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Bugs!
Observing bugs and be beneficial for
children to understand the world around them. This creepy crawly
science activity will get kids thinking about the world around them.
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Bugs do what they do to survive. They're constantly
looking for food. Bugs can be both helpful and harmful. Termites, for
example, have a bad reputation because they destroy houses by eating the
wood. But termites have a good side, too. In a forest, they break down dead
trees, which keeps the forest floor from becoming too cluttered. |
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What You Need
- Books about insects and spiders—preferably with photographs.
- A magnifying glass
What to Do
- With your child, search your home and neighborhood for bugs. Look for
bugs:
- around your front door
- in cracks in the sidewalk
- in gardens
- at picnic areas
- on lights
- in corners of rooms
- Using the guides, help your child to identify each type of bug that
you find, such as ants, spiders, beetles, crickets, bees, flies,
butterflies, mosquitoes, moths, wasps or ladybugs.
- If you find ants, point out that ants work together as a community.
Have her observe, for example, what an ant does when it finds a bit of
food. Explain that when an ant finds food, it doesn't eat it on the spot.
It runs back to the hill to "tell" the other ants. As it runs, it leaves a
trail that the other ants can smell. These ants can then find the food by
smelling their way along the trail.
- Find out about spiders:
- Why do spiders spin webs?
- What are webs made of?
- How many pairs of legs do they have?
- Help your child to think of other ways that she might classify the
bugs—for example, by color or by size or by whether they have wings or
antennae.
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