insects & arachnids unit

Insects & Arachnids Unit

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Insects is one of my favourite Spring units. Whether it is for kindergarten, grade 1 or grade 2, children love exploring these creepy crawlers. Every time I do in the Insect unit I like to talk about spiders too. Learning why spiders are not insects help children learn the features of insects better. For this unit, I thought of talking about arachnids instead of just spiders. In this unit, I talk about the different characteristics of Insects & Arachnids. There are some similarities as well.

Lesson Plan

About Insects

Insects live in all kinds of habitats like tropical rainforests, deserts and the extremely cold temperatures of Antarctica. They live under the ground, on the ground, in the air in the water, on plants and even on other animals. insects are invertebrates. They do not have a backbone  Their skeleton is on the outside of their body. It is called an exoskeleton. insects have 3 main body parts: the head, thorax, and abdomen. They use the feelers or the antennae attached to their head to smell and feel. They have two compound eyes. All insects have 6 legs attached to the thorax, the middle part of their body. Many insects have one or two pairs of wings as well. The abdomen is the largest part of an insect’s body. It contains the stomach and the reproductive system. Insects are very important to every ecosystem. They pollinate plants, disperse seeds and decompose animal and plant matter. They are also a source of food for other animals like birds.

Insects List

  1. mosquito
  2. butterfly
  3. beetle
  4. cricket
  5. ant
  6. bee
  7. dragonfly
  8. earwig
  9. fly
  10. flea
  11. ladybug
  12. mantis
  13. moth
  14. termite

About Arachnids

Most arachnids are terrestrial. Which means they live on land. Spiders are found almost everywhere in the world. They can be found in deserts, forests, beaches and even inside houses. Scorpions mostly live in hot dry deserts. Arachnids are invertebrates. They do not have a backbone  Their skeleton is on the outside of their body. It is called an exoskeleton. Arachnids have 2 main body parts: Cephalothorax. (a combination of head & thorax) and abdomen. Arachnids have 8 joint legs. But they do not have antennae or wings. They have multiple simple eyes. Spiders have 8 and some arachnids have fewer eyes Some arachnids have fangs or claws to catch their prey.

Arachnids List

  • tarantula
  • black widow
  • ground spider
  • huntsman spider
  • scorpion
  • tick
  • daddy longleg (harvestman)
  • acarid

Insects & Arachnids Unit

insects & Arachnids Unit

Insects and Arachnids Spring lesson for Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 2

Includes

  1. Lesson Plan
  2. Lesson Notes & Anchor Chart
  3. Posters – Colour & B&W
  4. 3 Part Cards – Nomenclature Cards – REAL Pictures
  5. I Spy Sheet for shelf – REAL Pictures
  6. Worksheets – Colour & B&W
    1. Labelling – Writing & Cut & Paste
    2. Classifying – Writing & Cut & Paste
    3. Comprehension Passage
    4. Writing Prompts in 3 difficulty levels
      1. with sight words without picture clues
      2. with sight words with picture clues
      3. with sight words with picture clues & passage starter
    5. Drawing Prompts
    6. Crossword Puzzle – with answer key
    7. Word Searches – with answer key

How to use this resource

  • Use the Notes as a guide to explain the characteristics of insects and arachnids
  • Body parts of insects and arachnids
  • Differences between insects and arachnids
  • Use the 3 part card to introduce examples of insects and arachnids
  • Laminate I Spy Sheet with REAL insect and arachnid pictures for independent or unsupervised group time. The children can look, learn and play I Spy with friends.
  • Choose the worksheets according to the level of each child
  • Print and keep the crossword puzzle and word searches on the shelf for fun independent insect and arachnid activity

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