Insect Unit: Actual Unit with Lesson Plans

Here's the Insect Unit Overview with a brief synopsis of each day's lesson plan. I did two insect lessons per week. I used this unit for my first grader and two pre-schoolers. It would be fairly easy to adapt. If you need suggestions for a different age group--just drop me a comment! Also, I didn't include the music we learned here but there is another post about it if you're interested.

Day One: Look through the book Bugs Up Close. Go through online tutorial at http://urbanext.illinois.edu/insects/. Emphasise the differences between bugs and insects. Let kids design their own bugs at http://urbanext.illinois.edu/insects/newbug.html. Look at pictures of insects on google images.

Day Two: Look through more of Bugs Up Close. Give the children a bunch of pictures of bugs/insects and have them glue each one to a chart with one column labeled "bug" and the other column labeled "insect."

Day Three: Read Face to Face with Caterpillars and make egg carton caterpillars. As found on this site: http://www.dltk-kids.com/CRAFTS/INSECTS/mcaterpillar.htm.

Day Four: Give kids Fancy Nancy the Explorer book. Watch Miriam go crazy with joy. Read the book. Give the kids the bug jar with magnifying lid and go outside and look for bugs. (I also gave my girls butterfly shirts. I found them dirt cheap and couldn't resist!)

Day Five: Read pgs. 9-11 in caterpillar book about metamorphosis. Evaluate what stage our butterflies are in and guess when they'll change to the next stage. Go to this website: http://www.kidzone.ws/animals/monarch_butterfly.htm and look through the information. Print out coloring pages and color them. (The coloring pages are found at the bottom of the kidzone page.

Day Six: Review metamorphosis. Color life cycle worksheet found here: http://www.kidzone.ws/animals/monarchlifecycle.htm.

Day Seven: Read Bug-a-licious, make chocolate pudding (mud) with oreo crumbs (dirt) and worms or other edible bugs.

Day Eight: Read What Do You Call a Group of Butterflies? and make butterfly masks found here: http://www.dltk-kids.com/CRAFTS/mardigras/mmasks.htm.

Day Nine: Read Bugs Up Close pgs. 18-19 and Hidden Walkingsticks pgs. 16-19. Make paper dragonfly craft found here: http://www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/insects/mpaperdragonfly.htm (or any dragonfly craft--there are lots of them).

Day Ten: Read Praying Mantises book and Weird and Wonderful Insects pgs. 16-19. Talk about weird bugs. Make funny faces. Try to walk like a weird bug. Be silly.

Day Eleven: Read any remaining bug books that the children have been pestering you to read. Label the parts of the grasshopper found here: http://www.uky.edu/Ag/Entomology/ythfacts/4h/unit1/grassho.gif.

Day Twelve: UGLY BUG BALL. Have a ball!

Ball Prep: Draw an insect on a huge piece of poster paper and make separate wings for "Pin the Wings on the Insect." Print off pictures of ten-twelve insects and number them. Make corresponding answer sheets and gather enough pencils/pens for all the party attendees for "Name that Bug!" Buy a cool insect craft from Oriental Trading. Make cupcakes and chocolate frosting and buy gummy worms or other edible bugs with which to decorate the cupcakes. Or--do anything you like!

Another bug idea, for Utahns, is going to the planetarium in Salt Lake and watching a 3-D bug movie. Awesome.