An Insect Infestation


 Banana Entomologists

After our wheels study the weather was warming up and I could tell the students were itching to get outside. I presented options for our next study and surprisingly, most of our students chose to learn all about insects! 

We started out by learning what an insect is...did you know that bugs are insects, but insects are not bugs? We learned that all bugs have three body parts, six legs, and two antennae. Some have wings, some have two sets of wings, and some have stingers. We learned that spider are not insects, they are their own special species called arachnids. 

Next we talked about how insects live; what do they eat, where do they live, and how do they protect themselves? We discussed the word camouflage and what that means. We looked at lots of different insects and how they hide to protect themselves. 

In the middle of our unit we introduced cups of caterpillars to our classroom. We used magnifying glasses to observe them eating and moving around within their habitat. This was also a good lesson in 'looking with our eyes' and not touching something as it might hurt it. They did so well and loved checking on our little friends every single day. 

One of the most fun parts of this study was exploring how insects change over time! We looked at the life cycles of multiple insects, including ladybugs, but spent the most time on the life cycle of the butterfly! The children were so proud of themselves when they could recite the order of the life cycle. As we were discussing this, our caterpillars spun their chrysalises, and emerged as beautiful Painted Lady Butterflies that we released on our playground. 

We had so much fun in this study and the children really enjoyed learning more about the creatures around them. I even think it helped lessen the fear of insects for a few of our students! Here is a list to a few things that made this unit super exciting:

As we talked about insect life cycles, we also learned about plants and their life cycle. We compared it to the insect life cycle and recorded the similarities and differences. We watched a time lapse video of a plant growing and the children loved watching the roots grow underground as the plant grew taller above ground. We planted our bean seeds and put them in the window where we could observe and record their changes. We put soil in our sensory bin (along with some bugs!) and they were able to dig with different tools. Our dramatic play center was transformed into a plant shop where they were able to sell seeds, planters, soil, and take flower orders. They all fought over who got to play there first and it was great to see the students imagination at work! 

Major and Alhassan are practicing identifying letters by swatting them

Ciana is practicing her fine motor skills by using a large push pin to make the outline of a butterfly

Bellamy and Josephine are checking out our caterpillars with Miss Annie (We miss her!)

Campbell and Major are showing off their planted bean seeds

Playing a bug catching game

Playing Cooties with Mya...board games are so important to teach social and academic skills!



Cole loved eating dirt and worms! 



Finally, we wrapped up learning the rest of the letters of the alphabet in Letterland! Below are the videos for the final letters we learned:














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