Insects

Buzzzzzz!   We are studying insects this week. So, some of the children may decide they want to grow up to be entomologists! One reason Entomologists are important is that they help our farmers with growing crops and discovering which are "good insects", like ladybugs, that eat the eggs of plant-eating pests (aphids and weevils).

Our entomologists learn this week how to basically identify the insect. Insects have six legs and three body segments - Head, thorax and abdomen. Many have antennae, and some have wings. Insects have an exoskeleton (tough outer layer) instead of bones. We discussed the benefits of ladybugs in the garden to eat eggs of other pest insects. Crickets are used in apple orchards to eat the maggot worms of fruit flies that burrow into the apples.

We chose to have crickets this week as the "take home" insect. The Chinese thought the cricket was a lucky pet and kept them in golden cages. The song of a cricket is made by the male rubbing its wings back and forth against each other which is sometimes called "chirping." It was discovered by a scientist in 1897 that the snowy tree crickets "chirped"  faster on warmer nights, and counting the number of chirps in 15 seconds and then adding 40 would estimate the temperature. Amazing!

The children can keep their cricket as a pet for a while by putting an inch of soil in the bottom of a plastic jar, add a rock or wood for it to burrow under, put in a little lettuce for moisture and food, and punch holes in the jar lid. Observe for a day or two, but the cricket will be happiest if set free in your yard.

Fun and Art time - We did some fun experiments with our crickets, measuring how far they jumped and seeing if they can swim (they can!)  We painted beautiful dragonfly ornaments while observing the body parts. The dragonfly is our hero because it eats mosquitoes. Hurray for the dragonfly! Oh, and if your child tells you we ate insects for our snack, don't worry - they were tasty.

Books we read:  Cricketology (Michael Ross),  Crickets and Grasshoppers (Elaine Pascoe, Dwight Kuhn).

Next Week:  The Pond