Overview

Take students out and show them different insect habitats and familiarize the students with insect collecting equipment. The students will make observations of the insects that are collected and compare insects from one habitat to another. The students will point out which characteristics are adaptations to their prospective habitat. This lesson is done in a 3rd grade classroom.

Purpose

To make students aware of where insects live and how the insects have adapted to their habitat. Also get the students familiar with insect collecting equipment and how to use it. Grade 3- 4. Tools (a), and 9. Adaptations Increase Survival of Species (b}

Materials

beating sheet or stick and umbrella
sweep net
aquatic net
collecting jars
prepared kill jars
alcohol and/or nail polish remover
notebooks
pens
magnifying glasses
marking pen

Background Information

Scope out places to collect insects beforehand. Bring identification books along or look up insects seen while scoping out the areas beforehand.

Motivation

Show kids a picture of early man and tell them it may be their distant cousin. Ask them why and how humans have changed. Point out that these changes are called adaptations.

Activity

Take the kids to a park either nearby or as a field trip. Introduce the insect collecting equipment and show them how to use it. Collect insect samples from a field, trees, and a stream. Label the collecting jars with the habitat they came from. Have the students look at the insects back in the classroom and write down observations in their notebooks. Ask them to point out the similarities of the insects within the same habitats, and the differences between the insects collected from different habitats. Ask them to point out which characteristics of the insects are adaptations to their habitat.

Safety Tips

Be aware of childrens' insect or plant allergies and steer clear of hazardous areas.

Concept Discovery

The students should discover that insects have adapted to live successfully in their environment. The students should also be able to find similarities and differences between the insects from the different habitats. The students should be able to make and record observations about the adaptations, similarities, and differences between the insects that were collected.

Going Further

The students could find another habitat and compare the insects from that habitat to the ones previously collected. The students could choose one of the habitats we visited and create a new insect that has adaptations to live in the chosen habitat. The students could examine what role each insect has within the food chain and determine why the insect is important. The students could visit the same habitats in different times of the year and see if there is any variation in the insects that are collected between the first time and the second time the activity was done.

Closure

Have students write a one page description of one of the collected insects and how they may have adapted to their habitat.

Assessment

Look over their papers to see if they understand the concept of adaptation. Check their notes to see if they compared and contrasted the insects from the different aspects.
RUBRIC

A show that they understand adaptation and they made valid comparisons and contrasts

B have a little trouble with adaptation and not as many compansons and contrasts

C did one of the assignments, but the other is missing or incomplete

D one of the assignments is incomplete and the other assignment is missing

F both assignments are missing

Connections

Language Arts:
Write about their field trip experience.
How has language "adapted" to areas of our country. (dialects)

Math:
Do the activity at different times of year and graph the number of insects that are found.
Measure insects and/or area of collecting.

Social Studies:
What effect do insects have on the environment?
How are insects useful to the environment and the human population?

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