| Description | 2nd Grade Life Science- Insects Project (A Joint Science and Computer Science Project) The 29 students will have two lessons/labs on insects prior to Bugscope and they will set up an exhibit on 4 stage insects and the silkworm life cycle after the Bugscope session. Their exhibit will be part of the school's annual Museum of Natural History and would hopefully feature prints of their electron microscope findings. 1st lesson - Objective is to describe the characteristics of insects and introduce the students to the needs of animals for air, water and food. The students will observe live silkworm larvae (and ants and ladybugs being raised by the 1st grade and Kindergarten classes) with hand lenses and identify the body parts of an adult moth. They will learn the basic needs of their live silkworms. 2nd lesson - Objective is to describe how 4 stage insects grow and change. The students will make silworm life cycle models and label the stages of egg, larva, pupa and adult moth. Bugscope session - the students will observe the specimens in the Media Center as we have 15 computers and a server but can use less if Bugscope advises. They will observe the ant and ladybug provided by the 1st grade and Kindergarten and identify and review the following characteristics - head, mouth, antennae, 6 legs, wings. thorax and abdomen. They will then observe the specimen examples of the moth which should include a silkworm larva, a chrysalis (swallowtail butterfly because our silkworms will still be at the larval stage at this time) and an adult moth. After the Bugscope session, all the primary science students (94) will display their live insects and their models (the 2nd Grade life cycle models, the First Grade clay ant models and the Kindergarten ladybug wing models) in the school's annual Museum of Natural History. Prints of the Bugscope session would be a prominent part of the exhibit for the entire school. |
