Bug Out: A 4-H Curriculum for Exploring Insects, Lecture notes of Dance

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LEADER’S GUIDE

Bug Out

LEADER’S GUIDE

Introduction

Bug Out is a series of insect based activities that emphasize experiential, handson learning. The goal

of Bug Out is to increase understanding and appreciation of insects and to reduce fear of insects. Bug Out

also stimulates thinking ability, develops communication skills, and promotes positive social interactions.

This will provide a fun, positive learning situation for young people, grades 2–5, when you follow the

Bug Out lesson plans. Most of these activities are best done during the summer or fall when insects

are most common and active outofdoors.

Materials lists and preclass preparations are laid out, along with a suggested script. Where appropriate,

vocabulary lists, worksheets, and activity sheets are included. You may encourage 4H’ers to make a

Workbook with these pages.

Posters are included as a .ppt file for printing a largescale poster, if you wish. These are used as

refer ences during several of the activities. An educational kit containing most of the nonconsumables

needed for implementing these lessons is also available.

This is a revision of the previous Bug Out curriculum based on some original material by Susan P. Whitney

and R.C. Hillmann. At the beginning of each activity are the purposes of each and the objectives met in

the NC Standard Course of Study currently in effect for second grade.

Cover photo by John Kuczala • www.jkuczala.com

Stephen B. Bambara, Extension Specialist, NC Cooperative Extension Service and

Susan Whitney King, Former Extension Specialist IV, University of Delaware

Published by the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

Distributed in furtherance of the acts of Congress of May 8 and June 30, 1914. North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T State University commit themselves to positive action to secure equal opportunity regardless of race, color, creed, national origin, religion, sex, age, veteran’s status, or disability. In addition, the two universities welcome all persons without regard to sexual orientation. North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T State University cooperating. 4H L912W

L E S S O N 5

PURPOSE

NC STANDARD COURSE

OF STUDY OBJECTIVES

LIFE SKILL

TIME

MATERIALS YOU LL NEED

BEFORE THE MEETING

LEAD IN

PROCEDURE

4 4 4 4 4 4 To become familiar with insects through a study of insect body structure and function.

2.L.1.1 Summarize the life cycle of animals including:

• Birth.
• Developing into an adult.
• Reproducing.
• Aging and death. 2.L.1.2 Compare life cycles of other animals such as mealworms, ladybugs, crickets, guppies, or frogs.

Communication – exchange of thoughts, information, or messages between individuals ; sending and receiving information using speech, writing, gestures, and artistic expression.

30 minutes

• Drawing paper and pencils
• Tan (or brown) and black crayons
• One set of the vocabulary list, cover page, and activity sheets for each participant
• “What is an insect?” poster (available in 8.5” x 11”page – or oversized .ppt file)
• Review the notes on the back of the “What is an insect?” poster
• Practice saying the vocabulary words aloud.

“Today we will draw a Mystery Bug. I won’t tell you what kind of insect you are going to draw. Instead, I will describe the insect and you will draw according to my descrip tion. So, listen carefully. When you are finished with the drawing, you will know the name of the Mystery Bug!”

Mystery Bug

L E S S O N 1

PURPOSE

NC STANDARD COURSE

OF STUDY OBJECTIVES

LIFE SKILL

TIME

MATERIALS YOU’LL NEED

BEFORE THE CLASS

LEADIN

4 4 4 4 4 4 4

L E S S O N 5

PROCEDURE (^) 4

Mystery Bug

1. Distribute vocabulary list to each participant (page 27).
2. Draw a Mystery Bug following the script below.
3. Describe honey bee behavior.
4. Discuss insect structures using the “What is an insect?” poster.
5. Label drawings using vocabulary list.
6. Collect Mystery Bug drawings and vocabulary lists for use in Lesson 2.
7. Distribute cover page (page 26) and activity sheets (pages 28–29) for takehome. Participants may color these and begin their Bug Out Workbooks at home.

LEADER’S SCRIP T FOR “MYSTERY BUG” HEAD (^) 4 “The Mystery Bug has a small, round head. Place your paper sideways. Use about onefourth of your paper to draw the head. Draw a circle about the size (diameter) of a soda pop can for the Mystery Bug’s head. Draw a larger circle behind and touching the head and another still larger circle behind and touching that. These two circles can be a little flat on top and bottom to form an oval shape. You can use all of your paper for these three circles.”

“On top of the head (remember that was the first small circle) the Mystery Bug has two long threadlike things. Does anyone know the name of these?”

