IOWA 4-9 SCIENCE PROJECT

TEACHER GUIDE for: Insects Around Gloria Baker
Edited by Reta Lemon
ECOLOGY.46A Grades 4-6

CONCEPT OBJECTIVES:
Through this activity students will become aware of the variety of insect living in a given habitat at different times of the year.

PROCESS OBJECTIVES:
Students will develop observing, recording, classifying and measuring skills.

TEACHER NOTES:
This is the third cycle in a series of four beginning with Ecology.46I Trees Changing, Ecology.469 Flowers Growing, Ecology.46A Insects Around and Ecology.46B Birds on Wing.

Plan to conduct field observations at least four times during the year, early in September, early in November, late in March and late in May. Investigate prior to conducting the activity and find at least four different habitats to which the students can be taken.

This activity can be done by taking the entire class to the same habitat for 20 minutes, then moving to another habitat for 20 minutes, etc. It also works well to divide the class into four groups, with one in the woodland for twenty minutes while another is in the open meadow, one on the hillside and the other is in the woodland. Every twenty minutes the groups rotate until every student has been in every habitat.

It is important when the groups are in different habitats at the same time that they be within viewing distance.

Both Peterson and Golden Book have good insect soft cover guides that are easy for students to use.

Plastic bug boxes which are small, sturdy, square, see through, having a magnifying glass on the top and come apart in the middle are really very functional and easy for the students to use. Plan to buy one of these for each student if funds are available. They are relatively inexpensive and obtainable from most science catalogs. Several 3-D microscopes available in the classroom are very helpful for observing insects closely.

MATERIALS:
For each student
1 hand lens
1 bug box
1 clipboard, clip, paper and pencil

EXPLORATION:
Divide the class into four groups with each to go to a different habitat. At a designated time each group will move to and investigate one of the other four habitats.

Direct the students to find as many insects as possible in the twenty minute period and record what they see by drawing a picture of the insect. Attempt to count or estimate the number of the same kind of insect they observe in each habitat.

Some questions for the students to consider while they are doing this exploration might include:
1. "How can I tell one insect from another?"
2. "What evidence would an insect leave behind?"
3. "Where might I look to find insects?"
4. "What can I do to catch an insect without getting stung?"
5. "What kind of container would I need if I wanted to keep an insect for awhile?",
"Food?", "Water?"
6. "How long might an insect live if kept inside?"
7. "How does the environment effect the structure of the insect?"
8. "How does the way an insect gets its food effect its structure?"
9. "How are insect wings different?"

Allow each student to take an insect in the bug box back to the class room for observation under the 3-D microscope.

CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT:
Have ready for this period a chart on 24 x 36 paper with the four habitats, the four times for the field trips and space to record the number of insects observed.

Bring the class together with their papers showing what the insects looked like, the number and the habitat. Have each group share their findings from the last place they did their observations. Then when every group has finished discuss what other groups observed in a given habitat. (Sometimes the first group into an area sees more than the last because of the impact of 25 students in a short period of time.) Record this information has it is shared.

Some observations which the students made might include the following:
1. "There were dragonflies only near the creek bank."
2. "There were more grasshoppers in the open meadow and the hillside at the
edge of the woods than any other insect by far."
3. "I saw many crickets on the hillside and in the open meadow also, I guess they
like the warm sun and the food there."
4. "We saw several different kinds of ants, I thought they were different because
some were black, some red, some very small, and some very large. The
largest ones were in the woodland."
5. "The meadow was full of little white and yellow butterflies which did not
surprise me, but I was surprised when I saw so many Monarchs in the
woods."
6. "In the woods we found several casings from insects, they looked like the
insect, but there was nothing inside. They must shed their outer skin like a
snake."
7. "I would estimate there was a hundred little red bugs on a milkweed plant.
There was twenty on that one stem and there was at least five stems if not
more."
8. "We saw lots of big spiders in the willows by the creek bank. I guess they like
that area because there are so many flies to get caught in their webs."
9. "When we counted we found more ants, grasshoppers, crickets, and butterflies
than any other insects."

Save the recording sheet and add more information after the second field experience, the third, and the fourth. Then compare the insects, the number of one kind, and evidence left behind by the insects. The students should be able to draw some conclusions about when is the best time to observe the greatest variety of insects and in what habitat to find a particular one.

APPLICATION:
Challenge each student to create the ideal habitat for any insect of their choice. This is to be a 3-D structure, not a drawing. Then they should test the habitat they created by finding their insect, putting it in the habitat and observing how it adapts, how well it gets along, and how long it survives.

EVALUATION:
Teacher observations and the product of the application are valid ways of determining how well the student has learned.