite or sting

Know

Ms. Ima Insect

Buggy Over Books!

Bug Book: Starting With Nature byPamelaHickman(KidsCanPress,Ltd.;1999)

Bugs and Other Insects byBobbieKalman(CrabtreePublishingCo.,199�)

Do Bees Sneeze? And Other Questions Kids Ask About Insects byJamesK.Wangberg(FulcrumPublishing,1997)

Eyewitness Books: Insect byLaurenceMound(Ran-domLibrary,1990)

Eyewitness Junior Books: Amazing InsectsbyLau-renceMound(AlfredA.Knopf,Inc.;1993)

The Giant Book of Bugs And Creepy Crawlies byJimPipe(TheMillbrookPress,Inc.;1998)

Have You Seen Bugs? byJoanneF.Oppenheim(ScholasticInc.,1998)

InsectlopediabyDouglasFlorian(HarcourtBrace&Co.,1998)

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Insect Hunt!(Making a Graph)

One,two,three,howmanybugsdoyousee?Inspireexcite-mentforaclassbughuntbyreadingThe Icky Bug Counting

Book byJerryPallotta(CharlesbridgePublishing,Inc.;1992).Thenencour-ageyourstudentstobrainstormplacesneartheschoolwheretheymightfindbugs.Remindstudentsofsafetyrulesandinstructthemnottotouchanyinsect.Askpairsofstudentstotakeanotebookandpenciltowritenotesandmakedrawingsofinsectstheydiscoverwhileonanaturewalk.Havestudentstry

toidentifyandkeepacountofeachdifferenttypeofinsectdiscovered.Repeatthisprocessoverseveraldays.Thenrecordtheclassfind-ingsonabargraphsimilartotheoneshown.Havestudentsdiscusswhysomeinsectswerediscoveredinhighernumbersthanothers.Ifdesired,provideeachstudentwithdrawingpaperandmarkersorcrayons.Thenaskeachstudenttochooseaninsectheobservedtoil-lustrate.Beneaththedrawinghavethestudentwritethenameoftheinsectandthelocationwhereitwasdiscoveredandobserved.Thencompileallthedrawingsintoaclassbooktitled“OurClassInsectFieldGuide.”

Grasshopper

Ant

Bee

Praying Mantis

Beetle

Roach

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

Let’s Build an Insect!(Insect Anatomy, Making a Model)

Haveyouevercalledaspider,atick,oracentipedeaninsect?Usethefollowingactivitytohelpcorrectthiscommonmistakebyteachingyourstudentsabouttheanatomyofaninsect.Aboutaweekinadvance,makeaclasssupplyoftheparentletterrequest-ingcraftsuppliesonpage10.Alsoenlargeacopy(ormakeatrans-parency)oftheinsectpatternatthebottomofpage10.Afteralltherequestedsupplieshavebeencollected,puttheminseveralboxesonatable.Alsostockthetablewithotherarts-and-craftssupplies,suchascraftsticks,pipecleaners,buttons,glitter,scrapmaterial,glue(hot glue dispensers work well, but use only under teacher supervision),scissors,markers,paint,andcrayons. Begintheactivitybyshowingtheenlargedcopyortransparencytoyourclass,andpointoutthatthereareseveralthingsthatmakeacreepy-crawlyaninsect.Pointoutthehead,thorax,andabdomenandreadthefunctionofeachbodypart.Thenpointoutthatinsectsalsohavesixlegsandapairofantennae.Next,divideyourclassintopairs.Instructeachpairtodesignandconstructaninsectthathasahead,athorax,anabdomen,andsixjointedlegs.Alsohaveeachpairgiveitsinsectcreationaname.Displaytheinsectsandinviteparentstoattendaspecialinsectgalleryopeningwhereeachpairwillunveilitscreation.

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Bug-Eyed(Making a Model)

Sneakapeekintoinsectvisionandcreateabigbug-eyeddisplaywiththismodel-makingidea.Explaintostudentsthatmostinsectshavetwocompoundeyesmadeupofsix-sidedlenses.Someinsectshaveafewlenses,butothershavehundredsorthousands. Tobegin,dividetheclassintoeightgroups.Thengiveeachgroupscissors,tape,glue,asheetofaluminumfoil,apaperbowl,andaneggcarton.Instructeachgrouptocuttheeggcartoninto12individualcups.Next,havethegroupinvertthepaperbowlandtapeorgluetheeggcupstothebottomofitasshown.Theninstructthegrouptocut12aluminumfoilhexagonshapes(repre-sentingthelenses).Havethegroupglueonelenstotheoutsidebottomofeachcup.Tocreateaneye-catchingdisplay,cutoutfourlargeblackconstructionpaperovals.Posteachovalinthecornerofalargebulletinboard;thentacktwostudent-madeinsecteyesinthecenterofeachoval.Addmouthsandantennaetoeachovaltocreateinsectheads.Titletheboard“AllEyesonInsects.”(See“InsectforHire”onpage8and“BugQuest”onpage9forstudentworktoaddtothisdisplay.)Nowthat’sseeingmorethandouble!

