The coming of summer has had us thinking about a favorite subject of many second and third graders - INSECTS! This project had students exploring when a bug is an insect and when it's not. We learned that all insects MUST have the following:
1. three body parts - a head, thorax, and abdomen
2. six jointed legs
3. two antennae to sense the world around them
Rules are rules in this case. For instance, spiders may be bugs, but they are NOT insects because they have eight legs, not six. After viewing lots and lots of insects from all over the world, students used colored paper to collage their own colorful insects. They were encouraged to be creative and dsign their own insect if they choose to; but they had to follow the rules for what makes an insect. I think the results are wonderful, don't you? Click on any image below to see lots more of our favorite bugs.
After the project was done students explored recreating their insect in three dimensions using modeling clay.
