SPRING GARDEN PROGRAM
Lesson 11

Rain Day Activity
Further Exploration Of Soil Dwellers
Journaling
The Life Cycle of an Earthworm
45 minutes
Objectives:

  • Examine the difference between insects and bugs
  • Become more familiar with using guide books
  • Become more familiar with keeping records in journals
  • Learn more about worms

MATERIALS

FOR ACTIVITY:
  • Insect guides
  • "National Audubon Society First Field Guide to Insects", Scholastic, 1998
  • "Peterson First Guide to Insects", Houghton Mifflin, 1998
  • Insect guides, including these two, often include brief introductions to non-insects commonly confused
    with insects
  • Small Paper plates
  • Journals
  • Colored pencils
  • "The Life Cycle of an Earthworm", Bobbie Kalman, Crabtree Publishing Co.

INSTRUCTOR PREP:
  • Familiarize yourself with the insect guides
  • Familiarize yourself with the book to be read
  • Collect a variety of soil dwellers and place in plastic containers with soil
    (make sure there are air holes in the lid)
  • Identify an area (tables) that can be used for journaling and bug study

In sessions #7 and #8 students investigate soil dwellers in the garden. This "rain day" activity is a further exploration of insects and bugs with more emphasis on using guidebooks and keeping records.

divider

WARM UP

Go-round: Name a plant that you like.

divider

DISCUSSION
Further Examination of Insects and Bugs

Since we won't be able to visit our garden today, we are going to discuss and examine soil dwellers right here
in our classroom. We will examine familiar soil dwellers as well as ones we haven't examined before. We will
use our guidebooks to help us identify the creatures we have not seen before or ones whose names we don't
know. Some of the creatures we will be examining are bugs. Some are insects.

ASK: Are bugs and Insects the same?
  • No

ASK: What is the difference?
  • An insect has 6 legs. A spider has 8 legs so it isn't an insect. A worm has no legs so it isn't an insect.

ASK: Can you name some insects?
  • Beetles, Bees...

When you examine the soil dwellers I have brought in today you can draw a picture of them in your journals.
If you don't recognize what it is you can look for it in the guidebooks.

divider

READ

But first I am going to read a book about worms. It is called "The Life Cycle of an Earthworm"

ASK: What does "Life Cycle" mean?
  • It refers to the stages of life

Distribute containers, paper plates and colored pencils to tables.

Review How to Handle Soil Dwellers

As you have discovered in earlier lessons, the creatures you are going to handle are easily harmed so you
must be very careful. When you remove a creature from one of the containers place it carefully on a paper
plate to examine it more closely. Then carefully return it to the container.

Give students their journals and invite them to begin their activity.

info WATCH Terms and Techniques VIDEO