[ABCDE] Volume 1, Issue 5 Oct. 9, 2001 CURRICULUM GUIDE: INSECT HABITAT e r I n E d u c a p a p t i o w s n P N e r o t g s r a P o m n t o g i n h s T a h e W C e u h r T r i f c u O l u e r m o C A t e T h h T e t C A o r m KLMNO e u l O u An Integrated Curriculum c f i r Resource Program T r h u e C W e a h s T h i n g t o n P m o a s r t g N o r e P w s n p o a i p t a e c r u I d n E IN THIS ISSUE Wild World of Bugs Reproducible Meet the Insects Insect Resources A scorching tale of Play the matching 2104 lunchtime and ants. game. Vocabulary Field Trip! Academic 3 Back Yard Lingo 7 Ah, the Smithsonian 11 Content Standards © 2001 The Washington Post Company An Integrated Curriculum For The Washington Post Newspaper In Education Program KLMNO Volume 1, Issue 5 Oct. 9, 2001 Insect Habitat KidsPost Article: “Mister Bug: Gary Hevel Found a Wild World in His Back Yard” Insect Resources Lesson: Observing and Classifying Insects On the Web and in Print Level: Beginning to Advanced ON THE WEB Subject: Science http://www1.bos.nl/~bijlmakers/entomology/begin.htm Procedure Entomology For Beginners Read and Discuss A site for children to introduce the anatomy of adult insects and the Give students copies of "Entomology: Ant's Thermal metamorphosis of insects Window of Opportunity" (see page 4). Explain to http://earthlife.net/insects/six.html students the source of this Science Notebook selection. The Wonderful World of Insects After students have read and answered the questions, discuss the answers. Tell students that although some Ever wonder what makes an insect an insect? Which is the biggest or smallest insect? The insect with the longest diapause? You'll find out at the researchers will go to faraway places to observe and to Wonderful World of Insects. You will also learn how to join the Bug Club. discover more about plants and animals, they can make many discoveries in their own back yards. http://www.ent.iastate.edu/misc/insectsasfood.html Insect Recipes Develop Vocabulary For the adventurous. The Entomology Club at Iowa State University Give students the Back Yard Vocabulary words to define. provides eight recipes that range from chocolate-covered grasshoppers This can be done individually, as pairs or as a class. to rootworm beetle dip. Depending on the age of your students, you may wish to http://www.insectia.com/ give them Word Study: a look at entomology before they Insectia.com read the selection. This will prepare them to understand In English and French what Gary Havel does professionally. Although Insectia.com promotes the 13 half-hour episodes of Insectia, there is much to be learned from the site itself. Check the profiles of 37 Read and Discuss star insects and the travel logs. RealVideo brings them to life. The Read KidsPost article, "Mister Bug." Give students the "Spotlight On" photographs and narrative give just enough information following questions and discuss their answers. to encourage further research. 1. What is an entomologist? Where do entomologists work? http://www.discovery.com/exp/spiders/spiders.html Spiders! 2. Why do you think Gary Hevel was not surprised to If you are studying Australia, you may wish to explore all sections of find so many insects in his back yard? the Discovery and the American Museum of Natural History expedi- 3. So far Mr. Hevel has found “2,200 species” in his back tion. For use with the KidsPost article, click on "In Your Own yard.What is a species? Backyard." Check out the descriptions and photographs of nine spiders you may find in your backyard. 4. In a census, the population is counted. Why is Gary Hevel taking a census of insects in his backyard? http://www.bugbios.com/ Bugbios 5. Mr. Hevel said he will continue his census until "the A "shameless promotion of insect appreciation" is valuable for its 17-year cicada comes back in 2004." What is meant by pictures and links to more scholarly sites. “17-year cicada”? If the life cycle of the periodical cicada ends in 2004, in what year did it begin? http://www.bugbios.com/entophiles/index.html Bugbios: Entomological Database of Very Cool Bugs 6. Name three ways Hevel has caught insects. Photographs and limited information on 14 insect orders. 