Free Insect Preschool Lesson Plans - Stay At Home Educator (2024)

FAQs

How do you teach preschoolers about insects? ›

Let children look for bugs to investigate. Add plastic bugs and insects into your sensory table hidden in the sand with spoons and cups to catch them! Use Bug Counter Manipulatives to sort bugs. Sort by color, sort by type of bug, sort by whether they have wings or not, etc.

Insects always have three body parts and six legs. They also usually have four wings and two antennae. “True bugs” have a mouth shaped like straw or needle. These true bugs have specialized parts of their mouths to suck juices, mostly from plants.

In this bug lesson plan, students will explore the native habitats and behaviors of common pests to understand why and how household pests enter our homes. Students will examine the relationship between humans and pests, and the limited habitat and resources shared by both. Lesson Overview.

The three major segments of an insect body are the head, the thorax, and the abdomen. The head contains the insect's antennas, mouthparts, and eyes. The adults of many species have two kinds of eyes, simple and compound. Compound eyes have many lenslike parts.

An insect is a small animal that has six legs. Most insects have wings. Ants, flies, butterflies, and beetles are all insects. They will also provide food for birds and insects.

The four stages are egg, larva, pupa and adult. During the pupa phase much of the body is destroyed and rebuilt so that the adult insect looks completely different, and may well eat different foods, from the larva.

Preschool gardens are a great place to introduce children to nature and the important role that insects play in growing food. Most insects are beneficial, pollinating flowers, improving soil, and eating pests. Some insects are both beneficial and harmful.

Some insects eat grass and leaves. Other insects each mushy food like soft, decaying garbage. Still other types of insects eat only liquids. Many insects such as mosquitos, bees, and butterflies siphon their food.

Many insects use repellant odors to protect themselves, and perhaps the best-known group of such insects is the stink bugs. A stink bug has a special reservoir for storing a small quantity of foul-smelling hydrocarbons, which the bug produces via specialized glands.

Some insects, like ants and bees, use special smells called pheromones to share messages. Other insects, like crickets and grasshoppers, make sounds to communicate with each other. Talking helps insects work together and learn from one another.

What are the 7 main characteristics of insects? ›

Characteristics of Insects

Insects have jointed appendages as arthropods (arthropod means "jointed foot"), an exoskeleton (hard, external cover), segmented body, ventral nervous system, digestive system, open circulatory system, and advanced sensory receptors.

All adult insects have three body parts: head, thorax and abdomen. The wings and legs are always attached to the thorax. (Spiders, which are not insects, have two body parts: head and abdomen.) Insects always have six legs.

For insects, respiration is separate from the circulatory system. Oxygen and carbon dioxide gases are exchanged through a network of tubes called tracheae. Instead of nostrils, insects breathe through openings in the thorax and abdomen called spiracles.

Insects do not have kidneys. Instead, metabolic wastes are removed with the Malpighian tubules[2]. Respiratory (ventilation) system: Insects don't have lungs. They obtain oxygen and dispel carbon dioxide through a series of tubes called tracheae (see Respiratory System, right).

Insect observation plays a significant role in early childhood education because it allows children to develop key skills and knowledge in a hands-on, natural environment. It promotes curiosity, improves problem-solving skills, fosters a love for nature, and teaches basic biology concepts in a friendly, enjoyable way.

Houseflies find sugar with their feet, which are 10 million times more sensitive than human tongues. Ticks can grow from the size of a grain of rice to the size of a marble. Approximately 2,000 silkworm cocoons are needed to produce one pound of silk. While gathering food, a bee may fly up to 60 miles in one day.

Build an Insect Habitat

Create a simple insect habitat in your outdoor play area. There are many different items that can be used as the shelter. Some ideas: cardboard boxes, wood boxes, totes, paper bags, push cart, wagon, garden rack, old planters.

Insects Can Be Trained

Like Pavlov's dogs, insects can also learn through classical conditioning. An insect exposed repeatedly to two unrelated stimuli will soon associate one with the other. Wasps can be given food rewards each time they detect a certain scent.