TYPICAL RESPONSES THAT YOUR STUDENTS MAY GIVE, SOME MAY BE INCORRECT (^) 4 feelers, antennas, antennae, and sometimes antlers.

“These are called antennae (an ten ee). When they are on your TV they are called antennas, but when they are on an insect they are antennae. Antlers are on much larger animals!”

“‘Feelers’ is not the best word to call these structures, because they do much more than feel. Antennae also work like insects’ noses! This Mystery Bug can smell things with its antennae. What do you think it would like to smell?”

TYPICAL RESPONSES (^) 4 food, enemies, home, mates, water, air,

other animals

“Some insects ‘hear’ with their antennae, also. They probably don’t hear sounds like we do. Most likely they feel vibrations with the fine hairs growing along their antennae. Male mosquitoes sometimes locate their ‘girl friends’ by ‘listening’ to their wing beats!”

“The Mystery Bug’s mouth is a little strange. It has lips that move up and down, but its jaws move sideways! Do you think you could eat lunch like this?” The leader can hold his/her hands to the face showing how insect jaws protrude and move sideways. Allow participants to draw this.

“Insect jaws are called mandibles (man dah bulls). They often have jagged teeth. These are the only teeth that the Mystery Bug has.”

“Now we need to give our Mystery Bug some eyes. Can someone describe what the eyes of an insect look like? Think of the eyes of a house fly.”

TYPICAL RESPONSES (^) 4 like a grid, with dots, like graph paper,

a honeycomb, or reflecting ball in the ceiling.

LL E S S O N E S S O N 15

Mystery Bug

SOCIAL LIFE OF HONEY BEES (^) 4 “There are three kinds of honey bees in a colony. The queen is the mother of all the bees and lays the eggs and lives two or more years. The boy bees are called drones. Some mate with a young queen outside the hive. The drones who do not mate die off at the end of the season. All the worker bees are girls.

“Young worker bees feed the baby bees (larvae). Older workers build the honeycomb. The oldest workers visit flowers to gather nectar for honey and pollen for food. They have hairs on their hind legs that look like tiny rakes and hold the pollen for the trip home. These hairs are called pollen baskets. Draw a pollen basket on the hind leg of your Mystery Bug.” (The pollen basket could be a bunch of hairs drawn on the hind legs or could include a lump of pollen with the hairs sticking out of it.)

“When the workers return to the hive, some will wiggle and turn in circles to perform the waggle dance which tells the other bees where the best flowers are (see page 30 ). In the fall the drones are no longer needed so the workers throw them out of the hive.”

worker

bee

LET’S TALK ABOUT IT (^) 4 Show participants the “What is an insect?” poster and discuss the structures of an insect using the notes on the back of the poster. “Now that we’ve drawn an insect, can you tell me what an insect is? When you turn over a rock and find a little critter, how do you know whether or not it’s an insect? Look at your drawings and tell me what makes an insect an insect.”

TYPICAL RESPONSES (^) 4 six jointed legs, three body divisions (head,

thorax, and abdomen), wings, compound eyes, ocelli, two antennae,

spiracles, jaws that move sideways, small size

(Using the notes on the back of the “What is an insect?” poster, discuss modifications of the basic insect body and adaptations.) “Not every insect that you find will have all of these body parts. Can you think of some insects that do not have wings?”

TYPICAL RESPONSES (^) 4 fleas, some termites, and ants

“How can a flea get around without wings?”

TYPICAL RESPONSES (^) 4 “They jump instead.”

Participants may label their drawings. Collect the drawings and vocabulary lists for use in Lesson 2, “Let’s Look at Insects.” Participants may take their cover pages and activity sheets home for their “Bug Out Workbooks.”

SUGGESTION (^) 4 You may wish to expand “Honey Bees” into a separate lesson. Many counties have a beekeeper association and possibly a local beekeeper would conduct the lesson for you. To find your local 4H agent go to: http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/index_php?page=countycenters

Let’s Look at Insects

PURPOSE

NC STANDARD COURSE

OF STUDY OBJECTIVES

LIFE SKILL

TIME

MATERIALS YOU’LL NEED

BEFORE THE CLASS

4 4 4 4 4 4

• To build on the concepts of Lesson 1.
• To become familiar with insects through a study of insect body structure and function.

2.L.1.1 Summarize the life cycle of animals including:

• Birth.
• Developing into an adult.
  • Reproducing.
  • Aging and death. 2.L.1.2 Compare life cycles of other animals such as mealworms, ladybugs, crickets, guppies, or frogs.