7. When Hevel mounts an insect, what information is included on the label? continued 2 © 2001 The Washington Post Company An Integrated Curriculum For The Washington Post Newspaper In Education Program KLMNO Volume 1, Issue 5 Oct. 9, 2001 8. The ability of insects to adapt has been one of nature's great success stories. http://www.ent.iastate.edu/List/insect_c Insects represent 80% of all species. Give an example of adaptation in the ollections.html article. Iowa State Entomology Index: Insect Collections Introduce Dichotomous Keys Links to insect collections around the world. You may wish to visit one of the suggested Web resources (see Page 5) if you A resource for the serious entomologist and have very young students. Use "Arthropods and Dichotomous Keys" to teachers. Also visit the index of insect introduce students to taxonomy. sounds. Enrichment IN PRINT 1. Insects can be friend and foe. You might have students study the relation of Boniface, William. Mystery In Bugtown birds and insects. For the pro-bird perspective read How Birds Keep our World Illustrated by Jim Harris, published by Safe from the Plagues of Insects Accord Publishing Ltd. 1997. (http://natzoo.si.edu/smbc/Products/Factsheets/fxsht2.htm). Inspector Cricket's investigation begins when gangster Charlie Roach is nearly murdered 2. Artist M.C. Escher often used insects in his imagery. Show students examples at the Bugtown Insects' Ball. Die cut holes of his work. Can they identify the insects? "Symmetry E70; Butterflies" is one show wiggling eyeballs on each of the example (http://www.WorldOfEscher.com/gallery/SymmetryE70.html). featured insects which include Police Chief Slugg, Inspector Cricket, Charlie Roach, 3. Learn more about butterflies. Visit a ThinkQuest project created by three Miss Ladybug, Ferdinand ant, C-Note Pete students in Germany, Hong Kong and California. Butterflies: On the Wings of (a centipede, which is NOT an insect Freedom (http://library.thinkquest.org/C002251/index2.shtml?tqskip=1) because it has too many legs), Spider Queen, provides scientific information, photographs, an interactive game for younger the Mantis Brothers, and Katy (who did it). students and films created by the team. There is even a place for students to post After the wonderfully engrossing story, there and to read poems about butterflies. "Butterflies at School" will give teachers is a glossary of all the insects and bug char- advice on learning about butterflies and moths in the classroom. Available in acters from the story with in-depth descrip- English, German and Chinese. tions and illustrations of them all. Recommended: Children 3 and up. "Mister Bug" can be found at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp- Davis, Richard. Antics: An Ant Thology. dyn/articles/A29094-2001Oct9.html. 1995. Go to "An Ant Thology Home Page" (http://www.ionet.net/~rdavis/antics.shtml) to get an ant-vance look at "Ant" words. Back Yard Vocabulary Adaptation: An alteration or Entomologist: One who engages in head, thorax and abdomen, and adjustment in structure of habits, the scientific study of insects usually having two pairs of wings often hereditary, by which a Exotic: From another part of the Menagerie: A collection of wild species or individual improves its world; intriguingly unusual animals or exhibition; a diverse or condition in its environment miscellaneous group Impale: To pierce with a sharp stake Biodiversity: Variety of life or point Species: A fundamental category of taxonomic classification, Bristle: To be covered or thick with Insect: Small arthropod animals of consisting of related organisms the class Insecta, having an adult capable of interbreeding Census: An official usually periodic stage characterized by three pairs count of a population of legs and a body segmented into Teeming: To be full of, swarming 3 © 2001 The Washington Post Company NAME ______________________________________________________________________ Entomology: Ant’s Thermal Window of Opportunity When the heat of the Sahara's 1. The daily cycle of an animal's 5. Why do you think the three midday sun reaches about 116 activities are influenced by such researchers studied and reported degrees Fahrenheit and has driven factors as temperature, on the behavior of Sahara silver availability of food, humidity, ants? Why would the Post report all other creatures underground, the rainfall, searching for mates, it to its readers in metropolitan silver ants burst out from their day/night cycle and threat of a D.C.? Why is such knowledge burrows for the only opportunity predator. Which of these important to us? they have all day to find food. factors is evident in Able to tolerate temperatures that "Entomology: Ant's Thermal 6. What do you think would happen to silver ant behavior if would kill other species, they forage Window of Opportunity"? Give an example of each factor. a colony were relocated to the for corpses of other insects that sands of the Virginia or came out earlier but failed to retreat 2. Describe the relation of the Maryland coastline? What in time and died of overheating.