SCIENCE CONCEPT: There are more than 800,000 species of insects and more are discovered every year. Insects were the first creatures to develop wings. In studying insects we learn many valuable lessons about instinctive behavior and territorial rights. Insects are everywhere - it would be hard to find an area with no insects. STUDENT OBJECTIVE: The student will explore an area outside the classroom and catch various insects. After they have captured the small creatures, the children will observe what they look like and find the names of the insects in nature guidebooks. Also, the children will discover what the insects like to eat in the guidebooks. First hand observation is a wonderful teacher! OVERVIEW: Students will collect the insects and place them in jars or plastic shoeboxes. Emphasize to the children that they should leave the places they have looked for the insects as undisturbed as possible. Remind them that it is necessary to capture only a few of the small creatures they have seen, not everything that flies. Stress the care of living things and a respect for life. Animals should not just be collected. Children should understand that the insects are being collected so they can be observed. The insects should be provided with a suitable place to live for a few days while they are being observed. After they are observed they should be let go.

PREPARATION TIME: 25 minutes. LESSON TIME: 60 minutes. TEACHER PREP: Gather glass jars, plastic shoeboxes, a sturdy butterfly net, magnifying glass, rectangular plastic basin to carry everything in and to keep the jars safe, masking tape, marking pen, and a nature guidebook on insects. WORDS TO KNOW: insects observation respect zoo thorax abdomen flap species scales

We are surrounded by thousands of tiny animals we call insects. There are more than 800,000 species of insects and still hundreds more are discovered every year. The body of an insect has 3 main parts - the head, the thorax (chest) and the abdomen. Almost all adult insects have a pair of antennae, at the front of the head. Every adult insect has six legs and most of them have one or two pairs of wings. The thorax is the locomotion center. It is packed with powerful muscles which operate the insect's 6 legs as well as its wings.

An adult insect wears its skeleton outside its body in the form of a hard outer coat. This tough shell is light enough not to prevent the insect from flying. The skeleton also acts like a raincoat and keeps water from soaking into the body. More importantly, it keeps the body from losing water. It helps the insect live and fly through long dry or rainy spells. It protects the insect from heat and cold and from some of its enemies.

Most insects have thin wings and must beat their wings rapidly in order to get the lift they need. Bee's wings move forward, backward and up and down. Bees flap their wings over 100 times a second.

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