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Sunday, June 12, 2011

Insects, NOT bugs......


Our week last week began with an introduction to insects: What makes an insect an insect? Why are they sometimes called bugs? What are bugs? All bugs are insects but not all insects are bugs. What are the parts of an insect called? We caught some bugs and also some small toads. Milkweed seed bugs are easy to find and catch. R. had a really hard time letting the toads go after we studied them but a good lesson was learned. The next day she had an easier time letting the walking stick go. We studied ants and put together a really cool ant farm. T. loved playing a game where I asked him if the ants had a thorax, foreleg, compound eyes, etc. and he looked at the ants really closely and told me whether they did or not. That was great practice for him of all the insect parts. We watched an amazing insect documentary called Microcosmos, it was perfect for our study because there is virtually no narration, allowing the kids to really absorb what they are seeing. We'll watch it again this week, it was that good. We finished the week with grasshoppers though we weren't able to catch any. Our Florida's Fabulous Insects book has really come in handy this week and it is great to see T. starting to pick up those books to find something he is looking for. Very cool.

This week we are still studying insects. Beetles. Insects that fly including butterflies. Bees. We'll touch on water tension because in the film T. had some questions about how the ants were able to drink water from a droplet of water. We'll finish the week with Father's Day. I am actually very prepared this year for Father's day because I thought it was today!! We'll make Daddy ice cream and paint some canvases for his office. There will be lots of outdoor play since our neighbor friend is off of school for the summer. Wish us luck in catching some really cool insects this week!

Here's a shot of R. focusing on drawing in her Insect Journal. The toad she cried about is in there and is the subject of her drawing.

1 comment:

Jeri said...

I love reading about what the kids are doing. Thanks