Insects at Home

Adapted from Cindy Wirth, Stephanie Urban, Jenny Ingemann, and Andrea Klaevemann- Rock Prarie Elementary

Purpose: At the end of this activity the student will have searched their house and surrounding neighborhood for insects. The students will complete a chart that will help the students organize the name, physical description, location where found, and any unique characteristics of the insect. The students will share their findings with the class. The time of this activity will primarily be based on the amount of time the students decide to devote to the activity.

TEKS: Fourth Grade Science

(8) Adaptations Increase Survival of Members of a Species

a. identify characteristics that allow members of a species to survive.

1. compare adaptive characteristics of species

Materials:

• Copies of the parent letter (enough for each class member)
• Copies of the insect chart (enough for each class member)

Motivate! : The teacher will ask students how often they see insects at their home, or in their neighborhood. Do the students see insects once a day, 5 times a day, never? Do you think you would see more insects in your home and neighborhood if you actually looked for them?

Activity:

• The teacher will then explain that for the evening he/she would like the student to go home and pay close attention to their house and neighborhood. Ask your parent(s) to go on a walk with you where parent and child can be on the look out for insects.
• The student will take with him/her on the walk the chart that the teacher is handing out and the students will need to list as many different insects as possible.
• The students will need to:
  • List the name of the insect (if students do not know the name for the insect they can draw a picture of the insect and bring the picture to class, so friends can help identify it.)
  • Provide a description of the insect
  • Describe where the insect was found
  • Describe any unique characteristics of the insect
• When the students return to class the next day they will share their results with the class

Safety Tips:

• Students should have an adult or older helper to be with them on their search through their neighborhood. If something should happen, then there will be someone to aid the child.

Concept Discovery: This portion of the lesson will occur on the next day of class. The teacher will ask students to share what insects they found. Was it difficult to find insects? Where did you find the most insects? Where did you have trouble finding insects? What factors do you think helped determine the number of insects you found? Did you see more insects inside or outside your house? Why do you think you found the insects where they were found? The teacher will then explain how the insects are found in different locations for a reason; this begins to tie into the topic of habitat.

Going Further: The students could continue to search for insects throughout the year during different seasons and different weather patterns. The student can record his/her observations and chart what insects can be found during the different seasons, as well as what insects are adapted to survive during different types of weather.

Closure: Through this activity students have increased awareness about the insect life within their home region. Students can now be on the lookout for various organisms and how they are found in everyday living.

Assessment: Students will be assessed based on the information they were able to include in their written chart. If students complete their chart with detailed information that shows a students depth of analysis when investigating insects in the home, then it will be possible to discern that they have mastered the assignment.

Connections:

• English- A student can write a story about what insects they found and why these particular insects can be found in a specific location.
• Social Studies- The students can probe their parents for what their parents know about the particular insects found within the home region.
  

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