TEKS: Form and Function

Materials:

• Coat hangers
• String
• Plaster of Paris
• Chocolate and Vanilla instant pudding
• Chocolate wafers (to crumble into "dirt" crumbs)
• Plastic spoons
• Gummy worms
• Stamps of bug parts
• Ink pads
• Insect nets
• Clear jars
  

General supplies:

• Scissors, glue, crayons/markers
  

Materials to make or create:

• Pictures of organisms learned throughout the week (to color, and for insect charades)
• Clues for scavenger hunt
  
  
  

Overview:

• Critter Mobiles (Review)
• Insect Hunt
• Bug Charades
• Bug Paperweights
• Delicious Dirt
• Bug Scavenger Hunt
• Garden Bug Hunt: How plants and animals work together
• Paper Flowers
• Create-a-Bug
  

Activities:

Activity 1: Critter Catch

• Go on a critter hunt; review and practice sweeping with a net. Separate out into bug buddies and search for critters with your partners. Put all of the critters caught into jars.
• Critter jars will be set aside for later observation.
• Take children to the garden for next activity.
  
  

Activity 2: Garden Bugs: How plants and insects work together

• Teacher will ask: "What is a garden? How many of you have a garden at home? What do you think we will see in the garden? Do you think there will be any insects there? Why? What will they be doing?"
• Teacher asks: "You are standing in the middle of a field. You want to get your parents' attention-they are standing at the far side of the field. What will you do to get their attention?" (Children may suggest calling, etc.) What if you can't use your voice? What else can you do to get their attention? You might hold up a sign, or wear a brightly colored shirt that they could notice. Flowers do the same thing. They can't talk, so they use colors and smells to attract the attention of insects. Insects fly to the flowers and pollinate them, and in return they get a sweet treat of nectar and pollen as a reward."
• Show children flowers with insects pollinating them. Discuss pollination-what the insect gets, and what the plant gets. Discuss various flower colors and shapes. Review insect mouth parts specialized for pollen and nectar collection. Remind children of activities done earlier in the week about insect mouthparts.
  

Activity 3: Paper Flowers

• Teacher says: "Now that we have seen insects pollinating flowers out in the garden, let's make our own garden!"
• Show children how to make flowers from tissue paper, pencil, and chenille stem. Remind children to make their flowers colorful, so that their flowers will attract lots of insects.
• Cut tissue paper into long strips, app. 3" wide and the length of the paper.
• Wind the strip around the top end of the pencil, holding tightly to the pencil and allowing the top edge to flower out above the end of the pencil. Repeat the process with additional strips of tissue paper, varying colors with each strip.
• When finished, carefully pull the pencil out while holding the bottom end (the base of the flower) pinched closed.
• Wrap a pipe cleaner or chenille stem around the base of the flower, leaving several inches straight at the bottom for a stem.
• If desired, you can add leaves with construction paper or additional chenille stems.

Activity 4: Bug Paperweights

• Teacher says: "We have seen a lot of insects today. Some eat nectar and pollen, and some eat other bugs. So that you can remember what they look like, we are going to make a paperweight that you can take home."
• Using insects from the critter catch, make plaster of paris molds in the bottom of a dixie cup.
• Follow directions for mixing plaster on box.
• Fill the bottom of a dixie cup app. 1cm deep.
• Press insect into plaster, avoiding air bubbles. If desired, the bug can be arranged before placing so that the wings are outspread.
• Allow to dry for several hours.
• Remove the insect bodies.
• Let children inspect the insect impressions that are left when the bugs are removed. You can see the body parts, and vein lines in the wing areas.
• Let children paint the insect impression that they have created.
  
  

Activity 5: Make Critter Mobiles (Review)

• "We have learned about so many different organisms this week! Can you remember some of them?"
• List organisms. "What was special about each one? How were the spider and the worm different from all of the others? What do we call all of the others?"
• Give children an assortment of organisms copied onto card stock, one each of all of the organisms that have been learned. Let them color the critters, and cut them out.
• Glue critter cards onto string, and attach the string onto the mobile base to create a critter mobile.
  

Activity 6: Bug Charades

• Let children draw a card out of a hat. Each card will have a picture of an organism on it.
• Children will act out features of the organism, while the other children guess what organism they are.
• (Ex: Make finger movements like a butterfly extending its proboscis, fly around buzzing like a bee, etc.)
• This is a review activity, where children can use knowledge they have learned throughout the week about various organisms.
  

Activity 7: Delicious Dirt

• Teacher says: "Remember when we talked about worms yesterday? Where do worms live? That's right-in the dirt. Now we're going to make some Delicious Dirt!"
• Make instant pudding with children, using the instructions on the instant pudding. Have children help stir the pudding.
• Have children crumble up chocolate wafers for dirt.
• Give each child a clear plastic cup.
• Put pudding in each cup, and have children spread "dirt" over the top.
• Insert worms into the dirt. (If desired, some worms can be added while the pudding is being poured in, so that some worms are "under ground")
• Stick the childrens' paper flowers into the top of the dirt, to create their own flower garden complete with worms.
  

Activity 8: Bug Scavenger Hunt

• Children will go on a scavenger hunt, finding clues with questions based on insects they have learned about. (Ex: I will grow up to be a butterfly. In a book we read I was very hungry. Go to the place where my favorite snacks-vegetable plants-are. Answer:Garden) Instructors will pair with children to read clues and assist.
• At the end of the scavenger hunt, children will get a surprise.
  

Activity 9: Create-a-Bug (if time allows before)

• Using stamps of individual bug parts, students will create their own insects. Discuss how their insect will be adapted based on its mouthparts, wings/no wings, etc.
  
  

Assessment:

Instructors will visually observe children throughout the week to assess student understanding of various insect concepts. Journal entries will be made for each child on a daily basis, and reviewed with children and parents at the end of the week.

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