Learning to learn – acquiring, evaluating, and using information; understanding the methods and skills for learning

30 minutes

• “What is an insect?” poster
• A set of worksheets and activity sheets for each participant
• Pencils
• Any real or mounted insects to which you may have access
• Review the “What is an insect?” poster.
• Review the worksheet questions and answers.
• Gather the Mystery Bug drawings and word list from Lesson 1.

Let’s Look at Insects

“Can someone tell me the answer to question 3? How many wings does a fly have?”

CORRECT ANSWER # (^3) 4 two wings

“Did everyone see the eyes of the fly? What did they look like?”

TYPICAL RESPONSES (^) 4 like a grid, with dots, like graph paper,

a honeycomb, mirror ball in the ceiling of a roller rink, red.

“Are insect eyes made like your eyes? Do they have a single large hole (pupil)?”

CORRECT ANSWER # (^4) 4 No. No. They are called compound eyes

(which means a lot of parts together as one)

(Hold up the cricket or grasshopper or point to the picture.) “How many of you have caught crickets or grasshoppers? Where?”

TYPICAL RESPONSES (^) 4 in fields, in weeds, in the house, in barns

“How many legs do you see on the cricket or grasshopper? What kind of legs are they?”

CORRECT ANSWER # (^5) 4 six jointed legs

“What does the cricket or grasshopper do with its hind legs?”

CORRECT ANSWER # (^6) 4 jumps, hops

(Point to the ground beetle picture.) “Can you see the body parts of the ground beetle? How many are there? What are they called?”

CORRECT ANSWERS # 7 AND #8 (^) 4 three body divisionshead,

thorax, and abdomen.

“To which body section are the legs and wings always attached?”

CORRECT ANSWER # (^9) 4 thorax

“Does a beetle have a nose?”

TYPICAL RESPONSES (^) 4 no

“ What does the luna moth do with its antennae?”

CORRECT ANSWER # (^10) 4 smell, feel, touch

Do insect bodies look hard and stiff? They are – because their skeletons are on the outside. Where is your skeleton? (on the inside). Insects are kind of insideout from us and have exoskeletons (exo = outer) on the outside. That seems clumsy for something as big as us, but works well for something as small as an insect.

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Let’s Look at Insects

LET’S TALK ABOUT IT (^) 4 “Point to each structure on your Mystery Bug drawing and show me the same parts on the insect poster.”

“What is the name of each structure? What does the structure do and how does it work?”

Participants may take their Mystery Bug drawings, vocabulary list, worksheets, and activity sheets home for their Bug Out Workbooks.

OTHER ACTIVITIES (^) 4

1. Participants may role play the workers, drones, and queen in a beehive.
2. Participants may invent a “waggle dance” (see drawings on page 30). a. The round dance is done when food is within 100 meters (yards) of the hive. The worker bee takes short steps in circles that change direction. b. The wagtail dance is done when food is beyond 100 meters (yards). The worker bee dances a half circle and runs in a straight line to the starting point. While she runs the straight line, she wiggles vigorously. She then dances a half circle on the other side with a second run to the starting point.
3. Participants like to talk about insects that they have seen. Ask them.

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How Do They Grow?

PROCEDURE (^) 4 1. Distribute vocabulary matching lists to each participant (page 35).

2. Display “What is an insect?” poster (page 23).
3. Discuss insect growth and development using the magnet/display board (pages 39–45) and the script below.
4. Display “Simple Metamorphosis” and “Complete Metamorphosis” posters (pages 24–25).
5. Review types of metamorphosis and examples.
6. Collect vocabulary matching lists for use in Lesson 5, “Let’s Look at More Insects.”
7. Construct Life Cycle Wheels (pages 36–37).
8. Encourage participants to take their Life Cycle Wheel home to show family and friends.

LEADER’S SCRIP T FOR “HOW DO THEY GROW” 4 “Insects have skins that look very different from ours. Can someone describe the outside of an insect? Think of a big beetle.”

TYPICAL RESPONSES (^) 4 hard, dark, looks like a shell

“That is right. The outside of an insect is called an exoskeleton (exo skeleton). That is the first word on your vocabulary matching list. The first three letters of this word, exo, mean ‘outer.’ The exoskeleton is a nonliving shell that completely surrounds the insect.”

“The end of the word exoskeleton, skeleton, means ‘supporting framework.’ What is the supporting framework for our bodies?”

TYPICAL RESPONSES (^) 4 bones

How Do They Grow?

