Backyard bugs and other arthropods can enhance learning and curiosity in the classroom. Students and teachers will work with live insects as well as plants, poetry, maps, and musical instruments to see how something as simple as a live cricket in the classroom can tie in with many other subjects.

Goal:

To enhance curiosity and learning in the classroom through the use of insects

Overall Objectives:

Upon completing this course participants will be able to

• Observe and describe insect behavior
• Conduct interdisciplinary lessons and activities using insects
• Conduct experiments with insects

In order to print out the worksheets/handouts listed in the activities, you will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your machine. You may download this software free of charge.

A complete listing of worksheets/handouts is given in the Table of Contents Prior to printing, please note the paper orientation given in parentheses.

• Activity 1: Butterflies--Lines of Symmetry

• Activity 2: On the Wing

• Activity 3: Create a Butterfly Garden

• Activity 4: Insect Songs--Creative Writing Project

• Activity 5: Cricket Jumping Contest

• Activity 6: Insect Links to Literature

• Activity 7: Hypothesis Meets Reality
  • The Travels of Monarch X

• Activity 8: Surfin' the Butterfly Net

• Activity 9: Habitat Hunt

• Activity 10: A-E-I-O-U: Adaptations, Ecosystems, and Insects Out of the Universe

• Activity 11: Tessellations: Where Art, Math, and Insects Meet

• Activity 12: Classroom Collection Connection*
  • Some Thoughts on Insect Collections

• Activity 13: Games Galore

• Activity 14: Insects in History

• Activity 15: Insecta Mathematica

• Activity 16: A-Mazing Insects

• Activity 17: See You/See Me

• Activity 18: Cricket Communications*

• Activity 19: Cricket Behavior*

• Activity 20: Insect Geography--Where in the World. . .?*

• Activity 21: Feeding Behavior Experiment*

• Activity 22: Plant Defenses--Plant-Insect Interactions (Without the Insect)*

• Activity 23: As the Worm Turns

• Activity 24: High Tech "Hunt and Peck"

• Activity 25: Stamp of Approval

• Activity 26: Wanted Dead or Alive

• Mini-Lessons to Pollinate the Mind
  Additional Curriculum Resources

  The One-Computer Classroom--Information on how to use the module in a classroom setting

  Arthropod Care Directory*--Information on the care and feeding of crayfish, spiders, and six insect families

  Biological Supply Houses*--List of companies which supply insects and other science-related materials

  Bugs on the Menu*--Information on the history and use of insects as food sources

  Insect Zookeeping*--Text of a videotape which can be ordered from the Smithsonian Institution

  Student Worksheets/Handouts--Worksheets and Handouts can be downloaded and used with activities

  Using WOWBugs in the Pre-College Classroom--Information on sources about using these insects as a teaching tool

  *Created by the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History