Lesson Summary In this first lesson using bess beetles, the students will be introduced to the bess beetle. They will become familiar with beetle structures and behaviors. Teacher Background This lesson is set up to help the students become comfortable and familiar with the bess beetle, its structures and habitat. In this lesson, you can relate to the discussion to the crayfish, but the next two lessons go into more detail of the comparisons. Set-up/Management Tips Many students are not as comfortable with the beetle, give them some time to get used to it, and model how to hold it. The students may wonder about the horn, check the Internet for pictures of various beetle horns to show students. Although it is not in the lesson, you may want to prepare a diagram of the beetle’s body to label as a class The beetles can be hard to find in their habitat, if possible take some time before the lesson to find all the beetles and put them into individual cups. Use the following link to find information about bess beetles: http://lhsfoss.org/fossweb/teachers/materials/plantanimal/bessbeetle.html Literacy Support The following words are key vocabulary words that will be introduced in this lesson and reinforced throughout the unit: bess beetle insect thorax abdomen head mite terrarium