insects, part 3: how are our bodies the same as or...

Insects, Part 3: How Are OurBodies the Same As or DifferentFrom Insects' Bodies?

Now that we have been investigating insects, I would like youto choose one to describe in more detail and show how itcompares to you. You will draw your insect in one picture anddraw yourself in the other. I will come around and write yourwords telling how you and the insect are the same or different.Then we will share them with the class.

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Insects, Part 3: How Are Our Bodies the Same As orDifferent From Insects' Bodies?

Suggested Grade Span

K–2

Task

Now that we have been investigating insects, I would like you to choose one to describe inmore detail and show how it compares to you. You will draw your insect in one picture and drawyourself in the other. I will come around and write your words telling how you and the insect arethe same or different. Then we will share them with the class.

Big Ideas and Unifying Concepts

Form and functionInterdependenceSystems

Life Science Concepts

Evolution, diversity and adaptationsRegulation and behaviorStructure and function

Mathematics Concepts

Comparison of attributes or effectsDiagramsMeasurement

Time Required for the Task

One 30-minute session after many exploratory activities during the month.

Context

We started this unit of study about a month ago with a class brainstorm to find out what priorknowledge students had about insects. Following this discussion, we spent time reading aboutinsects and observing different insects. Many students brought some in from home and wecollected some from outside to study.



Two prior assessment activities, “What Does Your Insect Need to Live?” and “Draw YourInsect’s Home” were also done before this assessment activity. (See the tasks Insects, Parts 1and 2 on this CD-ROM.)

What the Task Accomplishes

All insects are organisms and all organisms need the same basic things to survive. In this way,humans share many characteristics in common with all other organisms. This is thegeneralization that students should take from this unit of study on insects. While the studentslook at different functions for structures, body parts and adaptations, they will begin to developan understanding that insects – as living organisms – are very much like themselves. They willalso begin to see that there are differences between themselves and insects – usually due toadaptations for survival in a different environment than ours.

It is always easier for young children to observe and identify differences rather than similarities.This assessment task forces children to look for both differences and similarities in bothstructure and function.

How the Student Will Investigate

Students will draw their insects on one side of the portfolio worksheet and a self-portrait on theother. They may move about the room to observe insects in containers or look at books forideas as they work. The teacher moves about the room and records their words on theworksheets. (I often use third- and fourth-grade students from our “science buddy class” to helprecord for my children.)

Interdisciplinary Links and Extensions

ScienceThis activity can easily lead to a study of the human body and the senses or to a broader studyof how different animals use their senses for survival. (For example, earthworms are completelydeaf yet “hear” through vibrations; they have no eyes but can distinguish between darkness andlight.) Another related study would be to examine human growth stages compared to thedifferent stages of an insect’s metamorphosis.

Social StudiesFamily structures and communities of insects can later be compared when we study ourfamilies and communities. There are many excellent videos available that depict how differentinsect species work together in communities, taking on specialized roles – such as worker bees– to help the community survive.

Language Arts/Art“Funny” body part books of insects can be created to read together. Pages are cut into thirds sothat with the flip of a page the head or body is superimposed on another insect’s body. Eachstudent could create a page for the class book. Simple flipbooks (about the size of a largematch cover) can also be made by first duplicating a drawing of an insect without legs and



wings on stiff (construction) paper. Then several pages are stapled together and “moving legsor wings” are drawn in on each successive page to create the illusion of movement when thepages are flipped.

MathematicsOur class likes to create and solve word problems related to our science studies.

Teaching Tips and Guiding Questions

During observations and drawing, try to guide students to discover some of the insectcharacteristics that are both different from and similar to what people have.

• How many legs do you see? How many legs do you have?• Can you describe how the insect moves? What body parts does it use?• Does it have wings? How big are they? Does it have more than two wings? (look for two

sets) Do you have a body part like wings?• How many body parts does it have? How many do you have?• Can you find its eyes? mouth? What else do you see on its head? (antennae, special

mouth parts) How are these parts like yours? Can you count them?• What color is it? How many colors do you see? Would the colors help it hide from its

enemies? Where would it hide?• Does it have skin? fur? a hard outer covering (exoskeleton)? What protects it?• Do you have some parts that an insect does not have? Can you do things it cannot do?

Can it do things that you cannot do?

Concepts to be Assessed

(Unifying concepts/big ideas and science concepts to be assessed using the ScienceExemplars Rubric under the criterion: Science Concepts and Related Content)

Life Science – Structure and Function: Students identify characteristics of organisms (forexample their body structures, use of senses, behaviors) and categorize living organisms asplant eaters or meat eaters or both. Students observe that each organism has differentstructures that serve different functions in growth, survival and reproduction.

