An Insect Discovery workshop is composed of four stations plus a closing activity.  Each station takes about 20 minutes, and the total time for the workshop is about 2 hours.

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      Station 1: Butterflies

Experience insects at your fingertips!  Students at this station can walk into a giant cage containing live butterflies.  They will take notes on butterfly behavior while forming a special connection with these beautiful insects.  This station focuses on strengthening their observational skills, developing data collection techniques, and increasing their comfort in handling insects.

 

(Standards met: communication)

 

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Station 2: Science in Action

Become a scientist for a day!  This station uses crickets to introduce students to the scientific
method.  Students have the opportunity to design an experiment, make predictions, collect
their own data, graph the results, and discuss their conclusions.  Through this research
experience, they will learn about how insects interact with their environment, and discover
some fascinating facts about crickets, too!

 

(Standards: diversity, adaptation, behavior)

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Station 3: Camouflage

Can you see the insects in these pictures?  This station explores some ways that insects can adapt to their environment.  Students will play a game that demonstrates the advantage of camouflaged coloration and introduces a process leading to this adaptation.  They will see some real-world examples of extraordinary "cryptic critters" -- in photos and alive!

                                                     (Standards: characteristics of organisms, adaptation) 

 Photo by Dexter Sear, IO Vision

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Station 4: Diversity

Did you know there are over a million species of insects?  With so much diversity, it is important for scientists to have an efficient classification system to keep them all straight.  This station uses pinned specimens to teach students about insect identification and biodiversity.  Students will learn how scientists organize species and have the opportunity to develop their own sorting system.

(Standards: diversity)

 

 

 

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