| Description | 2nd Grade Life Science- Insects Project -joint Science and Computer Science Project. The thirty 2nd Grade students will have two lessons/labs prior to Bugscope and they will set up an exhibit on four stage insects and the life cycle of butterflies after the Bugscope session. Their exhibits will be part of the school's annual Museum of Natural History. It will feature life cycle models built by the children and prints of their electron microscope findings. 1st lesson: The objective is to describe the characteristics of insects and introduce students to the needs of animals for air, water and food. The students will raise and observe live butterfly larvae (ants and ladybugs are being raised by the 1st Grade and Kindergarten classes as well) with hand lenses and identify the body parts of insects and an adult moth. They will learn about the basic needs of moths and butterflies. 2nd lesson: The objective is to describe how 4 stage insects grow and change. The students will make models of butterfly life cycles and label the stages of egg, larva, pupa and adult. Bugscope session: the students will observe the specimens in our Media Center. We have 18 eMacs and a server, but can use less if Bugscope advises. Students will also observe other insects provided by the Kindergarten and 1st Grade (probably ants and ladybugs) and review the following characteristics - head, mouth, antennhae, 6 legs, wings, thorax and abdomen. They will then observe the adult moth and chrysalis specimens and a larva. After the Bugscope session, all 90 primary science students will display various models of insects in our annual museum. St. Paul's School is a Catholic School with a non-discrimantory policy, which admits students of any race, color, or national or ethnic origin to all rights, privileges, programs, and activities genrally accorded to or made available to students at this school. In 2001, we were able to share our Bugscope experience with the community through in-depth reporting by the SF Archdioceses newspaper, the Catholic Digest.. We hope to share our experiences in other local publications. |