Life Science – Regulation and Behavior: Students understand that all organisms have basicneeds – air, water, food. Students explain that all insects depend on plants, that some eatplants and others eat animals (other insects, dead insects) that eat plants, that they can surviveonly in an environment in which needs can be met and that different environments supportdifferent types of organisms.

Life Science – Evolution, Diversity and Adaptations: Students observe anatomicaldifferences in organisms. Students explain that all organisms are living systems, that eachdistinct structure has a set function that serves the organism and that species acquire theirunique characteristics through biological adaptations.



Mathematics: Students compare attributes or effects and use precise measurements anddiagrams.

Skills to be Developed

(Science process skills to be assessed using the Science Exemplars Rubric under the criteria:Scientific Procedures and Reasoning Strategies, and Scientific Communication Using Data)

Scientific Method: Observing, predicting/hypothesizing, inferring, comparing, drawingconclusions, communicating findings, challenging misconceptions and raising new questions.

Other Science Standards and Concepts Addressed

Scientific Theory: Students look for evidence that explains why things happen and modifyexplanations when new observations are made.

Life Science – Structure and Function; Regulation and Behavior; Populations andEcosystems: Students describe and group animals by what they eat and where they live. Theyunderstand that organisms have basic needs – air, water, food – and that they can survive onlyin an environment in which needs can be met. Students explain that different environmentssupport different types of organisms but that all animals depend on plants in some way.Students understand that living things are found almost everywhere in the world and areinterdependent and that each plant or animal has different structures that serve differentfunctions in growth, survival and reproduction.

Life Science – Evolution, Diversity and Adaptations: Students observe species and many oftheir unique characteristics, acquired through biological adaptations, which include changes instructures, behavior and/or physiology that enhance survival.

Suggested Materials

All that is needed for this task is paper and markers or crayons. It is also highly recommendedto have insect books and real insects to observe before and during this activity. Large mirrorsare also useful in having students observe their own bodies.

Possible Solutions

Several body parts in each drawing should be identified, as should the type of insect (ant,ladybug, etc.) shown. Students should be able to identify at least one similarity and twodifferences between their bodies and that of the chosen insects. These comparisons may bestated in several ways but should be explicit. Drawings of the chosen insect should reflectaccurate information, since we have spent a great deal of time observing and discussing them.(In other words, six legs, wings, etc., should be shown, if appropriate.)



There are three difficult distinctions for young students during this unit of study:

1) including worms as insects – worms are invertebrates with segmented bodies, not insects;

2) including spiders as insects – spiders are invertebrates and arthropods (phylum), like insects,but are in a different class, Arachnida; and

3) depicting early larvae stages of insects which may not have six legs or three segmentedbody parts before they reach the adult insect stage.

These are all very confusing to students.

Task-Specific Assessment Notes

NoviceSample #1Two drawings are made, but when questioned the student is unable to describe anything in thepictures or to make any comparisons. The only response is that the picture on the right is a“bug.”

Sample #2Two drawings are made. When questioned the student is able to describe three body parts(head, body, legs) for each, but is unable to make any comparisons. The insect is not identifiedand only two legs are shown for the insect. There is little evidence of conceptual understandingin the drawings or in the student comments.

ApprenticeThere is some evidence of conceptual understanding about insects in that three (segmented)body parts and six legs are drawn. The insect is identified as a caterpillar, which actually hasmore than six legs since it is in an early stage of development. No explicit comparisons aremade to the self-portrait and no body parts are named for the drawing of the person, yet it isimplied that there are differences.

PractitionerThis student’s solution is complete. Two differences (feet – no feet; wings – no wings) aredepicted in drawings. Both drawings show a head. The insect, a butterfly, is named. There isevidence of conceptual understanding about insects in that the insect is shown with antennae,three body sections, and wings and legs.

ExpertSample #1This student’s solution is complete and detailed. The student makes numerous comparisons toshow same (eyes, mouth, head, body) and different (antennae, arms, hair) characteristics.There is evidence of use of prior knowledge and of conceptual understanding in the drawingshowing six or two legs, two antennae, etc.



Sample #2This student’s solution is complete and detailed. The student makes numerous comparisons toshow same (legs, head) and different (two eyeballs – lots of eyes, antennae, body parts, hair,ears) characteristics. There is evidence of use of prior knowledge and of conceptualunderstanding in the drawing showing six or two legs, two antennae, segmented body, etc.



Novice



Apprentice



Practitioner



Expert



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