insects

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Archive : 2004 : August : 27

insects
By emme

Have you thought of raising butterflies from caterpillars in your room? It's usually very successful and interesting. Praying mantis are also very interesting - except that they do eat each other!!

There is a lot your
kids can do in groups, like research unusual insects and present the info to the group. I found an interesting lesson on the 4 different mouth parts of insects; by using an eyedropper, straw, sponge and scissors you can demonstrate the specialized mouth parts of the mosquito, butterfly, housefly and grasshopper.
Would you like a song? To the tune of "Head and Shoulders";
Head and

Thorax, Abdomen
Abdomen
Head and Thorax, Abdomen
Abdomen.
Six legs, two antennae
and a pair of floppy wings,
Head and thorax, abdomen.

I have also done a similar project to the above poster, where the children design their own bug, but I've let them choose from my home made tracers for different bodies, heads, wings and legs - they trace on buggy paper from the teachers store, and the wings on wax paper, add their own antennae. We use them to inspire cool free verse poetry later. Hope these ideas help.