Creepy Crawly Bugs

Creepy Crawly Bugs

Developed by Tori Gilpin torigilpin@aol.com and Mike Longoria milolong@aol.com

This lesson is designed to introduce second graders to the world of insects. During
this webquest the students will learn about various kinds of insects, where they live,
what they eat, and how they reproduce. This is a cross discipline unit using elements
from Writing, English, Science, Social Studies and art during it’s progression.

Resources needed for the unit include Internet access, printers, live insects
for display, and various art supplies.

Introduction

CONGRATULATIONS YOU ARE NOW AN ENTOMOLOGIST

Bugs! Don’t you just love them? They creep around scaring grown-ups. Spiders
especially like scaring mommies. It's a natural reaction to be frightened of some
insects. Many insects have the ability to harm people, and many insects look very
menacing. However, many large insects are not harmful at all.

Insects are everywhere! They are often found, at least with a little searching, in
homes, yards, around building foundations, basements, crawl spaces, flower or
vegetable gardens that are NOT heavily sprayed with pesticides, around lights at
night, near streams and lakes, abandoned fields, parks, and forests.

Quest(ions) and the Task

During the webquest you will be gathering information about an insect of your choice.
You will be working in groups of three to find out where they live, what they eat and
how they reproduce. After the information is gathered you will come back together
to give the class a report with a diagram of the parts of your insect. For example…

Person 1 Find information about where the insect lives
Person 2 Find information about what the insect eats
Person 3 Find information about how the insect reproduces

After Learning about the different insects from the presentations you will each
create your own bug from a variety of materials we supply. The most important part
of this assignment is that you be creative. You will have to explain to the class what
your bug is, what it is and where it lives.

Process

1. Decide who will be working in your group.
2. Go to the insect that you would like to learn about and gather your information.
3. Report your findings to the class.
4. Create and name your own insect.

INSECTS

The Wonderful World of Insects Meet the many insects.
Glossary of entomology terms Learn new words.
Sounds Listen to them communicate.

BEETLES

Beetles
This is wonderful site to introduce you to the world of beetles.
Reproduction
Food

ARACHNIDS

Arachnids All you wanted to know, but were afraid to ask!


Spiders	Scorpions	Tarantulas
Spider food	Scorpion information	Anatomy
	Reproduction	Reproduction
Structure	Food	Food

BEES AND WASPS

All about bees

Identification

Where they live

How do bees make honey

BUTTERFLIES

Meet the butterflies

Life cycle of a butterfly

Evaluation

This project will be graded on a number of elements.
1) Ability to search the web and follow directions.
2) The oral report with diagram to be given to the class.
3) The final art project will be graded on amount of information as well as
creativity.

Resources

Below are recommended readings on insects. Visit your library for these fine books.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar, 1969
This all-time favorite not only follows the very hungry caterpillar as it grows from egg to
cocoon to beautiful butterfly, but also teaches the days of the week, counting, good nutrition
and more. Striking pictures and cleverly die-cut pages offer interactive fun.

The Grouchy Ladybug, 1977
A grouchy ladybug who is looking for a fight challenges everyone it meets regardless of their
size or strength. How this bumptious bug gets its comeuppance and learns the pleasures to be
gained by cheerfulness and good manners is an amusing lesson in social behavior. Die-cut
pages add drama and dimension.

The Honeybee and the Robber, 1981
A brave little honeybee saves the day when a big hungry bear attacks the beehive. Ingenious
pop-ups and other movable images bring this funny and informative story to vivid life.

The Very Busy Spider, 1984
With the use of raised printing, this innovative book adds the sense of touch to vision and
hearing as ways to understand and enjoy the strikingly designed illustrations and the
memorable story. Various farm animals try to divert a busy little spider from spinning her
web, but she persists and produces a thing of both beauty and usefulness. Enjoyed by all
audiences, this book’s tactile element makes it especially interesting to the visually-impaired.

The Very Quiet Cricket, 1990
The surprise ending of this enormously popular book features a chip that perfectly reproduces
the real sound of a cricket’s song. In the story, a young cricket longs to make a sound by
rubbing his wings together as many other crickets do. How he finally gets his wish is a
romantic tale as well as a first look at natural history for the very young.

The Very Lonely Firefly, 1995
Young readers empathize with the lonely firefly who makes many errors as he looks for the
group where he will really "belong." In his search for compatible companions, he meets many
other night creatures, but none is quite right -- until the happy surprise at the very end
when the illustration of a swarm of friendly fireflies literally shines and twinkles a welcome in
the night.

Conclusion

Bugs, don’t you just love them? Okay, they bite, buzz, creep, crawl, skitter, and
skedaddle-but you would too if you could, right? Now that you know were these
insects live and what they eat why don’t you invite one out to lunch. I promise they
won’t bite. If you enjoyed this quest and want to play games and solve riddles on
insects visit the yuckiest site on the Internet.

	This lesson is designed to introduce second graders to the world of insects. During this webquest the students will learn about various kinds of insects, where they live, what they eat, and how they reproduce. This is a cross discipline unit using elements from Writing, English, Science, Social Studies and art during it’s progression.


	Resources needed for the unit include Internet access, printers, live insects for display, and various art supplies.