“Do you know that insects do not have bones inside their bodies? This shell, the exoskeleton, takes the place of bones. Muscles are attached to it from the inside. We have our bones on the inside of our bodies, and an insect has its exoskeleton on the outside – so an insect is turned inside out! Do you think this is a good idea to have your ‘bones’ on the outside?”

TYPICAL RESPONSES (^) 4 Yes, it gives protection and makes the insect

hard to hurt. No, if they broke their shell, it might hurt them.

“The exoskeleton does protect the insect and it waterproofs it, too! I wonder if you’ve ever found an exoskeleton. How many of you have found a cicada (sa kay dah) skin?” (Locust is an often used but incorrect name.) “Tell me what the cicada skin looked like.”

TYPICAL RESPONSES (^) 4 brown, seethrough, tan, crunchy, crumbly,

fell apart, had claws, stuck to me

Point out the cicada exoskeleton picture on the Simple Metamorphosis Poster. “Where did you find them?”

TYPICAL RESPONSES (^) 4 saw them on the side of the house, a brick

building, on a tree trunk, on the ground

“Did you see a slit down the back of the cicada skin?”

TYPICAL RESPONSES (^) 4 yes

(Place cicada egg and labels ‘cicada’ and ‘egg’ on the display board.) “Let’s see how insects like the cicada grow up. The cicada begins life as an egg.”

Place cicada nymph and label ‘nymph’ on magnet/display board. Then place arrow on the display board between the egg and nymph.) “When the egg hatches, the baby cicada that comes out looks a little like the adult. It has legs, three body divisions, compound eyes, and antennae. The baby cicada is called a nymph (nimf). It lives underground and feeds on tree roots. The nymph eats and eats and eats until it is ready to grow bigger but cannot. It can’t— because its shell, the exoskeleton, won’t stretch or grow.”

“So it takes in a big gulp of air. Everyone pretend to be an insect and take in a big gulp of air. Breathe in deeply. What do you feel? Does your chest get big? When a nymph pumps up its chest, it splits the skin down its back – and crawls out!”

“This is called molting, or shedding the skin. Do you know another animal that sheds its skin?

TYPICAL RESPONSES (^) 4 snakes

“The new exoskeleton underneath will soon harden and be bigger than the old. But it does not stretch too far and will not grow with the nymph. So one day it, too, will be shed. The periodical cicada nymph molts up to 35 times over 17 years! The more common annual cicada only takes a year or two to grow up and it doesn’t molt as often. As they grow, wing pads appear. The wing pads can’t be used to fly yet; they are too small.”

(Place adult and label ‘adult’ on display board. Then place arrow between the nymph and adult.) “The last time that the nymph molts, it crawls out of the ground, sheds its skin, becomes an adult, spreads its wings and flies away.”

PURPOSE

NC STANDARD COURSE

OF STUDY OBJECTIVES

LIFE SKILL

TIME

MATERIALS YOU’LL NEED

BEFORE THE CLASS

LEADIN

4 4 4 4 4 4 4

Bugs in a Bottle

• To make a chamber so children can observe live insect behavior at home.
• To familiarize children with living insects over an extended period of time.

L.2.1.1 Summarize the life cyle of animals including

• Birth
• Developing into an adult
• Reproducing
• Aging and death L.2.1.2 Compare the life cycles of other animals such as, but not limited to, meal worms, ladybugs, crickets, guppies, or frogs.

Learning to learn – acquiring, evaluating, and using information; understanding the methods and skills for learning

30 minutes

• Empty, twopiece plastic soda bottles, 3liter size preferred; one for each group of five
• Round section of turf containing clover, about 4 inches in diameter
• Scissors
• Trowel or small shovel
• One or two crickets, grasshoppers, or other type of insect for the demonstration, per bottle. Crickets may be easily purchased from a bait shop.
• Dig a piece of turf that contains some clover from a lawn. Be sure to include the soil covering the roots. This may be kept in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for several days. Plants such as beans, which could be started from seed a week or two ahead, may be used as an alternative to turf.
• Prepare one bug bottle as described below for demonstration.
• Transplant turf piece into empty bottle base. Cover with inverted bottle. Add crickets to make demonstration bug bottle.
• Catch common insects, such as crickets, grasshoppers, or caterpillars (or buy crickets from a bait shop). If you find a caterpillar, collect the plant or part of the plant on which you found it.

“We don’t often have a chance to observe living insects for more than a few moments at a time or during more than one type of activity. Today we are going to build an insect observation chamber so we can watch insects any time of the day over a long period of time.”

