Finishing up our Insect Unit!

The last insect we learned about was probably the most peculiar: praying mantises! They get their name from the way they hold their front legs--they look like they are praying! We learned that those legs are covered in razors and used to snatch prey faster than the blink of an eye! Then, they use their strong mandibles, or mouth parts, to tear apart their prey. We were shocked to learn that they can eat prey up to three times their size...and sometimes the females will eat the males! Whoa, they are cannibals! Praying mantises can be nearly any color (even pink and purple!) making them masters of camouflage!

Students got to experience the world through compound eyes using these special glasses!

Then, students got to make their own praying mantises! First, they chose where in the mural they wanted theirs to be camouflaged. Then, they got their materials and got to work! Everyone was so busy (teachers included!), I didn't have a chance to snap a photo until the dust had settled.

Along with our bee hive in the hallway, the students made grass and created flowers using construction paper, tissue paper and pipe cleaners, or paint. The result is gorgeous and offers many places for praying mantises to hide! Can you spot the camouflaged praying mantises??

          

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Last week, we had some exciting news in our classroom. Our praying mantis egg sac hatched its first nymph! 

He was the cutest little thing! Unfortunately, our excitement was short-lived...the gnats that came in the kit  many weeks ago have long since died so we were trying to find small insects to feed him. The kids found a very small roly-poly and a small centipede to feed him. It seems the centipede must've been too big, though, because we returned to school the next day to see the nymph gone and the centipede still alive and well :( We are remaining hopeful that the other 399 nymphs will decide to emerge from the egg sac soon! 

As luck would have it, just a few days ago, one of our little entomologists happened to glance out the window and spotted an adult praying mantis stuck to the outside of the window! Of course, we all dropped what we were doing to observe this unexpected visitor!

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As our insect unit was coming to an end, the students used what they learned to create their very own insects. First, they drew a plan for their insect. They needed to include three body parts, six legs, and antennae. 

They used Model Magic for the body and pipe cleaners for the extremities. After they dried, details were added using markers to make their insects uniquely their own. Finally, they created habitats where their insects would live. 

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We began this chart at the start of our unit by listing things we thought we knew about insects as well as things we wondered. Now that we have learned so much about insects, it was time to reflect on our learning. We looked at each post-it and decided whether our prior knowledge was correct or if it was a misconception and no longer something we believed to be true. I think our biggest surprise in revisiting our prior knowledge was just how many of us assumed spiders and worms were insects! Since they don't have 3 body parts and 6 legs, they are just plain ol' bugs! Then, we added tons of new information to each section as new learning.

This unit has given us (many!) opportunities to write. In addition to writing our fact pages about each insect, at the end of our unit, students did persuasive writing regarding whether they think insects are 'creepy' or 'awesome'. Here is the chart they developed to help them with their writing! (We couldn't decide whether the fact that praying mantises are cannibals make them creepy or awesome...so we put it in the middle and let students decide for themselves.)

Now that we have all of this knowledge about why insects are so important, it's time to educate others about it! Students each wrote about one of the four insects we studied. They explained why that insect is important and what we can do to help protect them. 

"Ladybugs are helpful because they eat aphids. We can help them by spraying water to give them a drink."

"Ladybugs eat aphids so don't hurt them."

"Praying mantises are important because they eat bad bugs. Do not smush it."

We love how our mural turned out! 

And that's a wrap on our insect investigation!

Working in groups to learn about life cycles

We learned that each insect has a life cycle. They hatch from eggs,  then they go through a big change called metamorphosis in which they become something that looks quite different. 

The students were put into groups to learn about the life cycles of ladybugs, bees, praying mantises, and butterflies. Each group had a video to watch and nonfiction books to reference to become experts about their insect's life cycle. They used this information to draw each stage on their paper.

Then, each member of the group randomly chose one stage of the life cycle. They were responsible for using materials to create their stage on a small plate. Then the group members brought their stages together to create a poster of the life cycle. 

There was so much creativity!

Then, each group presented their life cycle posters to the class to teach about the insect they learned about.

Here are the finished posters!

In related news, our butterflies emerged from their chrysalises!  

Unfortunately, I couldn't get a clear photo of when they were still chrysalises because of the mesh netting around the enclosure. 

If you look at the white circle, there is a butterfly sitting on the cotton ball drinking the sugar water with it's proboscis. 

Here is a closer look at what our Painted Lady butterflies looked like.

Friday afternoon, we released our six butterflies in a bed of flowers outside the building next to the school. 

Some of them took a little more convincing than others, but eventually they all ventured out into the world!

After they all hatched, we got to get a closer look at the now-empty chrysalis shells! Very cool!

We are crazy about bees!

Next up, learning about bees! 

Through our nonfiction books and videos, we learned that bees are really important for pollination. 

Female bees visit from flower to flower drinking nectar and collecting pollen from the anthers in their pollen baskets and on their hairy bodies. As they visit another flower, some of the pollen falls off their bodies and sticks to the pistil on the flower, causing cross-pollination. This pollen helps the egg cells in the flower to create seeds! 

We looked at lilies to see each part up close.

To help us understand this process better, we did a fun activity! 

Each child received a pair of pipe cleaner legs and antenna for their finger. They would each drink "nectar" (juice box!) from their flower and then fly to the middle of the table where three flowers with different colors of "pollen" would latch onto their legs. As they go from flower to flower, the pollen would stick to their legs and spread from one flower to the next.

Next, we learned about where the bees take the nectar and pollen: the hive!

The hive is made of cells that the bees create used the wax they made with their bodies. The cells are six-sided shapes called hexagons. The queen uses some cells to lay an egg. Other cells are used to store nectar/honey when after regurgitating the nectar they drank from the flowers. After learning about the interworking of a beehive, we decided to create our own in the hallway.

Each student got an egg carton of six "cells" and they decided how they wanted to fill them using different materials. 

Students also created bees to have flying around our hive in the hallway. 

Our finished hive:

Once the students were sufficiently bee crazy, we went to see Mr. Pittman, a local beekeeper to see all of the information we've put into action! 

He took out one of the panels and brought it over to us in a glass case so we could take a closer look.

It was so cool to see a hive up close!

This is where Mr. Pittman extracts the honey from his hives. 

Finally, it was time to taste the honey! Mmmmhmmm! 

We learned that the honey sold in the stores can be up to 50% corn syrup (even though its not on the ingredients list) but the honey he sells is 100% pure honey--and 100% delicious!