A Day in the Life

of a Butterfly

Insect Tales!(Creative Writing)

Haveyourstudentsusethemodelstheycreatedin“Let’sBuildanInsect!”onpage�withthefollowingfour-daycreative-writingactivity.Thenscheduleadayforeachstudenttoreadherinsecttaletotherestoftheclass.Day 1: Listthefollowingquestionsontheboard.Then

haveeachstudentbrainstormanswerstothesequestionsrelatedtotheinsectshehasbuilt.

• Whatisthesizeofyourinsect?• Doesithaveanyspecialcolorsorcamouflage?• Doesithavespecialbodypartssuchaswingsor

stingers?• Howdoesitmovearound?• Whatdoesiteat?• Wheredoesitlive?• Isithelpful,orisitpesky?• Whatareitsenemies?

Day 2: Havethestudentwritethefirstdraftofastorythatdescribesatypicaldayinthelifeofherinsect.

Day 3: Meetwitheachauthortolistento,talkabout,andeditherinsecttale.

Day 4: Havethestudentcompletethefinalcopyofherstory.Encouragethestudenttoincludeoriginalillustrations.

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Insects Noninsects

army antblack widow

spider centipedehorsefly

monarchbutterflystag beetle

It Takes All Sorts(Sorting)

Afterlearningaboutwhatmakesacreepy-crawlyaninsect,challengeyourstudentstodothissortingactiv-ity.Dividealargesheetofchartpaperintotwocolumns.Labeltheleft-handcolumn“Insects.”Labeltheright-handcolumn“Noninsects.”Next,makeoneenlargedcopyofpage11.Separatetheillustrationintoseparatecardsbycuttingalongtheboldlines.Thenplacealloftheillustra-tionsinapaperbag.Haveeachstudentdrawoneillustra-tionfromthebag.Tellthestudenttostudytheillustrationcarefullyandtrytodeterminewhetherit’saninsectoranoninsectbasedonthewayitlooks.Remindthestudentstolookforahead,athorax,anabdomen,andsixlegs.Then,oneatatime,haveeachstudenttapehisanimalil-lustrationontheappropriatecolumn.(Seeanswerkeyonpage�8.)Culminatetheactivitybydiscussingasaclasswhatmakesinsectsdifferentfromothertypesofcreepy-crawlies.

Insect Noises(Poetry, Exploring Insect Sounds, Listening)

Haveyoueverfoundyourselfmesmerizedbyinsectnoises,suchasthesoundsofcricketschirpingatnight?Joyful Noise: Poems for Two VoicesbyPaulFleischman(HarperCollins

JuvenileBooks,1992)containsauniquecollectionofinsectpoetrythatexplorestheworldofinsectnoises.Theauthorsuggeststhatcertainlinesofthepoetrycontainedinthisbookaretobereadaloudbyonlyoneperson,whereasothersaretobereadaloudinunison.Thisunusualwayofreadingthepoetryproduceslifelikeinsectsounds.Helpyourstudentsexperiencethisjoyfulnoisebyselectingonepoemtoteachtheclass.Allowtimefortheclasstolearnthepoemandrehearsereadingitaloud. Asanextension,havestudentsstudyandlistentorealinsectsounds.Gatherorpurchaseasupplyofvariousinsects(checkyourlocalpetstoreforliveinsectsorcallCarolinaBiologicalSupplyat1-800-33�-���1toorderliveinsects),andputtheminappropriateclearcontainersforviewing.Haveyourstudentsgatheraroundtheinsectsandobservethemforafewminutes.Thenhavethestudentsclosetheireyesandlistentotheinsectnoisesbeingmade.Directstudentstolistenforthedifferenttypesofnoises,suchaschompingonleavesorthebuzzingofwings.Afterstudentshaveidentifiedseveralofthenoisesbeingmade,havethemopentheireyesanddeterminehowtheinsectsaremakingthenoises.Directthestudentstoseeifthenoisesarebeingmadebytheinsect’smouth,itswings,orsomeotherbodypart.Culminatetheactivitybyhavingyourstudentstrytoreplicatesomeoftheinsectnoisestheyhaveheard.