PROCEDURE (^) 4

Bugs in a Bottle

1. Cut a 2or 3liter soft drink bottle in half.
2. Make eight parallel cuts around the edge of the open end of the bottom section, spaced evenly apart and about 2 inches long to form a series of tabs. Cut alternating tabs off about 1/2 inch so that every other tab is slightly shorter (see figure).
3. Place your turf plug or plant in the colored plastic base. Turn the clear cylindrical portion down over the base, sliding alternate tabs inside and outside the rim.
4. The bug bottle is ready for your insects. Place them in through the top of the bottle.
5. Your bug observation chamber will probably not need water often. If it does, a little may be dripped in through the top.
6. To change plants or add food, put the bug bottle in the refrigerator about 30 minutes. After the insects have stopped moving, the bottle may be opened and the plants or turf changed. As the insects warm up, they will become active again.
7. Do not let sunlight shine directly on the bottle and do not leave it in a car.

It’s a Bug’s LifeObservations

• To learn how to make observations of live insects using a bug bottle.

L.2.1.1 Summarize the life cyle of animals including

• Birth
• Developing into an adult
• Reproducing
• Aging and death L.2.1.2 Compare the life cycles of other animals such as, but not limited to, meal worms, ladybugs, crickets, guppies, or frogs.

Learning to learn – acquiring, evaluating, and using information; understanding the methods and skills for learning

30 minutes

• Five bug bottles with live insects and plants for observation exercise.
• Three (or four) copies of observation sheet for each participant
• Pencils

Set up five bug bottles for the observation exercise. See Lesson 4 for directions. You will want at least one bug bottle for every five participants. Use a variety of insect and plant species. Grasshoppers, crickets, aphids on a stem, caterpillars and larvae from gardens or crops, and lady beetles are good choices. Use your porch light at night to attract different beetles. In the summer, predatory green lace wings are abundant at porch lights. Clover, grass, and weeds are good food plants.

Scientists have many questions about insects. They often answer these questions by making careful observations. We can learn how to make scientific observations by using bug bottles (hold up bottle). We need to learn how to understand what insects do so that we can conduct more useful studies of insects. The more we understand, the more we can benefit or the better we can deal with problems related to insects in our lives.”

1. Place several bug bottles with assorted insects and plants around the room. Place lady beetles and aphids on a stem in the same bottle, and lace wings and aphids in another, also together. A praying mantis likes to catch flies or moving insects. Grasshoppers or crickets are fun to watch while they eat plant leaves.
2. Allow the participants to look at the bug bottle for 5 to 10 minutes, and then assign each participant to a group to make observations. Tell the participants that they can rotate to another station after 5 to 10 minutes. (They will learn more.)
3. Give each participant three observation sheets (page 46).
4. Review the questions on the observation sheets before the participants begin work. Make sure that each participant understands the questions.
5. Use the script below to help participants share their observations with the class.

PURPOSE

NC STANDARD COURSE

OF STUDY OBJECTIVES

LIFE SKILL

TIME

MATERIALS YOU’LL NEED

BEFORE THE CLASS

LEADIN

PROCEDURE

4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

LEADER

answer to question 5?”

It’s a Bug’s Life

’S SCRIP T (^) 4 “Did any of your insects eat while you were watching them? What did it look like? How did they eat? What did you write for answers to questions 2, 3, and 4?”

TYPICAL RESPONSES (^) 4 They ate just a little, they moved their heads

from side to side, they took bites out of the leaves, they held the

leaves with their front legs, they ate one row on the leaf and they

swung their heads back and started eating another row.

“Some of your insects ate plants. What part of the plant did the insect eat? What is your

TYPICAL RESPONSES DEPENDING ON INSECT (^) 4 leaves, stems

“How much of the plant did the insects eat? What is your answer to question 6?”

“Who would like to read his/her answer to question 7? Who wrote something to describe how the insects ate?”

“Did any of your insects move while you watched them? How many ran? How many jumped? How many crawled? Who would like to read his or her answer to question 8 and question 9? Who wrote a sentence to describe how the insect moved?”

“Did anyone see the insects doing anything else? Did anyone write an answer for question 10?”

TYPICAL RESPONSES (^) 4 the insects laid eggs, mated, fought,

molted, played, sat

“How does each of these insects avoid being eaten by another insect? What do you have for question 11?”

TYPICAL RESPONSES (^) 4 they hide, sit still, fly away, look scary,

look like the plant

“You may make more insect observations at home with your bug bottle after you fill it with your favorite insects.”

Participants may take their observation sheet home for their workbooks.

Lady beetles (also called ladybugs) are very important because they eat many aphid and scale insect pests that damage crops.