Insectigations
-
Post-site Activities/Teacher led
Grade Level: 2
Content
Area: Science
Time to Complete: 1 class
Title of
Lesson: Insectigations
South Carolina State Standards
Addressed:
|
2-1.1 |
Use tools (including
thermometers, rain
gauges, balances, and
measuring cups) safely,
accurately, and
appropriately, when
gathering specific data
in customary (English)
and metric units of
measurement. |
|
2-2.2 |
Classify animals
(including mammals,
birds, amphibians,
reptiles, fish, and
insects) according to
their physical
characteristics. |
Procedures:
Invent-An-Insect! Discuss the different
types of insects your students found
during their program at Sesquicentennial
State Park. Ask them what makes an
insect an insect. For example, an
insect has six legs, three body parts
(head, thorax, abdomen), two antennae
and an exoskeleton.
|
1. |
Tell your students to imagine they have been hired by
the Department of the Interior to design an insect. Their insects
must be able to survive in special and unique conditions. Some
requirements for their insects may include building bugs that can
camouflage themselves in a dentist’s office, or eat only minnows, or
live in a volcano. Be as realistic or imaginative with your
requirements as you like. You may choose to have students work
individually, in teams or have the class work as a whole.
|
|
2. |
Discuss with
your students possible adaptations (behaviors or body parts) that
would allow their insects to survive in these conditions. The only
restrictions are that all insects must have six legs, three
body parts (head, thorax, abdomen), two antennae and an exoskeleton. |
|
3. |
Allow your
students to build models of their creations using various art
supplies. If working individually or in teams, have them present it
to the class. Prepare the students to answer questions like these:
| a. |
What is the name of your insect? |
| b. |
Where does it live? How does it
find water and shelter there? |
| c. |
What does it eat and how does it catch or
find its food? |
| d. |
How does it protect itself from predator?
(Does it sting, pinch, camouflage, jump away? Is it
poisonous?) |
|
|
4. |
Display
your students' insect creations! |
Optional Activity:
Raise butterflies or beetles in the classroom
and observe their various life cycle stages. Nasco is a great source
for these and other live insects. Call 1-800-558-9595
Books for Teachers:
Incredible Insects, one of Ranger
Rick's NatureScope series from the National Wildlife Federation.
A Guide to Observing Insect Lives by
Donald Stokes; Little Brown and Company; Boston, 1983.
Insects, one of the Peterson field
Guides, by Donald J. Borror & Richard White; Houghton Mifflin Company;
Boston, 1970.
Peterson First Guides to Butterflies and
Moths by Paul Opler; Houghton Mifflin Company; Boston, 1994. |
