National Science Standards:

Content Standard A: Science As Inquiry
Content Standard C: Life Science - The characteristics of organisms; Life Cycles of organisms; Organisms and environments

These activities demonstrate characteristics of insects and their life cycles.

*NOTE: Activities increase in diffulculty. Educators/Parents may want to work through all activities or choose those most appropriate for their students/children.

(BACKGROUND INFORMATION)
This is what we already know is true about insects:

• All living things are placed into two groups: animals and plants.
• There are 15 main groups of animals. Insects are one group.
• Animals that are called insects will always have three body parts, six legs, two antennae, and compound eyes.
• There are over one million different types of insects in the world. Some scientists believe there may be as many as ten million different types.
• The biggest insect today averages 3.5 inches (9 cm) long and 1.5 inches (4 cm) thick.
• A supercolony of ants was found in Japan. It had over one million queens and over 300 million worker ants in 45,000 nests that were connected.
• Some people like to eat insects - especially grasshoppers and ants.

Activity One - "And the beat goes on"

stopwatch (for an adult)

1. Insects with wings usually move their wings in a figure eight (8) shape to fly forward and backwards. This can even let them “hover” in one spot.
2. Bees can move their wings 100 times every second.
3. This activity will allow everyone to understand how hard it must be for an insect to move their wings so quickly.
4. Children will perform the listed tasks as an adult times the activity to tell students when to begin and when they are to stop.
5. Discuss how the students feel after completing these tasks.

TASK 1

1. Write words on a chalkboard or paper for 30 seconds.
2. Erase the chalkboard or paper for 10 seconds. Wait 10 seconds.
3. Repeat this pattern for 1 minute.

TASK 2

1. Move your left arm in a circular motion for 20 seconds. Wait 5 seconds.
2. Repeat this pattern for 3 minutes.

TASK 3

1. Hop on one foot for 5 seconds. Change feet and hop for 5 seconds.
2. Repeat this pattern for 2 minutes.

Extension Activity

Discuss if a human can ever move something as quickly as an insect can move its wings. Compare the speed of an insect moving its wings to that of a bird and a bat..

Activity Two - "Having a baby (butterfly)"

cardboard box, newspaper, stick (a small tree branch works best), container of potting soil, netting, plants

1. Prepare a cardboard box to become the home for a caterpillar.
2. Place newspaper on the bottom of the box.
3. Place a stick that will lean against the box at an angle.
4. Place a container of potting soil on the newspaper.
5. Connect the netting to the top of the box. Make sure you can open this netting, when needed. Make sure the netting is connected tightly on all sides so that your caterpillar will not escape. You can use tape to keep the netting tightly connected to the box.
6. Look for caterpillars in a garden or yard. It is important to notice the plant a caterpillar is eating when you find it. You will need to collect samples of this plant as food for your caterpillar in its new home (your cardboard box).
7. If possible, collect the entire plant and repot it in the pot of soil in the cardboard box.
8. If this is not possible, keep a supply of the plant the caterpillar is eating in a plastic bag inside a refrigerator to keep it fresh and moist.
9. Place the caterpillar inside its new home with the plant it likes to eat. It may be hard to do so, but do not touch the caterpillar in the box. This will help it get used to its new home.
10. Look for and remove caterpillar droppings from the newspaper every day. You need to provide a fresh supply of plants each day also unless you have the entire plant.
11. The caterpillar is ready to change into a butterfly when it stops eating and crawls around a lot for a day or two.
12. The caterpillar will form a chrysalis very soon. (SEE DIAGRAM) Keep the chrysalis moist by lightly spraying water on it regularly. Keep it in a cool place out of direct sunlight.
13. It will take several days before the butterfly hatches from the chrysalis. The butterfly inside will change color just before it comes out.
14. Don’t expect the butterfly to fly right away. It will probably rest for an hour or two while it pumps fluid into its wings.
15. Make sure you release the butterfly when it can fly. Make sure the outside temperature is at least 60 degrees F (15.5 degrees C) before you release it.

Extension Activity

Make a birth certificate for your butterfly. Celebrate its birth with a party. Invite friends to be with you when you release it.

Activity Three - "What is an insect?"

(for adult) paper, markers, pictures of insects and animals (as listed in step 9) (for student) construction paper, white paper, crayons or markers, scissors, glue, yarn, unpopped popcorn kernels, sticks/twigs, pasta, wiggly eyes (from craft store), other craft materials of your choice

1. Ask students what they know about insects.
2. Create a drawing of an insect (onto a large sheet of white paper) based upon characteristics stated by students as they answer your questions.
3. These questions can include “What does it look like?”, “Does it have a head?”, “What does the body look like?”, Does it have a tail?”, What does its mouth look like?”, “Does it have eyes – how many?”, “Does it have legs – how many?”, Does it have a nose?”, “Does it have ears?”
4. After you complete the drawing, ask students if it looks like an insect they have seen before. Ask them to name the insect – and create a name for this “new” insect if it has not been seen before.
5. After completing this action, draw an insect which contains the correct characteristics which are: 3 body parts (head, thorax - middle section - and an abdomen - rear section), 3 pairs of legs attached to the thorax, 2 antennae attached to the head, one or more pairs of eyes, some have stingers, some have 1 or 2 pairs of wings.
6. Allow children to sit in a large circle.
7. State “Now that we know what an insect looks like, we will find out what kinds of things are NOT insects.”
8. Instruct students that you will show them pictures. They are to jump up in the air like a grasshopper when they see a picture of an insect. They will stay seated and shake their head if the picture does not show an insect. They are to be silent during this activity.
9. The pictures are: (insects) bee, grasshopper, lady bug, fly, ant, butterfly; (others) cow, spider, pig, horse, dog, dinosaur.
10. Allow students to use the materials listed to create their own artwork of a new insect they have just discovered. They should also give their new insect a name.
11. Allow them to share their insect discovery with the class.

EXTENSION ACTIVITY
Take pictures of your students’ faces. This picture can be cut and used as the head of the insect the student created.

Activity Four - Body Parts

dice, piece of paper, markers

1. Review the characteristics and body parts associated with insects.
2. Student teams will roll dice to attempt to correctly draw an insect.
3. Rules are: rolling a ‘1’ allows teams to draw a head; a ‘2’ draws the abdomen; a ‘3’ adds eyes; ‘4’ adds antennae; a ‘5’ lets teams draw wings; ‘6’ allows legs.
4. The first team to successfully “build” a complete insect is the winner.

EXTENSION ACTIVITY
State exactly what insect must be correctly drawn by teams before the game begins.

Activity Five - Camouflage

white paper, construction paper, crayons, markers, scissors, glue, yarn, unpopped popcorn kernels, sticks/twigs, pasta, wiggly eyes (from craft store), other craft materials of your choice

1. Discuss the term “camouflage” with students.
2. Discuss how easy or hard it is to find insects outdoors.
3. Discuss how insects also camouflage themselves.
4. Allow students to create insects that are showing camouflage. They will place their insect anywhere within the room to see how well it is camouflaged.

EXTENSION ACTIVITY
Conduct this activity outdoors. This will allow students to use additional techniques with which to create an insect exhibiting camouflage.