Insect Teams, Giant "Bugs," and Bee Stings

Having monarch caterpillars in the classroom (thanks to AG's and RJ's families) has given us many opportunities to study the butterfly life cycle. Students have done observational drawings of the chrysalis, and written and drawn about the life cycle in their journals. We will continue to study the butterflies in the classroom, but we have added several other insects to our list of insects that we will be studying in depth. Students voted on insect teams to join, and students are now working with their teams to learn more about butterflies, ladybugs, dragonflies, and bees. Ask your child what insect team he or she is on. These teams are studying different life cycles, what insects eat, how insects move, how insects defend themselves, and where insects live. Be on the lookout for insect books, magazine and newspaper articles, and websites that you can read with your child. Learning opportunities are everywhere - although sometimes the lessons can be painful.  Mrs. Brooks brought a stinger to school to share that had been lodged in her lip just last week!  Mrs. Brooks got stung while visiting a beekeeper's hive with Ms. Hitomi.  Unfortunately, she had just removed the bee suit when a female worker landed on her face.  She did exactly what you are not supposed to do- she tried to swat it away!  This was a great learning opportunity for us all! We were able to look at the stinger up close and personal under a microscope that projected its image up onto a SmartBoard.  We talked about how honeybees die after stinging something or someone because the bee cannot pull the stinger out without ripping a hole in its abdomen. We have had many other conversations about insects inspired by several different artifacts, books, and articles that the children have brought to share with the class. IC shared an article from the Star Bulletin about an ancient sea scorpion (8 feet long) whose fossilized body was found recently in Germany. The sea scorpion probably lived about 400 million years ago! We talked about the title of the article, Giant fossilzed claw points to largest bug ever, and how it was confusing because scorpions are not insects, but arachnids (like spiders). We frequently return to our discussion about what makes an insect an insect as our understanding grows.

Posted on November 27, 2007 12:58 PM | Permalink